When most people think of missionaries, they think of dedicated disciples who strap on backpacks and carry nothing but the Bible and bare necessities. They think of believers who move to a foreign country to proclaim the Gospel, often in a foreign language and culture. Though there’s still a need for this traditionally radical mission work, churches today can become global or local missionaries by doing something much closer to home: clicking a computer mouse.

Logging on to social networking sites via the Internet can connect you and your church leaders with today’s generation of Web-surfers. Jonathan Herron, lead pastor of Catalyst Church in Kent, Ohio, encourages Christians to become “missionaries in a digital age.” Welcome to another knoll in the Web 2.0 mission field, the social networks.

Turning to the Web to evangelize is nothing new. Churches have heard since the dawn of the decade that they need to have a resourceful and attractive Web site to appeal to online Christ-seekers. But the impetus behind Web 2.0 is that people – whether they are unchurched or steadfast church parishioners – are Web-savvy enough to create their own content and navigate the Internet in ways previously unknown. In fact, according to the online marketing publication MarketingVOX, of all of the visits to the billions of sites on the Web, 5 percent of visitors go to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. That doesn’t even include the millions of daily visitors to viral multimedia networks such as YouTube and Flickr. Sure, people still check their e-mail, but they do much more. Several adaptive, forward-thinking churches have created thriving presences in these Web areas, and they are reaping the rewards.