The Northern California and Nevada District of the Assemblies of God
I am pleased to announce the relaunch of the website of The Northern California and Nevada District of the Assemblies of God.
The district’s resource center, located in Sacramento, California, serves approximately 125,000 people, roughly 440 congregations in over 360 cities throughout Northern California and Nevada, and about 1,500 ministers. The resource center supports local churches and ministries through providing materials, lending advice, organizing seminars, etc. As such, communication with various constituencies is vital. Similar to many Christian organizations, the district is not wealthy and is therefore always looking for ways to improve the efficiency of their communication while lowering costs.
This relaunched website (actually the third iteration of the site which was initially launched in the summer of 2000) takes advantage of the Expression Engine platform to accomplish just that — improved communication for less expense.
New online features made possible by the use of Expression Engine include the following:
In House Management
The Expression Engine implementation enables the staff of the district’s resource center to manage the site largely by themselves - editing static content, adding news items and resources, etc. Training for this is still in the future as we “let the dust settle” after the relaunch, but in time, this feature will enable the district to communicate with their constituencies through their website largely without my intervention — improved communication for less expense!
Customized Content
Thanks to the capabilities Expression Engine provides to establish separate member groups with different permissions, we are able to display customized content for different member groups throughout the site. For example, if we want to display information regarding an upcoming ministers’ retreat, we can easily make this information viewable only by the district’s ministers.
This feature also enables us to use the main website as an intranet for employees of the district resource center, displaying content which concerns employees only to employees.
Private Ministers Section
We have also provided a private ministers section which includes a variety of largely static information and resources: discussion forums for ministers, a directory of internet mailing lists specifically for ministers, ministers’ newsletters, a sermon sharing archive, listings of open positions and resumes of ministers seeking positions, etc.
Facilitating Communication Between Ministers
By utilizing Expression Engine’s powerful membership features, the new website gives ministers the ability to contact other ministers in the district who have agreed to make their contact information active.
Syndication and News Feeds
Using RSS technology, the new website provides 25 different news feeds which enable the syndication of the district’s news headlines on other websites. We have included both general news feeds as well as feeds for the different departments which are a part of the district resource center. Providing headlines in RSS format also allows site visitors to read the district’s headlines in their online news reader, on their handheld device, or even on their iPod!
Social Bookmarks
A minor feature (but still cool, it seems to me) is that each public article includes a link to enable website visitors to quickly add a bookmark for that article to a del.icio.us account.
Print Style Sheets
Another minor feature (but one which was not implemented in earlier iterations of the website) is the use of print style sheets so that only the left-hand column of pages print and so that any links which appear in the left hand column display the full addresses of the links when the page is printed.
Standards Compliance
With a few minor exceptions (to preserve functionality), the site is standards compliant.
Posted by on 01/17/06 at 10:01 AM
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You may be interested in reading these articles which enumerate core principles of the strategy we advocate:
Effective Church Websites For Emerging Generations
Investigating the various ways in which a church's website can be targeted toward unbelievers in a church's local community.
A Strategy For Local Internet Outreach
How can the internet be used for evangelism and outreach while maintaining an environment of authentic Christian community?
Flawed Follow Up Or A Flawed Philosophy of Evangelism?
The ease with which we can “share the gospel” online can actually short-circuit the God-ordained process by which unbelievers are brought to faith.
Should We Include A Gospel Presentation On Our Websites?
Should conversion be our immediate goal in our internet evangelism efforts?
A Strategic Opportunity For The Church
A proposed strategy in which a church would use short video profiles of members of their congregation to entice unbelievers in their local area to consider the value of a local congregation’s ministry in their own lives.
2 John 12
Is there something incomplete about digital communication?
Fri, October 10, 2008 at 06:19 pm
Frank : savoring the start of a four-day weekend, looking forward to a great Time Out
Tue, October 07, 2008 at 08:13 pm
Frank : wishing that the spin doctors would have an ounce of honesty and integrity.
Sat, October 04, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Frank : winding down after a long Saturday's work on things of eternal value.
Sun, September 28, 2008 at 11:44 am
Frank @GregAtkinson my daughter is a goalkeeper - nothing quite like being a goalkeeper's parent!
Wed, September 24, 2008 at 09:55 pm
Frank : back home after a high school back-to-school night, evaluating high schools for next year
When the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association wanted to use the internet to promote their city festivals, they turned to Strategic Digital Outreach. Read more ....
Quick Contact Info
T: 831.461.1183
F: 831.461.1184
AIM: strategicdigital
ICQ: strategicdigital
Yahoo: strategicdigital
MSN: strategicdigital@hotmail.com
Web Development
Designwise Studios
DirectSteps
RockBeatsPaper
SparrowStyle
Turtle Interactive
Content Management
Expression Engine
Web Hosting
DreamHost
Email Management
Constant Contact
We work with several different organizations in exploring ways in which digital means can be used to reach an increasingly digital world. Some of these organizations are more traditional clients. Some are friends. All are our partners in the gospel (1 Corinthians 3:9). Invariably, we learn as much from them as they do from us. Here is a sampling:
David & Linda Arzouni
Assemblies of God missionaries to West Africa, based in Mali (the land of Timbuktu).
Assemblies of God
The Northern California and Nevada District, based in Sacramento, California.
India Prayer Drive
A 21-day prayer drive through the nation of India.
IreneDias.com
Although the suffering they face is severe, this is not a story of despair, but of an incredible faith and even more of an incredible God who sustains His followers with lavish grace, extravagant kindness, and unrelenting love.
Luis Palau Evangelistic Association
Proclaiming the Lord's Good News to the millions of people who have yet to respond to the Gospel.
Sacred Ink
Joyfully declaring the gospel to the tattoo subculture.
Santa Cruz Bible Church
Their evangelism department focuses on marketplace ministries.
ShareFest Santa Cruz County
Churches in Santa Cruz County, California join together to become a bridge from the church to the community through work projects designed to bless the community.
TimeOut Conference
Enabling a deeper relationship with God and more effective relationships with people.
Wake Up! Santa Cruz
Presenting the claims of Christ to the business community in Santa Cruz, California.
These are projects which we have initiated (either individually or as members of a team) in our efforts to use digital means to spread the gospel:
MissionEquip
MissionEquip.com was established to provide resources to missionaries and short-term missions teams traveling worldwide.
ChristianCruz
ChristianCruz.com is a localized portal for believers living in Santa Cruz County, California.
Prodigal God
ProdigalGod.com, a work in progress, is designed to provide biblical instruction to the wider body of Christ through the use of video teaching segments and written articles.
Christian Screen Savers
ChristianScreenSavers.com offers a selection of high-quality, inexpensive Christian screen savers which reflect biblical themes. Proceeds from the sale of these screen savers are used to support the work of Strategic Digital Outreach.
Blogs I Read
Adventures Of A Web Evangelist
The Appian Way
BetaChurch.org
BlogMinistry
BlogRodent
Boyink Interactive
Carpe' Digital
Christian Web Trends
Church Beauty
Church Communications Pro
Church Marketing Sucks
ChurchTechToday
Church Website & Blog Ideas
digital.leadnet.org
Digital Ministry
The Digital Sanctuary
e-vangelism.com
Effective Church Web Sites
Effective Web Ministry Notes
Equip Blog
Evotional
GodBit
Goodmanson
Gospelcon
Heal Your Church Website
If Jesus Had A Website
Leave It Behind
MicroExplosion
Outside The Box Ministry
Sacred Digital
So You Want A Church Website?
The Ultimate Issue
Web Evangelism Issues
More Blogs & Sites
The Grace Place
Life's Eye View
MetroReach
Media Ministry
Missionary-Blogs
Mobile Ministry Magazine
Conquering Nonprofit Chaos
Palms For Pastors
St. George the Dragonslayer
© 2004-2007,
Frank N. Johnson.
All rights reserved, except as otherwise noted.
I believe that the internet provides today's church with a historic opportunity .... to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love in ways which could only have been imagined in times past. The objective of this website is to explore the various ways in which today's technology can be used to spread the gospel around the world.
