Technology and Ministry Resources Online

Below is a collection of Web site addresses related to church technology, by categories.

These sites are listed as an aid for local churches in improving their use of technology. Listing of these Web addresses does not constitute endorsement by the United Methodist Church or Avondale Pattillo UMC.

If you discover bad links or wish to suggest a link, please contact us at webmaster.

District, Conference, and Denomination

About us - Methodism

"About the UMC"

American Methodism - Francis Asbury

American Methodism - Thomas Coke

Cokesbury Store

Connectional giving explained

General Board of Global Ministries UMC

The General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church

Group email (a free service of UMCom)

In Spirit & Truth (Free online study guide from the UM GBOD)

Interpreter Magazine

The Meaning of Holy Communion (Free online study guide from the UM GBOD)

Methodist Archives and Research Centre

Mr. Wesley's Preachers

Sacraments & Discipleship (Free online study guide from the UM GBOD)

Syndications from UMC.org - New

Wesley and Methodist Studies Centers

United Methodist Communications (UMCom)

UMCom TechShop (order hardware and software discounted for churches) - New

United Methodist Publishing House

Bible education

Bible Activities online (Weekly & reproducible. For children of varied age groups)
Bible Challenge (quiz by Back to the Bible)
Bible Facts
Sacred Places
Software for kids
Sunday Software (Multimedia CDs)
Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus (software with photo bubble technology)

Bible Study & Sermon preparation

Bible Illustrator software
Bible study links
Bible Study Software
Crosswalk Bible Study Tools
Desperate Preacher's Site (annual subscription, but also has free links)
Disciple study links
Lectionary.Org
Religious resource links
Sermon Connection. A Cokesbury online subscription. 15-day free trial
Sermon Writer (sent by email). 4-Sunday free trial
The Text This Week (Lectionary-based link collections)

Devotionals online

Evangelism

Internet Evangelism
Online Evangelism - a Guide to outreach
Using your Web site for evangelism (downloadable kit)

General

10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website - New
Christian Computing magazine
"Churches and Computers", Christianity Today
The Church and Technology
"Culture and Technology", Christianity Today magazine
"Communication Quality and Church Size", (Christian Computing)
"Connecting the Disconnected Church" (Christian Computing)
Computer Help
Discipleship resources (free PDF downloads)
FaithQuest News and Notes (UM GBOD)
Internet Christian Library
Religious-oriented software for handhelds
Ginghamsburg UMC (Ohio) On-Line Communities, (CyberMinistry, Communication Ministry Media Ministry, Outreach Ministry, Youth Ministry…)
Religion & Spirituality links (Google search site)
"The Wired Pastor", Christianity Today
United Methodist periodicals online (Google directory)

Images (artwork)

ArtToday (subscription site)
Church Art Online (free trial & subscription)
Church of the Covered Dish (cartoons). $10.95 gets permission to download and use any and all of the toons.
EyeWire (subscription site)
Images for the Bible Class

Library

Church Library Resources
Internet Christian Library
Technology and the Church Library. If that site isn't available, it's cached at Google

Lighting (stage)

Music

Church copyright information - (CCLI)
ChurchMedia.net - articles, reviews, and products
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998

Search sites

Major search sites

Google Search (files, images, "groups", and directory type listings). Google "caches" pages. So you can actually read pages from a Web site that no longer exists.
Google Advanced Search (excellent). Can even limit search to a specific site
MSN Search is Microsoft Internet Explorer's default. (Clicking on the toolbar search icon differs from typing "? word" in the address bar)
AOL Search (AOL now uses the Google "search engine", but also adds an AOL header that is hard to get rid of)
Yahoo (is a directory vs. traditional search engine).
Yahoo local pages
Yahoo Yellow Pages (can search for a business, hospital, church, … near an address)

Other search sites

http://www.altavista.com
http://www.lycos.com
http://www.hotbot.com
http://www.northernlights.com
http://www.alltheweb.com
http://www.looksmart.com
Some Christian search sites
http://www.crosswalk.com (also known as goshen.net)
http://www.gospelcom.net
http://www.crosssearch.com
Some sites that feed data to many of the search sites
http://www.dmoz.org
http://www.zeal.com

Software
- Basic Desktop (office administration)

Microsoft Office Standard or Professional

"Standard" (lacks Access database) or "Small Business Edition" (lacks Access and PowerPoint but comes with Publisher) are less expensive. If your church needs those, get the Pro edition. The United Methodist Church online "store" includes discounted software packages,