Course BA-02 - Effective Online Ministries

by Bill Anderton

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This online course is dedicated to teaching the planning, building and operating the online assets of churches.

This free online course is the first of a series of online resources provided by TransformingTheChurch for helping churches improve their websites, social media and other online presences.

Some of the most important constituencies served by this community include people without previous technical backgrounds such as clergy, church Boards, leaders and volunteers, without prior experience, who need to plan websites or lead teams that develop and operate online assets for churches.

We also serve experienced webmasters with content on advanced subjects.

Development of leadership and planning skills and best practices for implementation and operations of the Church's online assets are critical priorities of the course. The course focuses on the best practices of being the stewards of the Church's online assets, creating content and getting the content found and used.

This course is guided by Matthew 5:14–16: "¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (NRSV)

In the age of the Internet and ubiquitous connectivity, there is no brighter light or taller lampstand that can be used in ministry than the power and global reach of the Internet. "Effective Online Ministries" is dedicated to helping local churches, judicatories and other ministries to make a difference on the Internet by building and operating effective online assets of the Church.

This Course is FREE and Offered As a Public Service

The zero-dollar price (free!) of the course makes it available to individual people or groups of clergy, lay leaders, and any interested congregants of churches.

We have endeavored to make this course as RELEVANT and as ACCESSIBLE to as many people as possible. Our goal is foster a broad understanding of relational stewardship.

We offer this course to the Church and Her Servants with hopes that you can participate. Group discounts are also available for study groups of three or more.

A Peer Learning Community

This course takes the form of a special-interest peer-learning community. Its Virtual Classroom allows interactive participation among its members as well as with subject-matter experts dedicated to mentoring the community. The content of the Virtual Classroom is available to read, listen or view. With the benefit of reviewing the course's content, the members of the community can discuss the topics among themselves and ask questions. Mentors and experts are available when need to provide expert guidance and advice.

The blogs, tutorials and news contain in the Virtual Classroom are available on an on-demand basis as self-paced learning. You can log into the course's Virtual Classroom and use the content at any time. Your membership in the course never expires. New content is posted on a weekly basis, but back-issues of  content rarely expire. Therefore, the content grows steadily over time.

The peer learning community will serve as an ongoing community for students after they completed the other online ministry courses that will be offered in out upcoming Online Ministry Study Track.

Unlimited Access

As a free public service, your registration to this course never expires. Once registered, you can use this special-interest peer-learning community as long and as often as you wish. You may come and go into this course’s online Virtual Classroom as often as needed.

The content is added weekly so that there is a constant supply of new things to study.

New students can join the Virtual Classroom at any time and begin their studies without being behind. They can go on to study back issues for whatever depth of knowledge is desired.

Existing students can return as needed to top-up their general skills or look for learning on a specific topic not previously learned.

An Ideal Course for Both Individuals and Small Groups

This course is designed for both individuals and small groups who wish to learn more about the importance of healthy relationships in generous stewardship. The course makes an excellent small-group study as a church begin to learn how to get their church online.

Online Distance Learning

This a distance-learning course that can be completed online without the need for travel; either across town or to another city. The course can be taken from a home, office or even a coffee shop. All you need is a web browser and a broadband Internet connection. The course can be successfully used by people with only the most basic of computer skills.

Use any Device From Anywhere

Access this course from anywhere; at home, at the office or when out on the run. You can access our course videos 24x7 from anywhere you choose; you can in complete control. We fully support desktop devices as well as mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The responsive design of all of our web pages and video players will automatically size our materials and rearrange page regions to fit best the particular device you choose to use. Included in this support is our Adaptive Streaming technology that will automatically and dynamically adjust our streaming speed to fit best your particular broadband connection. Go as slow as 3G wireless connections or as fast as fiber-to-the-home connections allow. Rest assured that for any device or connection speed you elect to use, we will support it to the best possible quality the device allows.

Additional Information About "Effective Online Ministries."

In the sidebar on the right side of the page, there is additional information about this course. Please explore these pages for more information.

Course Instructor: Bill Anderton 

Bill Anderton is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientist of TeleWorship Corporation and the founder of TransformingTheChurch.org.

He is a career technologist and information scientist.

Bill has an extensive professional career leading both advanced technology teams building and operating infrastructure as well as creative teams creating large amounts of the high-quality content provided by the technical infrastructure.

Formerly, Chief Scientist and Senior Fellow of BroadbandNow he is a nationally-known expert in broadband and fiber-optic communications networks. Bill was also Vice President of Development and Director of Special Projects for Computer Support Corporation and an independent technology consultant working with the Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, NASA and became a Principal Consultant for Harvard Consulting.

Bill was Chief Technology Officer of the SITEC division of Space Industries International where he did a lot of pioneering work in the field of distance learning including the National Technical University (NTU) project and the Star Channels system of Kentucky Educational Television (KET.)

Bill is also an award-winning professional photographer, filmmaker and publisher. The evolution of the Internet, the World Wide Web and social media has placed a premium on people who can unify both creative and technology skills.

Initially educated as a chemist and physicist, Bill discovered photography and journalism while at Baylor University and added another major to his undergraduate studies to broaden his education. As a student, Bill became Director of the Baylor Photographic Center and interned at the legendary old Fort Worth Press in 1969, a Scripts-Howard daily newspaper, working under Bob Sellers, Publisher and Delbert Willis, Managing Editor.