I read with interest the news of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association laying off 50 of their staff – or 10% of their total.  In the announcement was their plan to focus more of their resources on internet evangelism and by implication away from the more traditional activities of the association.  I’m assuming that means crusades and the retreat/conference ministry of the Cove among other things. This is the second time in three years they have reduced their staff.  It’s not a reflection of hard times financially as the BGEA is probably one of the best funded ministries in the world with a 2010 budget of almost $128 million and a large permanent endowment in the foundation.  It’s a reflection of something else entirely and it will be interesting and instructive for other traditional ministries to watch.  Can a well-funded and complex ministry make a transition?  Others like Campus Crusade Focus on the Family Navigators Young Life and Youth for Christ ” are making their own adjustments and each handling them differently.

What intrigued me most was the intention of focusing more on internet evangelism.  Until recently” I had almost total skepticism about many of the presentations I have heard over the years promoting the benefits of internet evangelism.  At the top of the list is the argument that donors get more “bang for their buck” in conversions because the expenses are low and the reach is so great.  I’ve even had people with laptops in my office who keep a little counter open at the top of their screen to show me how many people are coming to Christ while we are talking.  It reminds me of those internet sites that calculate the national debt every second or how many people are being born outside the United States in developing countries.  There’s just something creepy about it.  As well I keep thinking about the cumulative effect of all these internet ministries bringing millions to faith every year with virtually no expense or human connection.  If I begin to add up their combined numbers I sometimes think they should be converting the entire population of the world every two years at the rate they present their progress.  Of course that doesn’t account for all the people being born or too young or remote to access the internet.  Still ” it’s a pretty big number.

Last Fall a group from The Gathering went to Europe to look at a variety of ministries.  Among them was an internet ministry that was founded by French pastor Eric Celerier: Jesus.net (www.jesus.net).  While Eric ably articulates the economic advantages of internet evangelism” he also was able to share with our group two of the benefits we don’t hear much about with all the talk about numbers.  First internet evangelism depends on broadly dispersed networks of volunteers instead of staff intensive organizations.  It requires relationships with countless small churches and fellowship groups for follow-up.  Since the technology actually increases the productivity of the people involved ” there is very little need for middle management.  The human component is focused on the individuals responding and not the organization itself. 

Second” there is a group of people described as “digital natives” who have never known a time without the internet.  They think of internet resources as being authoritative and relevant as we did personalities and messages on television twenty years ago.  They respond to it in ways that we could not.  So where I would be put off by internet evangelism as being cold and impersonal they would see it just the opposite.  It’s a different game and a world where crusades printed literature and door-to-door cold calls do not work.  Internet evangelism is not a silver bullet for any organization.  However it does take advantage of an opportunity that is new and here to stay.