CHMN 201
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Name: John Shisler
CHMN 201 – Section B02
WEBSITE EVALUATION
Church #1 Name:
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale
Church #1 Website:
www.calvaryftl.org
1.Ministry is…praying for others.
a.Does the church have a prayer ministry? What does it look like?
Yes, there is a prayer ministry. They encourage people with prayer requests to
come to their sanctuary before and after services. They also invite people to talk
to the pastor during live webcasts, which are held 8 times a week. They also have
an online form you can fill out to have their prayer team say a prayer for you and
your need. Additionally, they have prayer groups that meet at the three church
locations throughout the week.
2.Ministry is…following Jesus’ example by practicing spiritual mentoring and multiplying.
a.Does the church have a strategy for evangelism?
Yes.
b.Does the church have a strategy for discipleship?
Yes.
c.Briefly describe what they look like.
By reaching out to those who are hurt and lost in jail or prison, they are trying to
bring more people to the Lord. By taking on people who some others may be too
afraid to talk to, they give these inmates the chance to feel God’s grace and love
and to find a path for their lives once they have been released from prison. In
addition, they go to local nursing homes to take the message of Jesus out to those
who need some hope and want to have God in their life in their later years. They
also do mission trips, spreading the Word of the Lord to those who may not
normally have the opportunity to hear it.
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3.Ministry is…leading small groups.
a.Does the church have a small group ministry? What can learn about their small
group ministry from their website?
Yes. This church has a lot of specialized small group ministries, such as groups
for women, children, men, military, moms, inmates, and married couples. Having
these specialized ministries with smaller sizes helps to focus on certain topics that
will be more important to that group and may not be important to another group.
4.Ministry is…biblically balanced preaching and teaching
a.Does the website exhibit that the church has a strong Bible base?
No.
b.Are verses used throughout the website to support ministries, doctrinal statements,
etc.?
There are very few, if any, Bible verses used on the website when talking about
their ministries.
c.Does the church have an organized Christian Education program? If so, what does
it look like?
While there is discussion about a high school ministry and other ministries for
school age children, there is not any mention on their website of an organized
Christian Education program.
5.Ministry is…cultivating a culture of godly accountability for yourself and for those you
serve.
a.Does the church have an organized accountability program? If so, what does it
look like?
Not that is obvious from their website.
6.What do you feel is the church’s priority?
While this appears to be a large church, the priority of this church appears to be creating
smaller, more specialized groups within the church to help people focus on needs more common
within those smaller groups. They have plenty of ministries that break down people by more than
just gender and age. With this extra seperations, they can specialize their message for that group
and show them even better what God’s message can mean to their life and the situations going
on for them in their life.
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Church #2 Name:
Brookhollow Baptist Church (AKA The Church Without Walls)
Church #2 Website:
www.churchwithoutwalls.org
1.Ministry is…praying for others.
a.Does the church have a prayer ministry? What does it look like?
It does not appear as though they have much of a prayer ministry. They do have a
prayer request form on their website, but that is the only type of prayer ministry
that was obvious from their website.
2.Ministry is…following Jesus’ example by practicing spiritual mentoring and multiplying.
a.Does the church have a strategy for evangelism?
Yes.
b.Does the church have a strategy for discipleship?
Yes.
c.Briefly describe what they look like.
One of the biggest things they do is go out in their community and do door-to-
door talks with people who may not have a relationship with God. They also
donate clothing to those in need and share the Word of God with those people that
they are helping. Along with these two types of spreading the word, they also go
to jails and prisons to talk to inmates about God and how they can become God
loving, productive members of society when they are released. In addition, they
also spread God’s love through the Angel Tree program.
3.Ministry is…leading small groups.
a.Does the church have a small group ministry? What can learn about their small
group ministry from their website?
Yes. They have many specialized groups, also known within their church as Life
Groups, who break down larger groups into smaller, more specific groups who
can concentrate on more specific issues that would have more meaning to the
smaller group than the larger group. Some of their groups include separate groups
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depending on the age of children, singles groups, couples groups, and those
wishing to go into a life of service, ministry, and mission work.
4.Ministry is…biblically balanced preaching and teaching
a.Does the website exhibit that the church has a strong Bible base?
No.
b.Are verses used throughout the website to support ministries, doctrinal statements,
etc.?
No. While the website uses a modified version of the Nicene Creed in their “What
We Believe” section, it does not include many, if any, Biblical verses.
c.Does the church have an organized Christian Education program? If so, what does
it look like?
Yes, the church does have a Christian Academy. They take children as young as
12 months old and up to 2nd grade.
5.Ministry is…cultivating a culture of godly accountability for yourself and for those you
serve.
a.Does the church have an organized accountability program? If so, what does it
look like?
Not that is obvious on their website.
6.What do you feel is the church’s priority?
I believe this church’s priority is shaping Christian thinking from a young age. With the
Christian Acadmeny starting at 12 months old and services for all ages, they try to help people
stay close to God and Jesus from almost birth until their final calling home by the Lord.
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Church #3 Name:
Blue Ridge Community Church
Church #3 Website:
www.blue-ridge.org
1.Ministry is…praying for others.
a.Does the church have a prayer ministry? What does it look like?
Yes, they do have a prayer ministry. They have a prayer chain that passes on
prayer requests so that they can pray for you and your need.
2.Ministry is…following Jesus’ example by practicing spiritual mentoring and multiplying.
a.Does the church have a strategy for evangelism?
Yes.
b.Does the church have a strategy for discipleship?
Yes.
c.Briefly describe what they look like.
While not obvious at first, further reading into some of the articles on the website
show that there are people within the church community who go out to local jails
to minister to the people who are incarcerated. While to many people this might
be considered a little scary, one of their members was locked up themselves and is
able to better relate to those within the walls of the jail. Because of this, he can
bring Jesus into their lives and even bring them to the church once they are
released. Another way is by doing mission trips. They have many members who
go out to the world to spread God’s Word and show mercy through mission trips.
By acting how God taught us, this is one of the best ways to show how God wants
us to live and how fulfilling a life with God and Christ can be.
3.Ministry is…leading small groups.
a.Does the church have a small group ministry? What can learn about their small
group ministry from their website?
4.Ministry is…biblically balanced preaching and teaching
a.Does the website exhibit that the church has a strong Bible base?
Yes.
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b.Are verses used throughout the website to support ministries, doctrinal statements,
etc.?
Woven within the fabric of the website, especially in their weekly updates and
blog like entries from people who work within the church, there are many bible
verses used to help support their ministries and they activities at the time.
c.Does the church have an organized Christian Education program? If so, what does
it look like?
No, they do not have a Christian Education program.
5.Ministry is…cultivating a culture of godly accountability for yourself and for those you
serve.
a.Does the church have an organized accountability program? If so, what does it
look like?
Not that is obvious on their website.
6.What do you feel is the church’s priority?
This church’s priority seems like it is reaching groups that normally would not be
ministered to by some other churches. They go out to talk to groups like the homeless,
inmates in jails and prisons, and try to relate to groups who may think that the church is
not for them. They are interested in spreading God’s Word to everyone, no matter their
past because they know that Christ died for our sins and God loves all of His children.
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Complete the following within 2–3 pages.
What 3 ministry ideas stood out to you and why?
The first ministry idea that stood out to me was the reaching out to the inmates in the
local prisons and jails. This stood out to me because it is not a group that a lot of people may feel
comfortable working with, but it is also a group that I want to work with. By helping people see
that there is still hope in the Lord and that Jesus forgave us, no matter what our sin, it can help
bring new followers to the Lord and help spread the Word of God to an even larger audience.
The second ministry idea that stood out to me was separating smaller groups based on
jobs, such as Law Enforcement, military, and service professionals. By breaking down these
groups, you are able to find a common ground no matter the age or gender of the members and
show them exactly how the Lord speaks to them. You can customize your message to each
individual group and show them how the Lord speaks to them on a constant basis and works with
them in their lives all the time.
The third ministry idea that stood out to me was the online prayer ministry provided by
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. I like this idea because it integrates technology into their prayer
ministry, allowing people who may not be able to make it to the church during normal prayer
ministries to still be able to connect with the pastor and have their prayers heard and have other
people show compassion for them by praying for them. By reaching out to a larger audience, it
helps show the grace and mercy that the Lord has taught us and helps spread God’s message in
new ways that were not possible in the past.
Do you currently participate in these kinds of ministries? If so, how can your research help
you enhance what you are doing? If not, how can you include these ides in your ministry?
No, I do not currently participate in these types of ministries. I would love to start
participating in the ministry that assists bringing God’s Word to inmates. That is my ultimate goal
with my degree. I want to go to jails and prisons and be able to spread God’s Word to people who
may have lost their way or who may not think that God is with them.
Another thing I would love to do is implementing technology into whatever type of
ministry I do ultimately go into. I think using current and future technology is going to be the best
way to reach the next generation of Christians. While using websites is one thing, using webcasts
for services, prayer groups, and possible counseling will definitely be the way of the future and
something every church should look into.
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What differences did you identify between these churches?
I feel like Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale was much better at using technology than the
other two. While Brookhollow Baptist Church does broadcast their services online, they do not
go as far as Calvary Chapel by using interactive webcast for prayer groups. Blue Ridge
Community Church seems to be more into person-to-person, face-to-face ministry. They have
not really started any use of technology other than having a bare bones website to spread their
message. They have a lot of potential for expanding their web and technological presence, but
that didn’t seem to be something they were very interested in doing. Calvary Chapel and
Brookhollow Baptist may use their websites in different ways, but they do both embrace
technology. Calvary Chapel just embraces it even more than Brookhollow.
Do you think that size, geographic location or financial resources should influence your
philosophy of ministry? If so, how? If not, why not?
I definitely do not think that size, geographic location, or financial resources should
influence your philosophy of ministry. No matter where you are located, the size of your church,
or your financial resources, your philosophy should always include spreading the Word of God
and doing works so that God’s name can be raised up. By using location, size, or finances as
crutches for not spreading God’s Word, we are only trying to do the minimum to make ourselves
look better to the Lord and not trying to spread His Word to the world.
