Methodists Launch New ICT Resources Website to Improve Church Life

In this era of information, technology has become very essential in every aspect of church life to enable effective communication. The Methodist Church of Great Britain has launched a website, which will serve as a platform for churches to share Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources with one another.

The Methodist Churches across the UK have been producing their own ICT resources tailored to their needs. Through the website "Sharing Church ICT Resources", there is an opportunity to broaden the use of ICT within the whole Church.

All the resources on the website have been produced locally and the originators have kindly agreed to share them with others for use in churches.

A wide range of ICT resources for worship, prayer and administration are available, for example, Powerpoint presentations created for worship or even specialised software to cut down the effort involved in creating a circuit plan. Some of these resources are samples taken from other resources such as CD Roms.

A section on the website provides a list of links to other websites as well. Users can further find more free resources for use in producing their own videos, powerpoint presentations, websites and printed material.

The Methodist Church has recognised the rapid expansion of the use of ICT in recent years. The Church quoted a government survey in 2003 which revealed that 50 percent of homes were connected to the internet, and as many as 96 percent of the population were aware of a place where they could get online if need be.

The Church has also been aware of the dark side of the Internet; unhealthy information that can be found across the internet and in e-mail inboxes. Nevertheless, the Church encourages technology to be used as a medium to spread the message and to be used for God's purposes.

An information booklet entitled "Using Technology in Worship" was produced by Creative Arts in Methodism Department last year, promoting the use of the visual arts and ICT in worships.

Rev Mark Pengelly wrote in the book, "the technology is only the delivery vehicle for what we want to communicate and express - it’s the means, not an end. The end is the Gospel, which by God’s Spirit has been communicated through generations."