CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Web site -- www.elca.org -- has been cited as "perhaps the most thorough Protestant site on the Web" in the December 2001 issue of Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.
Featured in the magazine's guide to "Religion on the Net," the ELCA's Web site was noted for providing the church's history, "time lines and LutherLink online discussion."
"I was pleased that the folks at Yahoo! Internet Life picked up on the fact that the LutherLink online community is also part of the ELCA's Web presence. Our goal is not just to connect our members and leaders to resources for ministry, but also connect them to each other for mutual support and information sharing," said Paul Edison-Swift, director for interactive media and networks, ELCA Department for Communication.
"Our intention with www.elca.org is not to create a virtual church, but to present ways for people to discover the wonderful, life- giving work that is being done across the ELCA and to help them encounter God through the people in our congregations, colleges, seminaries and social service agencies," said Edison-Swift.
The ELCA's Web site "contains more than 10,000 pages and receives an average of 1 million page-views per month," said Rex M. Paisley, ELCA Web manager.
The ELCA's Web site includes the church's history, information about the ELCA's 10,816 congregations and 65 synods across the United States and Caribbean, domestic and global ministries, news and directories designed to locate ELCA-related audio, print and video resources.
"We are pleased and honored by this recognition, which is especially sweet coming from a secular journal like Yahoo! Internet Life," said the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director, ELCA Department for Communication.
"We take it as a recognition not only of the fine Web work done by the church's Departments for Communication and Information Technology staff, but also by the many staff from other ELCA churchwide units who contribute regularly to www.elca.org. Such recognition only makes us more determined to live up to what Yahoo! Internet Life said about our Web site," Shafer said.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
