Gospel.com Blog

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization starts tomorrow! That’s an intimidating name, but the gathering (taking place in Cape Town, South Africa) is easily one of the biggest and most anticipated events in the evangelical world. Over 4,000 leaders from hundreds of countries will gather to discuss poverty, HIV/AIDS, persecution, and world religions, among other topics. It runs through October 25.

If you aren’t on an airplane flight to Cape Town right now, it’s OK—you can experience much of the Congress online. All of the plenary sessions will be broadcast on the internet, and you can join in discussion with Congress participants (with automated translation to overcome the language barrier).

Take a look at the Cape Town 2010 website for a complete breakdown of the Congress and how you can participate. The Lausanne Congress Facebook and Twitter pages are also good places to get up-to-the-minute updates. If you plan to participate, we’d love to hear from you in the comment section below, along with any of your reflections on the Congress once it wraps up!

What does your internet ministry look like… and is it as effective as it could be? If you’re a church, ministry, or individual struggling to make the transition from simply having an online presence to doing meaningful online ministry, here’s a piece of exciting news: the Internet Ministry Conference is back!

The Internet Ministry Conference (IMC) was once the cornerstone of the now-defunct Gospelcom Ministry Alliance. Attendees, ranging from lone bloggers to the leaders of global Christian organizations, all gathered for one purpose: to learn how to more effectively use the internet to carry out their Christian calling. Today, that means more than just learning how to set up a good website—it also means making good use of social media, mobile devices, and other online tools to reach your audience.

The last IMC was way back in 2008… and so it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Reconnect Productions is re-launching the Internet Ministry Conference this fall! IMC 2010 takes place on October 26-27 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and registration is now open.

Speakers lined up for the conference so far include social media guru Dan Zarrella and online ministry expert Kent Shaffer. You can read more about the speakers and other conference-related news at the IMC blog.

Early-bird registration is still available but won’t last forever, so if you’re interested in two days of internet ministry training and networking, take a moment to see if IMC 2010 is a good fit for you.

Update: the Internet Ministry Conference Twitter feed is the best source of news and updates about the conference.

What does a Christian life look like in the world of academia? Last December, InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries put on the Following Christ conference, where speakers like N.T. Wright and Andy Crouch talked about faith and the academic world. And fortunately for those of us who didn’t attend, they’ve collected audio and video from the conference and put it all online for free at the Following Christ conference website.

The highlight of the site is the archive of conference audio, which contains over seven hours of audio from the conference’s plenary sessions, including a three-part study of Colossians by N.T. Wright and an exhortation to understand science as worship by Francis Collins.

If you’re a grad student or a faculty member in the hallowed halls of academia (or even if you’re not), this is a site worth checking out—it’s living proof that the Christian faith is alive and well in the world of higher education.

There’s no shortage of Christian conferences out there to attend—there are leadership conferences, revival conferences, marriage conferences, and countless others, all aimed at cultivating your talents, relationships, or faith. But the more technologically-oriented among you might be interested in Godbit’s list of Christian tech conferences in 2009.

They list several tech conferences taking place this year that have a specific focus on the intersection of faith, evangelism, and technology. First up (in February) is the Ministry 2.0 conference, followed by BibleTech in March, Dynamic Church in May, and the Echo Conference in July. Whether you’re a veteran techie, a blogger, a church leader, or just want to explore how Christianity does and should make use of media and technology, take a look at these conferences and see if one of them is a fit for your schedule and interests.

We’re off to the Internet Ministry Conference this week! That means posting here will be a bit light, but we’ll be keeping busy blogging over at the conference blog. Over the next several days, we’ll be attending workshops and sessions about every aspect of online ministry. If you’re curious about the conference, be sure to check there for blog posts (or watch the conference Twitter feed) from us and other conference attendees.

Next week will see not one, but two separate conferences put on by members of the Gospel.com community!

First up is the Internet Ministry Conference, hosted by Gospel Communications (creators of Gospel.com, among other things). Over 200 people—representatives of internet ministries both large and small—will gather in Grand Rapids, Michigan for four days of workshops and networking, all focused on the challenge of doing effective online ministry. Registration for IMC is closed, but keep an eye on the conference blog for updates and reports during the conference.

The other conference next week is the Revival Conference, hosted by Sermon Index. Registration is still open, and it’s free—so if you can make it down to Atlanta, Georgia next week, consider attending! There will be a live webcast of the conference on the conference website starting on October 21, so if you can’t make it, you can still participate online.

That’s a busy week—hope you can attend one of these conferences!

Will God send another great awakening? Can revival still change nations? These were among the questions addressed at last year’s Revival Conference, which featured many different speakers on the topic of revival and was attended by over 1,000 people.

If you missed the 2007 conference, you’re in luck—the Revival Conference 2008 is coming to two different places: Atlanta, Georgia (October 21-23) and Greenock, Scotland (November 25-27). The Revival Conference is a different kind of conference than you may be used to: there’s no charge to attend, no materials for sale there, and no big bands or flashy entertainment. Just a great lineup of speakers and thousands of other people committed to spiritual revival.

To get a feel for what the Revival Conference is like, you can browse the archives from the 2007 conference. If you can’t make it this year, the conference will be broadcast live online, so you won’t have to miss it entirely. So mark your calendar and plan to attend, either in person or over the internet!