:: AIP#23: We're All Over the Internet! ::

Well, some of you who have internet stalker tendencies have already discovered this, but The City Church is ready to make our online presence public. We've got several different venues on the good ol' world wide web, so I wanted to take a moment to invite you to find us on each one, and explain why we've landed in so many virtual places.

• www.fwcitychurch.org - the official website of The City Church. Thanks to our good friend Andrew Koebbe, we have a nearly-complete "hub" for our pre-launch days. While we will have a more fully-functioning site as we officially launch the church in January, the site currently has event details, enews sign-up (first one coming later this week; sign up now!), and links to our other online presences as well as to online giving. Bookmark www.fwcitychurch.org; it will be the most regular source of information and interaction as we move forward with our church family.
  
  
• The City Church [Fort Worth] - our group on facebook. Facebook promotes connection, discussion, and "online community." There are two options for organizations' pages on facebook: we chose to create a "group" over a "fan page," because as a "fan" of something, you're removed from it; you admire it from afar (like a band or a sports team). In a "group," you're a member; you're involved; you're invested. Since The City Church is a people and a family, we've got a facebook group. [That's a brief "theology of facebook"] We'll post news and updates, send messages to facebook members, and as one of the most useful elements, we'll post event details and beg you to RSVP via facebook! If you're not on facebook yet, it really is a useful tool, and we recommend you sign up and join The City Church [Fort Worth] facebook group!
  
  
• www.twitter.com/fwcitychurch - yup, we're "tweeting." It seems that people either love or hate Twitter, and it also seems that the dividing line is one's view of how the "micro-blog" site (as they call it) is used: several folks accuse it of promoting narcissism, as people post 250 times a day exactly what they're doing and if you will, "how cool they are." But, Twitter can also be a useful tool to give 140-character encouragement, news, and point people to other sites online - almost like a social "news ticker." That's what The City Church's twitter site will be: we'll announce upcoming events, point you to other City sites, blogs, and updates online, post biblical encouragement, and so forth. If you check out our Twitter site today, you'll find links to a couple websites related to faith and culture. So we're "twittering," but we'll use our twitter for good, not for evil! Come "follow" us!
  
  
• Adventures in Planting - a blogumentary of our journey toward planting The City Church. Obviously, you've found our "AIP" site. This blog series, posted on Ben's personal blogsite (www.oneglory.org) is meant to tell you how we got to this point in The City Church, where we're going, and give you a deeper look at elements of the church as it develops over the summer and fall of 2009. One of the most beneficial outflows of the Adventures in Planting blog has been the questions, comments, and feedback we've received, which helps us refine our vision and to know what critical issues we need to be thinking through at various stages in The City's development. So thanks for reading our nearly-daily posts, and we encourage, invite, and beg your input and feedback as we move forward!
  
  
• Other places you can find us online - a few spots that don't demand as much explanation:

www.scribd.com: a free site for online publications, you can read the 20-page prospectus/proposal for The City Church there.

Online giving: in our quest to raise $40,000 by September 1, we have a secure online giving option for you, through CCB (a site that I'll explain next)


Church Community Builder (CCB): this social site is like a City-specific, in-house facebook; we'll develop it more fully in coming months; click "sign up" to give it a whirl now if you want!

Thanks for hanging out with us online; PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON, AND PLEASE POINT OTHER FOLKS TO OUR VARIOUS WEBSITES TO GET THEM CONNECTED TOO! Thanks; we'll see you on the world wide web!