February 2, 2000
Rick Warren offers pastors
a meeting place on Internet
___FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. (ABP) -- The local ministerial association is going global via a new high-tech ministry tool being promoted by California Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren.
___There is nothing new about pastors and other ministers gathering in various settings to swap ideas, interact and learn from and help each other. Warren and his wife, Kay, hope to replicate that kind of community in cyberspace with a new Internet site named www.pastors.com.
___Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., said he and his wife have been praying about how to use royalties from his book, "The Purpose-Driven Church," which has sold a million copies in 14 languages.
___They decided to use the money to build a site on the World Wide Web to provide free electronic mail and other Internet services to pastors and church leaders everywhere, he said.
___Among features is free e-mail for church leaders. Ministers can receive e-mail by their name plus "@pastors.com," instead of a cryptic user name assigned by an Internet service provider or a less-dignified domain name such as "Yahoo," Warren noted. The address doesn't change when a pastor moves to another state and can be used from anywhere. E-mail also can be encrypted for use by missionaries serving in areas where security is a concern.
___Pastors.com also offers clergy chat rooms and bulletin boards, placement notices and a daily devotional. Soon it will offer a church-to-church auction like the popular e-Bay, news and information and on-line stewardship consulting, he said.
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