March 2006

This monthly column features some of the best internet resources for ministries around. If you'd like to contribute a favorite resource, we'd like to include it! Let's get started...

Top Links:

The Source for Youth Ministry
Jonathan McKee started this non-profit in the late 90's to provide cutting-edge resources for youth workers. He provides time-tested advice and information that everyone can use. I especially like the section called "I need to know how to...", where a Q & A format provides quick access to important answers.

Developing an Urban Youth Ministry
Tommy Carrington wrote this good article for Youth Specialties. Whether you're new to urban youth ministry or not, you may find the information helpful. As a former youth minister, it was good to see a reminder that you don't have to be fancy or have a lot of cash to make a big impact.

30 Second Kneel-Down
What's wrong with See You At The Pole? Not much, except that it only happens once each year! The folks at 30kd have taken a different approach by helping students get their school day started on the right foot...on their knees.

Devotionals:

Sometimes we're so busy that we neglect God's Word...here's a simple way to spend some time in God's Word: Our Daily Bread. It's been almost 70 years since Radio Bible Class began. They now have ministry offices in 20 countries, and their devotional booklets have been translated into nearly 30 languages. I read ODB in high school and college, and find them both quick and meaningful. Rather than skip study time, why not take 2 minutes and start your day right? ODB is available in 7 languages and can be downloaded to your PDA.

Website Faux Pas:

Faux pas: a French phrase meaning "false step" or "social blunder". It's easy to commit a website faux pas, so I'll outline one at a time to keep you out of trouble.

Special Fonts
Lots of budding web designers (and overworked volunteers) use special fonts to make their website look nice. This is a good idea...but if you don't understand how computers use fonts, it can backfire.

Tip: to see your special font, a visitor's computer must actually have the font you're using! Let's pretend that your ministry uses the font named "Badaboom" in its logo. You, of course, want to use the font wherever you can...so you make your web pages display text using Badaboom. Neato! It looks great on your computer, and on mine...but very few of your website's visitors actually have Badaboom installed on their computers. The result? They don't see what you see, they see the words in their computer's default font (typically Times New Roman or Tahoma).

Tip: use special fonts for headlines and logos, but use a common font for page content. For those places where you need a special font, make a graphic using the font. Everyone will see the graphic exactly as you've created it. For paragraphs of text, use a font that virtually everyone has on their computer: arial, courier, georgia, helvetica, tahoma, times new roman, trebuchet, or verdana.

That's it for now. I'll be back next month with more information on using the internet to enhance your ministry...and, of course, let YouthPartnersNET know if you have a resource you'd like to share. Have a great day!

Tony

Tony Scialdone has been online since 1997, but he isn't a web pioneer or an innovator or a groundbreaker. He is, however, a geek. In addition to spending almost enough time with his family, Tony operates Straight Street Design, a web design and hosting company in Morrison, Colorado. He manages the YouthPartnersNET website, and recently completed the new website design for YPN.

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