If you do a word association test on your friends with the words 'world wide web the most common phrases to pop up will be, with a roll of the eyes, 'Porn, 'spam, and 'waste of time.

Yet according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2000, there were 3.9 million registered Internet users in Australia. Five years on, the Nielsen Net ratings estimate there are 13,410,833 Internet connections! This number will only increase as internet providers offer cheaper connection deals and the idea of being 'online becomes more and more part of daily life.

Over 60% of our population are hooked up to the Internet, for one purpose or another. Fewer than 35% of parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, however, are represented on the World Wide Web. Clearly, theres a contradiction here between the way people are seeking information, and the way the church is delivering it.

Archbishop Peter Watson reminds us (on the Diocesan site!) that 'more people use the Internet to find information on religion and spirituality than have gambled online, traded stocks, or banked online. So, I believe it's vital for the Anglican Church to have a presence in cyberspace.

Anglican Media Melbourne has a manifold approach to developing this area of ministry – for it is indeed a ministry - for the Diocese and for parishes within the Diocese.

The most obvious area of development is the Dioceses websites. The Diocesan site has a page for each ministry area, and provides links to parish and regional sites. Anglican Media Melbourne has a regularly updated news bulletin service as well as providing an online edition of The Melbourne Anglican, the Dioceses newspaper. We also provide online services and advertising, and are developing an online community.

Anglican Media Melbourne is also responsible for assisting parishes to set up their own websites, providing technical information and workshops, as well as advice on planning and maintenance.

The biggest challenge to providing an effective online ministry is failing to integrate a web site into the wider mission of the organisation. Too often, the project is presented as 'Lets set up a web page rather than corporately and carefully considering the role of online ministry and how it fits in with all the organisations foci.

The website then becomes a little-used electronic white elephant with negligible practical application beyond providing a phone number and an address, failing to convince Internet sceptics within the congregation that it is an area worth investing resources into. Under resourced and irrelevant, the web site then becomes a wasted opportunity for outreach.

Contemporary churches are required to be media savvy, and it is essential to develop a dedicated group of skilled people who are working together to ensure consistency between the values and agreed mission of the organisation and the website, print media, newsletters and pew sheets, electronic and physical mailing lists and media releases. Developing a website should not be an afterthought that is delegated to the first person who has the right software, only to be thought of when the content is hopelessly out of date. It needs to be part of a coherent communication strategy, with clear goals and a strong editorial policy.

Running an online ministry is as complicated as developing any other ministry strategy. Planning is important, research is vital, and prayer is primary! As a web editor and media development officer, the first instruction I give to clients and workshop participants is: 'Pray!'

When my family first connected to the Internet six years ago, I too was sceptical about its usefulness. We were living in an isolated rural community, and I was finding it difficult to get the support I needed as a young mother new to the area. I logged on one day to find an online support community of other young, isolated mothers, and eventually was employed to run that community. The relationships I formed were real and the outreach potent, even when people with whom I was interacting were half a world away.

The Internet provides a powerful opportunity for us to reach people with pressing needs and explain to them how the Gospel and the Church, the embodiment of that Gospel, can help meet those needs. All it needs is forethought, prayerful support and a little media know-how.

Jane Still is web editor for Anglican Media Melbourne, www.media.anglican.com.au