Word on the Web subscribers to benefit from enhanced features

15 July 2008

Some people have been asking about getting Word on the Web on a mobile phone, PDA, as a podcast, and other features. These have all been considered as part of a comprehensive review of services and we are delighted to have found a way to provide these and more content.

Church Army's pioneering Word on the Web ministry will, from the end of September, be incorporated into Scripture Union's new WordLive service to guarantee a future proofed multi-media Bible experience for Christians. This means that Word on the Web will then stop sending daily emails. Between now and then we will be providing you with details of how to transfer your membership as painlessly as possible.

Word on the Web has been operating since 2000, and has built up a current supporter base of over 7,000 subscribers from over 100 countries around the world. The final Word on the Web reflection (28th September 2008) will be authored by David and Alison Booker who conceived the idea of web based ministry back in 1999 and produced the very first study. Word on the Web has issued more than 20 million daily emails over the course of eight years, covering 37 books of the Bible written by over 400 different contributors.

www.wordlive.org, launched by Scripture Union in January 2008, is a free resource allowing online users a wide range of creative approaches to God’s Word, including audio Bible passages, video clips, worship songs and prayer activities, as well as a daily Bible reading and explanatory notes.

James Burden, Associate Director of Scripture Union says, "We are delighted to be welcoming subscribers from Word on the Web to WordLive and in doing so celebrate the pioneering work of Church Army in web based ministry. We are pleased that Church Army will be involved in supplying future content for WordLive and promoting WordLive as part of their future web developments."

You can register to receive a daily WordLive email or podcast. Or you may prefer to access WordLive through your mobile or PDA. However you choose to use it, WordLive brings God's Word to you, wherever you go. Like Word on the Web, WordLive is available completely free. To see more go to www.wordlive.org.

We would like to assure you that we will not be passing on your details to Scripture Union as we do not have your permission to do this. Instead we will be creating a simple web page for you to register for WordLive from the Word on the Web site.

During August we will be running some fo the material from WordLive to give you a flavour of the service and will also provide more information about it.

The decision to bring to an end this part of Word on the Web has not been an easy one to take and many factors have been taken into account. The level of investment needed to compete with other providers is unrealistic, and Church Army prefer to partner and co-operate rather than compete. We are fully committed to online ministry and evangelism and this will enable Church Army to develop in a new direction with online web-based mission and evangelism communities. More on this will be sent to you over the coming weeks so that you can be involved if you wish to be.

On behalf of the Word on the Web Team, past and present, thank you for your support to date, and enjoy the next few weeks of daily reflections from Word on the Web.

WordLive is available completely free. To register for WordLive go to www.wordlive.org.

Captain Neil A Thomson CA
Church Army Online Services Manager.