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"There is also a chat room, but those comments and discussions are not permanently recorded. That is very live. Anybody can participate as long as they remain courteous."

Schaefer told ENI that DPS offered several specialty sites. "We have a theology site - right now we are discussing a very hot issue - the blessing of same-sex unions. Pastor Thomas Hall is freelance homiletics editor. Father John, a Roman Catholic priest, is the main volunteer editor - there are four in all. I have volunteers in place to monitor what is going on and weed out extreme material.

"And we may be the first organization on the web that has a chaplain for a cyber-community. We have retained a freelance, former hospital chaplain, Pastor Kenny. Members are invited to e-mail him whenever there is a problem. He is always there for them. Our current topic is self-help tips for the clergy family."

The list of registered subscribers is growing, Schaefer told ENI: "Most of them are from the United States, but the second largest group is from Canada; third Australia, and fourth the United Kingdom. There are only a few from New Zealand and South Africa. The only non-English-speaking country that is represented in the membership is The Netherlands.

"The site is extremely ecumenical. We're mindful of different traditions, countries, cultures. It is an absolute must for me to honor those differences."

Schaefer, who was born in Wuppertal, Germany, did an apprenticeship in electronics and studied electrical engineering but then decided to become a translator, and specialized in technical translation. He came to the United States in 1989 to broaden his horizons and improve his spoken English. It was while he was in the US that he felt called to the ministry, trained as a pastor, and on graduation in 1996 accepted a call to Avon United Methodist Church in Lebanon, in the state of Pennsylvania. He had not met any colleagues in the area when he began searching the web for information. "I got in touch with others on the web that had Christian sites and collaborated with them. With permission I took bits and pieces from their sites and put them on my site, adding my thoughts and inviting people to e-mail any thoughts they may want to share. I got responses that I pasted on to the site. I didn't have the technology to do it any other way."

DPS got off to a slow start via e-mail, but in late 1997 Schaefer invested in a computer program that offered the facilities he was looking for. "Now I could actually automate the process so that people's responses could appear right away for everybody to see and respond. When it became 'live' it just mushroomed. It is published for hundreds and thousands to read - immediately."

The name for the site came naturally, Schaefer said. "I always felt desperate when it came to preaching. There is quite some pressure. You have to have the sermon done by Sunday morning."

Schaefer, aged 38, married his wife Brigitte in 1980. The couple now have four children, Tim aged 16, Debbie 14, Kevin 10 and Pascal 6. Schaefer praised his wife, describing her as "a non-reimbursed leader, helper and employee of DPS. She takes care of all the mail."

He said of the Web site he created: "I often get a sense of being in closer touch with what God is doing globally - beyond my little parish." The aim of DPS was, he said, "furthering God's kingdom on earth by helping the Christian church to find original and creative ways to reach people with God's message of love, peace and hope."

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November (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44