Christianity Today, has been riding the bucking bronco known as the Internet since 1994. And we have surprised even ourselves that not only have we managed to stay on but have actually won a few prizes. The main prize is the number of people making “page impressions” (which is geek talk for a discrete downloaded page; an average visitor may make several impressions for each visit): Christianity Online (CO) overall garners 5.1 million impressions a month (with CT collecting over 100,000 of those), which translates into over half a million people visiting us online.
CO began this journey as a small lifestyle niche within America Online (keyword: CO). In 1996 we expanded to the Web (www.ChristianityToday.com) as well. Along the way we have added many services:
- A search engine for finding past articles and topics covered in CT;
- The Christianity Online Shopping Mall where you can purchase books, Bibles, music, and videos;
- Fellowship Hall where believers converse;
- Net/SEARCH, a searchable directory of over 10,000 Web sites (with links) of interest to Christians;
- Special interest areas, such as the Christian Career Center, Singles Connection, Church Leadership Network, and Bible and Reference;
- The contents of all 13 of our company’s publications, such as BOOKS & CULTURE, CHRISTIAN HISTORY, and LEADERSHIP.
In the coming months we will add new services and features. In fact, that is our dream: to make a subscription to CT an ongoing dynamic relationship that provides many tools for equipping God’s saints to better fulfill his calling on their lives.
Magazines, essentially, document an ongoing conversation. For CT the conversation involves the whole church: Christian thought leaders, scholars, pastors, ministry workers, and churchgoers all trying to discern what God is doing in the world and how we can best engage the culture with the gospel. We invite you to become an active participant in that conversation.
And I hope you enjoy the ride.
Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
