On the Internet, every house of worship can find a home.Houses of Worship, a World Wide Web site, is where the churches of North America, all 330,000 or so of them, can find a free Web home page of their own.
The churches are already listed on blank home pages that a congregation can fill in.
The ambitious project is underwritten by the New York-based American Bible Society, using the technical expertise of OnTV, a Web site developer that worked with the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation to first launch the project in that city.
The Leadership Foundation has regional affiliates throughout the country, including one based in Chicago, and is helping to spread the word.
A list of congregations by city is pinpointed by ZIP code.
Aurora includes 86 entries for congregations.
Seven local churches have already used the home pages furnished by Houses of Worship.
The Rev. Roger Thomas, pastor of First Christian Church, attended a seminar in Chicago last month that introduced him to the Web-based project.
Thomas, president of the Aurora Area Clergy Association, is now spreading the word in the area.
"Some of our folk had been talking about it, reading about it," said Thomas.
"So that was on our radar screen, and I noticed this seminar information."
Accommodating differences
The site for each church includes pages for a message from the minister, schedule of services, youth activities and needs and resources.
Churches which already have a page can link to the Houses of Worship, giving them another access point on the Web.
The number of churches in the U.S. and Canada -- Mexico is being added -- which have used the Houses of Worship project is approaching 10,000, said Webmaster Alan Freed, of the Pittsburgh-based OnTV. Project organizers have been working in selected regions, including Chicago, and plan a national rollout of their effort in the spring, working with the major denominations.
"We really haven't begun yet," said the Rev. John Stahl-Wert, national director of the project at the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation.
The foundation's aim is to develop a network for churches and their resources.
The Bible Society's interest is to have an electronic distribution network that can help it build partnerships.
The combination of organizations links many diverse people in a faith-based venture.
"People have seen it as a way to dialog," said Gary Nederveld, executive director of the MidAmerica Leadership Foundation in Chicago.
"What's nice about the Internet is it allows people to cross race and cultural differences."
Potential for partnerships
The project has some limitations.
The originators admit the database they used to develop the list of churches was incomplete.
But churches can be added by contacting the site Webmaster.
So far, says Freed, the response from those already involved has been "overwhelmingly positive." A continent-wide network of churches offers great potential for partnerships and sharing.
"It puts the religious community well ahead of what's being done out there," said Aurora pastor Thomas.
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site address: www.housesofworship.net or www.hows.net; instructions are provided for finding a church site or adding one for support: e-mail the site's Webmaster or call the Houses of Worship project at (888) 437-3746
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