Monday, January 10, 2005

8:56 PM In my sermon yesterday I mentioned the explosive growth of the church in China in since 1949 (when the Communists came to power). Here are a few articles that discuss how the church grew despite persecution and repression: Jesus in Beijing China’s Christians on a Global Mission God TV and China Religion in China Today The “Back to Jerusalem” Movement 8:41 PM First Watch for men starts in 3 days. The four Pritchard men (me, Mark, Nick, my brother Alan) will be at First Watch. We’ll give a brief report and then we’ll be leaving at 8:45 AM for the airport to fly to China. 8:41 PM We leave for China in 3 days. 7:47 PM Here’s a good example of “the church in many places” via our Internet broadcast:

Pastor Ray, I hope all is well with you and your family. We are still keeping up with the church though the website and the webcast sermons. Yesterday morning I was home with my two boys (Josh 5 and Jacob 3) for a few hours while Stephanie went to the dentist. I was listening to the 26 Dec sermon and during the offering I noticed that my kids were dancing across the kitchen to the rockin’ music. It was great to see and hear. In this push for the church in many places you may want to expand your thoughts beyond Chicago. I would not underestimate the numbers and locations that people are participating with the services via the internet. Even though it has been about 2.5 yrs since we lived in Oak Park, I still feel a strong connection to CMC, even more than our current church. Do you have any demographics regarding the location and numbers of people listening over the internet? Best wishes for the new year and God Bless, Joel Eisner Durham, NC

We don’t have sophisticated tracking software but we do know that people from all over the world access the services—both live and through the archives. We hear from people in different places who worship with us via the Internet—some every week and some occasionally. Our audience includes missionaries, college students, Internet surfers, recent church visitors, and former members/attenders who have moved away and still feel a part of of the church via the Internet broadcasts.