wfn.org | ABCUSA: Redesigned Web Site Is Cornerstone of Identity Campaign =20

["CHANDLER, David" <David.Chandler@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Denver, Colo. 6/28/05)--A completely
redesigned and reorganized denominational Web site, a cornerstone of a
major identity campaign, is being launched here during meetings of the
American Baptist Churches USA General Board and the Biennial Meeting.

The new site went live today, following an intensive three-month period
of preparation.  The effort honors the commitment by the General Board
to lift up electronic media as the primary channel for the dissemination
of denominational communication.

"The message for Board members, Biennial attendees, and the American
Baptist family at large is that we want to serve and connect with our
local churches in the most effective ways we can to support their
ministries at the front line of mission," said Richard W. Schramm,
deputy general secretary for Communication, who reported to the General
Board on progress in the identity campaign on June 27.

"The idea for this ambitious-and unprecedented-identity campaign,"
Schramm said, "came from the Communication Council, a group brought
together four years ago to engage in coordination of communication and
collegial support for the program boards, the Office of the General
Secretary and denomination-wide communication offices.	We realized if
communication was to be vital and relevant for our time we needed to
hear first-hand from American Baptists in the pew what would best help
them understand and promote denominational identity.  We knew we all
produced quality media, but we really had no unqualified confirmation
from those we serve that what we presumed they needed and wanted was,
indeed, what we should have been providing for them."

Subsequently a Budget Review Committee proposal for funding this
endeavor was approved.	Implementation of the campaign was put on hold
until the completion of the Seek It! process, which has produced a
goldmine of information from this historic grassroots engagement of more
than 2,500 American Baptists from around the globe.

David Chandler, associate director of the Office of Communication, has
led the Web site redesign effort.  He has been assisted by Lois Hossler
of the Hossler Communications Group, Inc.

A new, interactive component of the site is "a virtual prayer
meeting"-PrayerNet, which was introduced on the old Web site several
weeks ago.  It provides an opportunity for American Baptists to pray for
their general secretary and to share their concerns so that your staff
might lift them up in prayer.  An e-mail list is in place to remind
American Baptists when the PrayerNet page is updated.  More than 700
people already have become actively involved in the site.

Other endeavors are underway as part of the identity campaign.	National
staff persons from the Seek It! Core Group--in consultation with the
Mission Vision Planning Task Force of the General Board--have developed
and defined the Key Ministry Areas that initially were identified at the
Seek It! Summit.  These definitions will be crucial to the development
of a cohesive campaign.

Several consultant proposals were reviewed by the Communications
Council, and the selected identity and branding consultant will start
work on a campaign after the Biennial.	"I expect we'll be looking at
producing a new denominational DVD (comparable to "Called to be a
Family" produced in the late 1980s), in addition to downloadable online
Powerpoint presentations, public service ads and other resources,"
Schramm said.

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA
x2077 / (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

05ABN63