Larry Click of Grass Roots Software painted a scenario of the ultimate in tech-savvy churches in a recent newsletter:

"… you see a kiosk in the lobby. It's just a computer, really, but by clicking on your age range, a list of appropriate classes appears with what they are studying this week. You click on your choice and a map of the church is drawn to show you how to get there, with the choice to print the map."

For Westmoore Community Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., cultural relevance is about technical savvy. The church employs 11 staff members dedicated to continually improving technology and reaching people.

"We recognize that society today is very technology and media driven," said Shawn

Keene, technology manager and webmaster for the 2,200-member church.

Central to the ministry at Westmoore is an impressive Web site (www.westmoorechurch.com) that functions as a Christian chat room, bulletin board/newsletter of upcoming events and opportunities to volunteer, as well as an online registration and payment/contribution center for classes, trips, or even tithes and offerings, according to Keene.

Because the church Web site is so integral to the ministry of the congregation, both in communication and involvement, Westmoore realized the need to convey the Web site to members of its congregation that may not have regular Internet access. According to a recent case study, the staff decided to take on a project of turning a couple of old PC's into a self-service information center. Not only did this solution fit a tight budget, it continued the church's technological mission.

Surrounded by informational brochures in the middle of the church lobby the self-service kiosk center allows members to access the Westmoore Web site, sermon archives, and event information, and to sign-up for events or volunteer.

With all their technology, I wondered what a volunteer at Westmoore would do? According to Keene, the kiosk station itself requires volunteers to assist would-be surfers during weekend services. Keene insists that the kiosks are not replacing human contact, but only supplementing it. "People who are familiar with technology feel more at home when they can use the kiosk stations," he said.

Safety was also a concern with the free Internet access in the church building. According to Keene, the kiosks do not allow access to computer hard drives and kiosk software limits access to other Web sites and logs users off after a specified period of idle time.

"[The] KioWare [software] takes care of the hard part of locking down the system, enabling me to concentrate on the content, design, look and feel of the kiosk," says Keene.

The kiosk software cycles through pages of church Web site during periods of idle time. Using this feature Keene is able to highlight a particular sermon series, cycle through pictures from an event, or advertise signing up for an event from the kiosk. If interested, members can click on the page and are directed to more information. If they click on an event, they are directed to a page on the Web site to sign up, where they are then entered into the church database.

Many church leaders and evangelists see the Internet is the ultimate outreach tool. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States, spoke about the Web this spring in anticipation of the first Internet Evangelism Day. He encouraged all evangelical leaders to "explore their options for using the Web to win as many as possible to Christ."