Network Ipswich – Our First Year

By Alan Fisher

 

 

Our first task was to get to grips with the Church Insight software used to run the site. Whilst this is very powerful, and enables us to do all sorts of things, it is quite complicated and takes a bit of getting used to.

 

So, very special thanks are due to Tim Jones of Network Cities and Keith Morris of Network Norwich, who have helped us enormously over the course of year. And also, from our own team, Bev Deacon, who has kept the Calendar entries up to date, and Terence Cooper, who has been a tower of strength on technical support and updating the Church Directory part of the site.

 

 

I guess the main story this year is that readership has more than doubled over the period. The chart shows that there was steady growth for most of the year - with one large peak in the middle, which was probably due to special interest generated by the wonderful Pentecost event in the town centre (hopefully to be repeated in 2010).

 

It is very much Heart for Ipswich’s vision that the Network Ipswich website should be a key source of local information, so that Christians from many churches are enabled to work more closely together to help meet the social and spiritual needs of the people of Ipswich, and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel.

 

The CLC bookshop has been helpful in giving out flyers with books they have sold, to make us more widely known. But if you could personally encourage others visit the site regularly that would be great. And how about making Network Ipswich your home page, so that you can see the latest news whenever you open your browser? (Some information on how to do this is given below, if you use Internet Explorer)

 

 

Another area that has become well established is the issue of e-bulletins, incorporating Ipswich in Prayer. These go out twice monthly to well over 400 contacts, with news of upcoming events, matters for prayer and other items of interest. Many people have registered with Network Ipswich over the course of the year in order to receive this information.

 

 

You will probably have seen the earlier article about Hannah Cook joining the team on a one day a week basis. She will bring much needed continuity and artistic skills (Hannah has a degree in Illustration) and is now the person at the end of our phone and email in-box (admin@heart4ipswich.co.uk). We also hope she will be able to provide some administrative help with projects that are just starting up. We have an A3 colour printer in the Heart for Ipswich office which could be used for posters etc (for a small charge). If you have a need that you think we may be able to assist with, please contact Hannah at the email address above or on 07532 106 811.

 

 

We must also include a thank you to everyone who has sent us material for stories over the year. People are definitely interested in what is going on in the Christian world in Ipswich, and a simple story about your project, or how God has worked in your life, can be really encouraging to others.

 

It is interesting to see which articles generate the most interest in terms of readers (we know how many “hits” each gets). Consistently top of the list are pieces about people’s real life experiences, which often attract several hundred readers. We recently started a series called “My Story……” in which local Christians explain something about their life experiences, and how their faith has been central to their life story. This has produced a very positive response and if you think you might be able to contribute something to this series, please do get in contact, either by email to stories@heart4ipswich.co.uk, or phone 01473 730418.

 

 

Which leaves us with the question “Where next?” One area we would like to develop further is to help those with visions for new projects meet up with others who share similar visions. The recent Heart for Ipswich dinner for leaders of cross-church projects went some way towards this, but it may be that there are others with something that God has put on their hearts, and who are unsure of how to move ahead on their own.

 

One possibility may be to have a new section on the website, perhaps called “Dreams and Visions”, where people can post their ideas for others to share or comment on. We may also be able to help in some more practical ways to get new projects underway.

 

Another possible development is a Services Directory, where people who want to advertise their services (businesses, projects etc) to the Christian community can do so. We may also include a section with links to other Christian websites in the area. If you have any thoughts on these ideas, please let us know.

 

So finally, our thanks go to all the readers of Network Ipswich. Please keep reading, sending information, commenting (remember, you can add a comment to the foot of any story) and making the site known more widely. And of course, please pray. To quote a line from Operation Mobilisation - “Prayer is the fuel of action”.