David Posthuma founded E-Church Essentials with the vision of creating an online software program that non-technical ministry professionals could use, empowering them to extend their relational ministry efforts online. David's goal was to create online tools that enabled the Church to fullfill the four key missional directives we find in the New Testament, within an online environment:

• Evangelism
• Discipleship
• Christ-Centered Community
• Equip and Mobilize People Into Ministry Service

While the staff of E-Church Essentials are evangelical and not Catholic, we appreciate the perspective of Pope John Paul II, who proposed a vision similar to ours in 1990. At the time, the internet was virtually non-existent. Yet his words adequately sum up the vision and passion of E-Church Essentials.

"With the advent of computer telecommunications, the Church is offered further means for fulfilling her mission. Methods of facilitating communication and dialogue among her own members can strengthen the bonds of unity among them...She can hear more clearly the voice of public opinion and enter into continuous discussion with the world around her, thus involving herself more immediately in the common search for solutions to humanity's many pressing problems...It is clear that the Church must also avail herself of the new resources for her ever pressing task of evangelization". (Statement in connection with World Communications Day, May 27, 1990)

Our vision for ministry aligns with the following points emphasized by the Pope:

1) The internet offers the Church further means of accomplishing her mission in this world.

The Christ-given mission is to "go throughout the world and to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you".

Internet-based solutions can help accomplish the tasks of "making disciples" and "teaching them to obey". However, internet technology cannot "baptize". Nor can the process of becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ be accomplished in relational isolation. This is why E-Church Essentials is specifically designed to integrate with established real-world ministry structures.

2) Communication among church members can strengthen the bonds of unity.

E-Church Essentials excels at inter-body communication. From websites to personal blogs, e-learning programs, team management systems, membership and event management, and topical forums...the communication tools exist to facilitate communication in a way never before possible.

3) Involvement of the church in ministering to the world is essential.

E-Church Essentials emphasizes ministry team training, mobilization and management. From our team-building assessments (personality profile, Spiritual Gift Assessment and Style of Leadership Assessment) to a team-building search engine that identifies ideal candidates for specific ministry roles, the Essential Solution is the premier system for empowering and supporting ministry team mobilization.

4) The Essential Solution supports glocal (global and local) evangelization.

Since E-Church Essentials is an internet based service, worldwide communication of the Gospel is readily available. There is no longer anything that stands in the way of the Church "going into all the world and making disciples"....the only obstacle is the vision capacity of your local church leadership. World-wide discipleship no longer requires considerable money or technical abiblity; E-Church Essentials has addressed these obstacles. With E-Church Essentials, your ministry can unleash its church membership to blog about Christ and how he is working in and through their lives...this is postmodern evangelism. You can provide e-learning courses that introduce Christ to people around the world! You can post sermons and teachings from your website. You can hold seeker-sensitive discussions with people in your community forums. The only limit to your church's global impact is your appreciation of the tools E-Church Essentials makes available to your church.

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