Surfers on Internet have new wave to ride: The Evangelist on WWW

If that describes you, then you can read these words here or at The Evangelist's WWW site: http://www.global2000.net/evangelist.

Every week from now on, portions of the Albany diocesan newspaper will be available to anyone -- in the Diocese or around the globe -- who has a computer hooked up to the Internet.

Why we're there

We are taking this step onto the Web for several reasons:

To keep The Evangelist up-to-date on the means of modern communications, just as we have through the years as printing techniques and word-processing have evolved from lead type and lead pencils to high-speed presses and WordPerfect;

To provide an alternative way of bringing religious news, spiritual insights and information about the Church to Catholics and others who are interested in our contents;

To reach a new audience that is more prone to reading in cyberspace than on paper;

To offer schools a way of linking religion students to up-to- date religious news;

To evangelize those who do not know about the Church, much less one of its communications tools, and who might find us "on the net";

To provide a means for people away from home (at college, traveling, in the military etc.) to keep in touch with the Albany Diocese; and

To follow Pope John Paul II's call for the Church to use the modern means of communication "to transmit the message of Christ and to allow humanity to cross the threshold of the third millennium" with hope.

What's there

This week's WWW features include our coverage of other "cyber- news" in this special issue appropriately devoted to technology, computers and modern communication. Readers will also find the weekly TV column, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard's monthly column, and the calendar of events.

The Evangelist's site also provides a jumping-off point for related web sites, including:

* St. Edward the Confessor Church in Clifton Park (see article on page x), currently the only parish in the Diocese with its own web location;

* St. Catherine's Center for Children, which presents a graphically attractive home page with extensive information on its programs and services;

* The Catholic Press Association, to which we belong; and

* Church-related sites, including the Vatican.

The Evangelist's web site is the first formal step of the entire Albany Diocese onto the World Wide Web. A committee is working on plans to place departments and parishes on the Internet. One office, Vocations, already has its own e-mail address at [email protected]. As those diocesan plans are finalized, we will be announcing the WWW site for the Diocese. (Inquiries from parishes and offices about the committee should be directed to Jay Feeney, chancellor for finance and administration, at 453- 6612.)

Who gets credit

The Evangelist's gratitude for entry onto the Web goes out to a number of people, including our Board of Directors, whose foresight approved the move; and Global2000, which is providing uplink services.

But a special plaudit must be given to Barbara Oliver, our business manager. She has shepherded the project from the Board's okay through contractual negotiations with the provider to the placement of these words on the WWW. Her techno-skills are such that she taught herself how to translate articles into "Web-ese" over a weekend, thus accelerating our arrival on the Internet.

We hope "The Evangelist on the WWW" will offer you a new way of keeping in touch with the Church at large and with the Diocese in particular. (As an extra incentive for you to visit right away, there's a contest going on right now.)

To let us know your reaction, be sure to use the e-mail link at the site, which offers you a way of sending letters to the editor on anything related to the newspaper.

(07-18-96) [[In-content Ad]]