For Cyber-Visitors, It’s Fun at First Site

What: Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church Web site

Where: https://www.lotc.org

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As church Web sites go, this is a fun one. And it’s apparently effective too. Co-lay leader Mike Mitchell says the “off-the-wall” site brings the Anaheim Hills church two-thirds of its new members. “We plaster our Web address everywhere,” says Mitchell, who adds that more than 700 new cyber-visitors click https://www.lotc.org each month. The site’s centerpiece is a scouting report designed for lookie-loos who are thinking about coming to church. The topics are arranged under headlines such as “Pray for me, I have teenagers,” “I’m really not into little old blue-haired ladies,” and “I bet you guys talk about Jesus and God and stuff like that!” The high-energy writing falls somewhere between clever and hokey, which ultimately adds up to a certain charm. Volunteer Web producers at the church give plenty of additional information, right down to a semi-embarrassing high school yearbook photo of its senior pastor.

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