ChurchCyberGuy.com

Mark loves a challenge and has definitely found one in internet ministry where he extends the ministries of the Church to a world on the web. Mark is an electrical engineer by training, but his passion is the innovative application of technology to empower churches to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Mark was Director of CyberMinistry and Technology at Ginghamsburg Church from 1998 to 2010. Mark started the Ginghamsburg CyberMinistry in 1996 and led the team to create a website with thousands of pages and over 50 GB of streaming video. Now, www.ginghamsburg.org hosts over 50,000 user visits per month. The website has received national acclaim -- from write-ups in the Wall Street Journal to the Dallas Morning News to Christian Computing Magazine, and television stories by WBNS Channel 10 in Columbus, Ohio and on Fox News. Visionary leaders like Bill Easum (www.easumbandy.com) and Len Sweet (www.leonardsweet.com) champion it as a must-see website.

Mark also started the Web-Empowered Church (WEC) (www.WebEmpoweredChurch.org), a ministry of Christian Technology Ministries International, Incorporated (CTMI, www.CTMIinc.org) where he also serves as CTMI Vice-President. WEC is helping to take the Church to the next step in internet ministry, going far beyond current static websites to powerful web ministry applications that amplify and extend the impact of most of the ministries in a church. The WEC ministry is a worldwide web-software development effort, fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit, to fully apply the power of the internet to Christian ministry, and to make the resulting software available to all churches and Christian organizations around the world at no cost.

Mark authored the book Web-Empowered Ministry: Connecting With People through Websites, Social Media, and More from Abingdon Press, February 2011. He also authored the the popular book Web-Empower Your Church: Unleashing the Power of the Internet for Ministry in 2006. Mark’s engaging style makes technology accessible as he offers firsthand advice on every aspect of building a powerful internet ministry.

Mark is a well-known speaker on web-empowering ministry as he conducts live and virtual presentations and workshops around the world for such organizations as Leadership Network, United Methodist Communications, Miami University of Ohio, the Church of the Resurrection Leadership Institute, and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Mark has also provided consulting support to numerous churches from around the world to help them develop their web ministries.

Mark is lead inventor and designer of patent #7,814,208 titled "System and Method for Projecting Content Beyond Firewalls," which is an internet messaging technology that enables secure communications between computers on different enterprise networks without modifying the firewalls. He is an owner and the Chief Engineer of Instant Private Networks Inc. (www.InstantPrivateNetworks.com), a company that markets this technology. 

Mark is also an owner and Chief Engineer of Country Connections LLC (www.CountryConnections.net). Country Connections supplies fixed wireless broadband internet access to rural homes and businesses in a 2000 square mile area of the southern Ohio between Columbus and Dayton. Mark also helps churches and ministries anywhere with point-to-point high-speed wireless network communications as well as various applications for Christian missionary activities, most recently in Haiti.

Mark has a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Dayton. His education and his entire 25+ year career has focused on futuristic computer-related research and technology. He believes this is how God has prepared him to apply technology to Christian ministry.

For more information please e-mail: Mark(at)ChurchCyberGuy.com.