This is such an exciting time for our church. Since our last newsletter, our church has been blessed with 19 new members! This now brings total membership up to a total of 112 members, and represents something of an explosion in membership. I cannot remember when we've had such a large increase in membership in such a short period of time. I am also very pleased to announce the ordination of 15 members who have answered the call of Our Lord into His ministry, some of these from the new members, and some from the existing membership. Praise God, 15 new servants of Our Lord out spreading His Good News! I wish to thank all the members who've placed links to our church on their websites and in their e-mail, for I know these are the most effective ways of bringing visitors to our church. It is through your efforts that our church continues to grow.

I have some website news to share with you. First, we have a new Bulletin Board.The old bulletin board's server went down, so we've replaced that one with a new one. It's a bit slower than the old one, but it does allow me a bit more control over the design of it, so that's a blessing. Won't you drop by and participate in our fellowship by posting prayer requests, praise reports, and taking part in the discussions there? I just know you'll find it a blessing. I'd like to thank Brother Francis for letting me know the old server was about to go down. Thanks to him, I was able to switch over to the new bulletin board just prior to the old one being yanked.

Another addition to the front page of our website is a link to a site where you can order a free copy of the Gospel of John. While I know most of you no doubt already have the Gospel of the disciple Jesus loved, the nice thing about this offer is they allow you to order a package of 10 gospels. Since I know many of us are involved in various one-to-one ministries, I thought this would be an excellent source of free materials for your own ministries. So order your free copies of this beautiful gospel today, and share them with the world! Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone came to accept Jesus because you gave them a copy of John's Gospel? Amen!

In response to many requests that I do so, I have finally added a detailed church mission statement to our website. It explains the purpose of our church, our feelings about the internet, and why we do things like ordain ministers online. It's called "The Tri-Fold Mission Of The First International Church Of The Web," and you can read it by going through the link on our front page, or by clicking here.

Many of you have written and asked me where I get the graphics I use on our website and in our newsletters. Well, most of them come from resources I have listed on our page of Online Christian Resouces. I particularly recommend the site Religious Resources On The Net, an excellent resource page maintained by Susan Brumbaugh. Also, be sure and visit the FICOTW Webstuff Page, where you'll find graphics and banners especially designed for use by members of our church, including the brand new animated banner you'll find below. Special thanks to Brother Lance for his work on these graphics!

Well, with the coming of November, we are entering the holiday season. For those of us in the United States, the Thanksgiving holiday is just a few weeks away. No matter where you are, though, Christmas is less than two months away. Being on the internet allows our church to reach many countries that don't observe Christmas, so I think it is especially important that we do something special in observation of the day we celebrate the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We'll be adding some Christmas graphics to our website, but I'd also like to arrange some sort of special activities or something. I'm open to your ideas and suggestions for our Christmas activities. Just send them to me, and let's see what we can do to share Christmas with the world through the internet.

Speaking of the holidays, if you haven't yet considered becoming an ordained minister of our church, wouldn't this be a wonderful time to do so? The Christmas season always brings many opportunities to minister and tell people the Good News. Why not take advantage of our free ordination policy and really make a difference this holiday season?

Well, my friends, that's about going to do it for this edition of our newsletter. I could go on and on,(as those of you I've spoken with on the phone are all too aware) but I've got to end it somewhere. Be sure and check the bulletin board regularly for late-breaking announcements and news about our church. I hope to see as many of you as possible in our weekly Fellowship Chat Sessions in our chat room. Remember, I'm always available to you via the bulletin board or e-mail, and I'm also available through ICQ - my ICQ number is #3342325, and even if you don't have ICQ, you can still send me an instant ICQ message through the ICQ Communication Panel on the front page of our website (hey, that's what it's there for!). So, until next time, may God's richest blessings fill your lives abundantly, and please know that you're all in my thoughts and prayers at all times. God bless you.

Yours in Christ,
Brother Dave