Langham Partnership: Empowering Scholars to Preach the Gospel

By Rhea Paredes
April 1, 2005

The foundations for the organization were laid when renowned preacher-author John Stott started the Langham Trust in 1969. Its main goal was to help fund scholarships for young evangelical leaders in the Majority World (Majority World: Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Russia ). The name was taken from All Souls Church, Langham Place, London-the church where Stott was rector at the time.

Later, he also formed the Evangelical Literature Trust, where he assigned his book royalties to help buy books for more of the same pastors and students in the Majority World, as well as for theological libraries who would otherwise not be able to afford it.

The two groups combined to form Langham Partnership International (LPI), with a three-tiered mission of Scholars, Literature, and Preaching.

With scholars from all around the world, thousands of books and grants given away, and a network of five national organizations in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the US (known as John Stott Ministries), the UK, and Ireland, the partnership has grown both in size, experience, and capability.

LPI remains non-profit with donations primarily coming in from individuals and foundations.

The Challenge

As LPI was experiencing much growth in their ministry, the need for a central portal for communication became necessary.

They had four existing websites, each managed separately by the national organizations that built them. However, these were not able to thoroughly support the three major programs (organizations in themselves), tons of information that they wanted to get out to their audience in the Majority World and to their donors, and the need to reinforce the interrelation of the national organizations.

LPI wanted to develop a “Global Website” where it is made clear that while they are made up of a number of member bodies, their programs operate globally. The website should aptly represent the collaboration which benefits one ministry.

Another requirement for the website is that it should also help in the positioning of the national organizations in relation to its donor bases. They should also have their own unique web presence while being clearly portrayed as belonging to the larger partnership.

In addition to reaching out to donors, LPI stressed the importance of being able to plainly and cohesively communicate their programs to the main users of the website-an audience from the Majority World. This poses both an architectural and technical challenge: the site has to eliminate confusion even with the extensive information online, and has to be accessible to users with slow internet connections.

Finally, the site had to be easy enough to maintain that even administrators with little or no knowledge of HTML can make updates to content.

The Solution

LPI chose Silas Partners to create a network of one main international site and five national sites with a unified design and site architecture.

Silas Partners worked closely with LPI to develop a site that was easy to navigate and maintain, a site which followed the “high touch, low gloss” standard of the ministry’s offline communication.

The design was tailored to LPI’s requirement of a site which wasn’t too “flashy” — a fresh, relevant, but modest site that would reflect the values of their founder. A simple top navigation was used to highlight the main thrusts of the organization, the impact of the global ministry, and the introduction of the International Ministries Director. Each national organization received a unique site design, with layout stemming from the international site’s look and feel.

Langham Partnership National homepage

The site architecture was also borne out of numerous iterations based on research and client feedback. Cross-referencing from the international site and the national sites allows users to jump from one country to another without skipping a beat.

Highlights

Langham Partnership International implemented a Silas Partners solution that includes:

• Website Design - crafted a user-friendly, custom website that catered both to donors and Majority World audiences, incorporating LPI’s collaborative approach to ministry and desire to communicate simply but clearly.
• Web Master Services - beginning April 2005, LPI’s website has the support of Silas Partners’ Design and Production team.
• Media Delivery Interface - provided an online resource center infrastructure for the delivery of audio and video streaming
• Mass Mailing Interface - provided software for the release of email communication to an existing subscriber base.

About Silas Partners

As Web Ministry Professionals, we believe the Internet is important to the overall mission of an organization, because it is one of the most effective ways to build a life-changing ministry. We aren’t one employee trying to do it all, but an entire team of world class designers, sales & marketing professionals, software developers, webmasters and client services managers. We have pioneered solutions with our clients by providing Strategy, Marketing, Design and Technology services.

Our mission is to serve Christian ministries and churches by providing web-related solutions, services, and strategy, which enable them to better connect with their members, while reaching new audiences with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about how Silas Partners can serve you.