6/17/05 In the 21st Century, God has a new way of reaching out to his followers.

The Internet, around for the past decade or so, has been helping churches spread the Gospel and inform the faithful of important events.

Several Lompoc churches have gone digital for their followers and possible newcomers to the fold.

The First United Methodist Church of Lompoc, at www.lompocumc.org, has been around for six months and includes daily devotional Scripture for reading to enrich your spiritual life. The Web site also lists mission projects, community ministries and other community events the church supports.

The church Web site also carries samples of audio music from its new organ, said church secretary Rita Campos. Campos said people can also find an event schedule of church events on the Web site.

"The first thing I would go to is the Internet if I were looking for a church," Campos said. "Visitors and newcomers can find out about what the church is all about. We have pretty much everything on there including news about mission projects, and samples of audio from our new Veritas organ."

The Lompoc First Assembly of God, led by Pastor Ron Gravell, also has an online offering for the community, at www.Lompocfirst.com.

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"Probably our No. 1 goal is to facilitate new people who are moving into the area, to help people find more about the church so they would know something about the church before they get here - know what we represent and what we're doing," Gravell said.

Gravell said that in addition to an event schedule, visitors to the Web site can even do a little online shopping for Christian items and go over last Sunday's sermon.

"We have different shopping things on there where people can order Christian books," he said. "People can also look at messages from our recorded Sunday sermon."

Peace Lutheran Church in Lompoc, at www.Luther95.com/PLC-LCA, is used as a tool for visitors or newcomers to Lompoc looking for a Lutheran church home.

Barbara Kinoshita, Peace Lutheran Church secretary, said the Web site is updated monthly with the pastor's portion of the newsletter, and a calendar is updated so people can follow upcoming events.

These are just some of the Christian churches in Lompoc that offer a Web site on the Internet. To find out more, ask your local church leaders if your church has an online presence.

Staff writer Neil Nisperos can be reached at 736-2313, ext. 108, or by e-mail at nnisperos@pulitizer.net.