Pastor Ben Arment spends several hours each week carefully preparing his Sunday sermon for the 100 members of History Church in Oak Hill, Va. In contrast, he takes just minutes to jot down a few thoughts on faith for his blog; within 24 hours, his message reaches about 300 people.

Like History Church services themselves, Arment’s blog, "History in the Making," takes an unorthodox approach to religion that his mostly young readers find appealing. The blog entries range from his reflections about Christians’ responsibility in the world to dispatches about clergy conferences to quirky stories about his toddler son’s broken arm.

"As a pastor, I shouldn’t be just leading a church but connecting with people using the same formats they use every day," Arment said. Blogging is "a forum that’s successful because it corresponds with how younger generations think."

Reaching out to younger generations has long been one of the major challenges for ministers, but hundreds think they have found an answer in blogging. A growing number are taking the Gospel to the Web hoping to get people thinking daily about faith. Many pastors say blogging has become an increasingly integral part of their ministry as they attempt to reverse the decline in church attendance by people in their twenties and thirties.

"I used to think that the blog supplemented my weekend message," said Batterson, who draws upwards of 25,000 visitors a month to www.evotional.com. "Now I wonder if it isn’t the other way around. It’s hard for me to imagine why a church that has younger members wouldn’t have a blog component."

"Increasingly, people want to have a personal connection with their church and their pastor," said Brian Bailey, who co-wrote an upcoming book, "The Blogging Church," about how churches can use the medium to reach out to members. Blogs provide a unique opportunity for people to feel more invested in their church, even if the pastor doesn’t have time for a face-to-face meeting, he said.

"It’s no longer enough for a lot of people to get the church’s mailing, read the Web site, and sit in the pew for an hour on Sunday," he said. "They might know there was a mission trip last week, but with a blog, they can read about the day-to-day details, see pictures and feel like they’re part of something."

Bailey said younger churchgoers are especially likely to want a more active connection with their pastors, and they are attracted to humorous stories or photos. A popular new feature on Batterson’s blog describes a "stupid mistake" he’s made that day. The series started with a story about what happened when he tried to empty his coffee cup while whipping along Interstate 295.

Many of the pastors’ blog posts revolve around a religious lesson. Entries sometimes include Bible passages or mini-sermons, as well as song lyrics, links to articles or other blogs and personal anecdotes that contain a message about how people should live their lives.

"Today, I ran into a family that (my wife) and I met ONE YEAR AGO in Reston Town Center ... and struck up a new friendship that will bring good things," Arment wrote in a recent post about the importance of spreading the Gospel to "unchurched" friends and strangers. "This is such a great reminder to be patient and wait on God to work in people’s lives."

Both Tucker and the Rev. Richard A. Lord, rector of the Church of the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Vienna, Va., said their congregational ministries benefit from their blogs’ roles as portals connecting them with other ministers.

"I’m constantly trying to help people understand that this is ministry for me," Lord said. "It’s virtual preaching, really," he said of his blog, "World of Your Making."

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