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DPS
Since 1996
 The humble beginnings of DPS in the year 1996 featured only a fraction of the
resources available today.
Frank Schaefer, a newly ordained minister in the
United Methodist Church at that time, had a vision for an ecumenical group of preachers
interested in an exchange of thoughts on the weekly lectionary texts of the
Revised Common Lectionary on this new media called the world wide web.
Initially, it proved difficult to find people willing to have their
contributions posted to a public site of a new media. Schaefer collaborated with several other cyber ministry pioneers,
foremost Richard Fairchild (who started Kir Shalom in
the same year). By 1998 the discussion site attracted several dozen preachers
who were discussing and sharing thoughts about the upcoming lectionary texts on
a weekly basis.
Media Coverage
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Beginnings:
This
is the appearance of the Desperate Preacher's Site in 1996 (click on the
image to enlarge). At that time, there were only RCL
Gospel forums. The inclusion of the other Scripture forums came in
January of '97 along with the
Discussion Board. Also in '99, DPS found a visionary sponsor in
Cokesbury; simultaneously, a membership plan was set up for those who
wished to support DPS financially.
Above is the appearance of the Desperate Preacher's Site in 1999.
You can click on the
image to open the page that what archived by the WayBack Machine Internet
Archives. Many of the links are functional. The year 2000 saw the start of
a subscription program--the
DPS Sermon Builder, a program that has been made accessible to every
desperate preacher gratis, since the beginning of the pandemic of 2020.
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The Desperate Preacher's Site is a truly
ecumenical ministry site that has grown and flourished on account of
ministry-oriented people like you. Many of the resource pages and forums that
were added over the years were originally suggested by registered users.
Many of the resources themselves have been and continue to be provided by DPSers-- preachers and Christian educators from all walks of life, theological
persuasions and from around the globe. I thank God for the DPS ministry and
for the multitude of wonderful people that helped build it. May God continue to bless us together
in this webspace called DPS for many years to come.
Grace and peace, Frank Schaefer,
DPS founder and director
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