Effective Church Websites

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How to communicate your church's mission through technology

And Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to all creation."

In today's Internet age, the Great Commission has taken on new meaning. Churches are challenged to integrate the Internet with other communication tools, which in all honesty may not be as effective as they could be.

My work with church communications began three decades ago as a volunteer for the student ministry on my college campus. Today, my professional practice in communications and non-profit management is becoming more focused on church web sites and integrated church communications. This web page is designed for volunteer leaders and staff who have been charged with creating or updating their church or parish web sites.

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Where To Begin 

Find strong examples to model

Looking back on that meeting, you're not sure exactly how it happened. Suddenly you find yourself volunteering (or "being volunteered") to start or revamp your church or parish web site. Where do you start?

The first step is to find samples of church web sites that work. That's a lot easier said than done, right?

Look for sites that have the same features as business sites that work well:
  • Appealing graphics
  • Clear navigation
  • Up-to-date information
  • Opportunities to interact with the site

Great Church Web Sites 

Here are a few samples of web sites that I think work well. (Full disclosure: The last site is the one that I recently developed for my home parish.)
Imago Dei Community
Upon arriving at this site, the visitor immediately gets a clear view of this community. The search function, article blurbs and interesting selection of links invite you to explore.
Elizabeth Church of Christ
This church uses a simple blog program to host their web site. A simple classification system organizes their ministries into an easy-to-use menu.
Austin Catholic Community
This web site does an excellent job of introducing their community, which is really a group of three Catholic parishes. The main page has links to current information. The left menu is an index to important information sought by visitors and parishioners.
St. Ignatius Martyr Parish
This is the web site that I designed for my home parish, with the guidance and assistance of the Pastoral Team and Pastoral Council. A key goal was to integrate a content management system so that staff and parish leaders could maintain the content. Interactive features include a search function, calendar, and "Send to Friend" service. We also integrated a function that allows other ministry leaders to submit news items.

Avoid the Volunteer Trap 

Or how to maximize what you get from volunteers

In church life, volunteer burnout is a serious problem. Someone on your church or parish communications committee volunteers to create a web site. That works well, as long as the volunteer is available to help maintain it.

But what do you do when the volunteer gets burned out? Or if the volunteer uses a software program that the next volunteer doesn't have access to? Or if the web site custom-coded and no one else can figure out how to make it work?

My advice is to use your volunteers to gather and input content, not design the site itself. Build a network of ministry leaders to gather information. That network will sustain your web site for the long term.

What if you have volunteered to build the new or revised web site? Make sure that you understand the commitment you are assuming. Set time limits. Plan for eventually passing off maintenance of the web site to another volunteer or -- ideally -- to a long-term committee.

The Power of Content Management Systems 

Or how to get the most for your investment

I'm still amazed when someone approaches me to help with a web project and says, "I know a little bit of HTML." HTML is so 20th century!

These days, you don't need to know anything about HTML or coding to create and manage a web site. In fact, not knowing any technical stuff can be an advantage. You're not limited by your coding skills.

The answer is a Content Management System.

Think of a Content Management Sytem as a kind of church building. A team of professionals built your physical church building, and now you just provide the people and programs to turn that building into a faith community. A Content Management System provides the structure of your web site. You simply provide the content to create an extension of your community.

Here are the basics:
  1. Select and install the Content Management System.
  2. Customize the layout with colors and photographs of your church or parish.
  3. Gather the content you want to include in your web site. Group your content into categories, probably centered around your ministries.
  4. "Upload" the content to the web site via user-friendly online forms. It's similar to copying and pasting in a word processor. Assign each story or article to a category.
  5. Keep your web site current by adding new content using the same user-friendly online forms.

Of course, you can add other elements and fancy tricks. More on that later.

My Favorite Content Management Programs 

And few commercial vendors worth exploring

So you want to try a content mangement system? There are dozens available. My favorites are open-source programs, which means that they are free! I'm also including links to the only commercial services that I would suggest as an alternative.

Drupal - Community Plumbing
My web site development program of choice is Drupal, an open-source content management system that can easily be expanded and customized. It is a tad more complicated to install, primarily because the core program includes fewer features. However, that also makes it easier to tailor to your specific needs.
WordPress - Blog Tool
Amazingly enough, WordPress is an excellent tool for a small web site. True, it is technically a blogging program, but WordPress is very flexible. You will find hundreds of templates to create the perfect look. Many web hosting services include a one-click installation process. Set up your categories. Copy and paste from existing documents. In a few minutes, you have a fully functioning web site.
E-zekiel
Of all the church web site development services I have explored, E-zekiel is one of only two that meet my criteria: clear details on what is included, up-front information on pricing, and client sites that appear to be kept up-to-date (the best measure of the effectiveness of the program).
ACS Technologies - Extend Platform
ACS Technologies also meets my criteria for a hosted content management system. Their service can accommodate more complex sites, with custom coding. Consider the siteExtend Plus as a minimum.

The Essentials 

What every church web site must include

Use this checklist when developing content for your church or parish web site.
  • Welcoming statement: Help your visitors and parishioners feel at home.
  • Church or parish mission statement: Describe what makes your church unique.
  • Photographs: Show the exterior and interior of the church facilities so visitors know what to expect.
  • Ministries: Describe the ministries that are available for your parishioners. What services are available to serve them? How can they minister to others and the community?
  • Location and Contact Information: Give details on how visitors and members can reach you. Where is the church located? What are church office hours? Telephone numbers? How can they contact the church and ministry leaders by email?
  • Sermon or Homily Archives: Offer weekly articles by the pastor.
  • Calendar of Events: Display regular service times prominently on the welcome page. Provide a calendar with other events.
  • Background Information on the Demonination and Your Church: Share information on the history of the church, beliefs, sacraments, and other background information. Answer questions that your parishioners need to know to participate fully in your church. Provide information that helps non-Christians understand more about your faith.

Add Interactivity 

Offer parishioners and visitors ways to interact with the web site

A church is effective because of the interaction among its parishioners. Effective web sites offer multiple opportunitites to interact with the site and with each other.
  • Contact Form: Include a form to contact your staff and ministry. It's safer than putting email links on the web page.
  • RSS Feeds: Enable the "Syndicate" or "RSS Feed" feature of the Content Management System. This feature "feeds" the latest additions to the web site to news readers and portal web sites, such as My Yahoo, Google Homepage, and MyMSN.
  • Newsletter Sign-up: Offer your weekly bulletin as an email newsletter.
  • Web Site Account: Enable the user registration feature of the Content Management System, and set up "member only" pages just for registered users. This is especially useful for sharing information with special groups, such as parents of religious education students.
  • Forum or Bulletin Board: Provide this feature to allow interaction among your parishioners. If you use this feature, it is essential to require web site registration to reduce spam and inappropriate postings. You may wish to moderate the forum, that is, require a ministry leader or staff member to review submissions before they are posted.
  • Polls: Ask your parishioners their opinions on current events, church issues, or fun topics. (Just remember that the results won't be scientific!)

More Help 

Other resources to guide your web site development

Here are my favorite sources of inspiration for building effective church web sites. Only two? Yep. I occasionally visit other sites, but I keep coming back to these two. I could spend years striving to learn everything they have to share.
Church Marketing Sucks
Yep, that's a shocking name for a web site about church communications. They describe themselves this way: "The blog to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ." Taking aim at all aspects of church communications, it is the flagship of the Center for Church Communication.
eMinistry Basics: Making Your Web Site a Daily Part of Church Life
This PDF white paper is published by ACS Technologies, in cooperation with BlueSky Ministries. Author Davies Owens has piloted a number of groundbreaking ministry methods and conducted doctoral work focused on using the Internet to enhance face-to-face relationships. If you are ready to think outside the box - and believe me, just having a web site is not thinking outside the box - then you must read this report.

Technical Background 

Sources to help if you want to get technical

These resources can give yo the background you need to set up the Content Management Systems that I have referenced here.
Drupal: Creating Blogs, Forums, Portals, and Community Websites: How to setup, configure and customise this powerful PHP/MySQL based Open Source CMS

Drupal: Creating Blogs, Forums, Portals, and Community Websites: How to setup, configure and customise this powerful PHP/MySQL based Open Source CMS

by: David Mercer

An excellent resource for those who are beginners. Not too much details to overwhelm the reader.

Amazon Price: $31.57 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Building Online Communities With Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress

Building Online Communities With Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress

by: Robert T. Douglass, Mike Little, Jared W. Smith

One of the original Drupal programmers is one of the authors, and one of the original WordPress programmers is another of the authors. If you want to compare the two programs, this is a good choice. (Skip the section on phpBB.)

Amazon Price: $41.79 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

The Blogging Church

The Blogging Church

by: Brian Bailey, Terry Storch

Released in early February 2007, this book is fast becoming a classic! Even Seth Godin has added his recommendation.

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Communications as Ministry 

Recognizing the power of communication

As you develop your church or parish web site, prayfully consider the ministry of communication.

  1. Recognize that an effective church begins the expectations of your parishioners and is based on a strong commitment of ministry leaders.
  2. Communication is a keystone of any faith community and builds valuable trust throughout.
  3. With a strong foundation of communication and trust, the church will achieve Maximized Ministry, fulfilling the mission of serving God and His children.

My Profession as Ministry 

How I can help your parish or church create and maintain a web site

As I mentioned in the introduction, I have been involved in church communications since the 1970s. Today, I are becoming more and more oriented toward using my professional skills as a ministry. While it would be nice to offer my services as a donation, I still need to pay the bills.

So I offer a low-cost turnkey package that results in a live site that you can manage on your own. My fees begin at $1,500 and includes one-year of web site hosting. Read details about this ministry service. I will work with your parish staff and volunteer leaders to accomplish these steps:
  1. Establish new account with a web hosting service that meets the requirements of the content management system to be installed.
  2. Develop theme and layout style.
  3. Develop organizational structure (categories) based on the client's ministries and parish / church structure.
  4. Set up domain name (churchname.org) and/or update domain registration.
  5. Install the content management system, Drupal CMS, including selected modules: WYSYWYG editor, article scheduler, expanded categories, enhanced menu functions, and web addresses that are human-readable and search-engine-friendly.
  6. Transfer all existing content and add new content as provided (up to 100 pages).
  7. Prepare an online contact form with links to church staff or volunteer leaders.
  8. Set up a staff directory with online contact forms that forward messages to the staff and protect staff email addresses.
  9. Set up email accounts.
  10. Set up registration form for electronic newsletter.
  11. Provide training to up to two staff members so that they will be able to maintain and add content.
  12. Provide support for 30 days after the transfer to ensure that the client is able to maintain the web site.

    This is a summary of the development process. Read more details on my web site.

Let's Talk 

This web page was written to give you, the parish staff or volunteer leader, an overview of effective church web sites. Your comments or suggestions are welcome. Feel free to share a link to your web site! (You can also reach me through the Contact Lensmaster link at the top of this page.)

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Copyright 

All of the content on this page is copyright 2007 by Anne S. Easterling. Nothing can be reprinted with my written permission. You may print one copy for your personal use.

by AnneEasterling

Independent consultant specializing in web sites and communications for
religious organizations and non-profits, independent publishing, small associa... (more)

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