If Jesus Had A Website

In the first part of a series on website content, we will discuss questions that arrise based from the premise "If Jesus Had A Website…" in order to better analyze approaches and expectations of church website content.

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So, why would our savior have a website?

Would He have a Blog to tell friends and family how His day went and what was bothering Him at that point in time? Probably not. How about a collection of links to all the neat stuff He's found online? Doubtful. Maybe He'd start a business selling WWJCD bracelets? Nah.

Just as Jesus went out into the real world to spread the Word of God and prepared his disciples to do likewise, today Jesus would be reaching out into cyberspace to spread the Word of God online. He spent His time on earth teaching the people he encountered about the ways of God, and then preparing them and comissioning them to go out into the world and share the gospel.

Even in this basic realization, we can see that a church website must serve double duty. It must reach out to the lost and encourage a search of Truth, as well as strengthen and connect those who have already come to Christ.

At one point in time, it was thought that a church website was effective enough if it listed the name of the church, where it was located, service times, and maybe a few blurbs about the pastor and major activities. However, in today's internet atmosphere, where people have greater expectations for all sites thanks to the increase in user participation within the web community, this basic information is not enough. Without addressing needs of the lost as well as the saved, many church websites will flounder and potentially even fail completely.

Creating a balance between these two goals is also a difficult task. If we create the site to be too "Member Friendly", then we will not devote enough attention to those who may be seeking. If we commit too many resources to reaching out to non-Christians, then existing members and fellow Christians will not participate to grow an online community for your church. We want to strive for the goal of creating a site where non-Christians can come and begin to quench their thirst for truth, as well as create an active community of believers. After all, is this not what Christ demonstrated to us in his life?

Handling these two assignments does take a lot of time and effort, which should help emphasize their importance for your church website. Thoughout the rest of this series, we will be addressing the key aspects of effective website content. Among other issues, we'll address:

• what should and should not be included
• the importance of tone
• audience considerations

If you have any more suggestions for topics that you'd like to see addressed in the coming weeks, please contact us at webmaster@ifjesushadawebsite.net.

For all webmasters, one of the key decisions to make when implementing a website is whether content of the site will be of a static or dynamic nature. The reason this decision is important is because it will influence every design decision you make from here on out for the site. Neither way of presenting content is wrong, but each each manner has it's pros and cons to take into consideration.

Static Content

Static website content means that the content of the web page is saved to disk within the page's display information, and the page is passed to the requesting browser without alterations. Typically, static pages are designed solely in HTML (HyperText Markup Language), which defines the framework in which the content will be viewed. Since this article is geared towards webmasters, we'll assume that you're already familiar with the majority of the language.

PROs:

• All web hosts support the use of HTML.
• Pages will produce identical output whenever and wherever they are loaded.
• Static content is extremely easy to test in the development stages, helping prevent errors.

CONs:

• All content changes must be made directly to the file on the web host's server.
• Content changes must be made by someone familiar with at least the basic workings of HTML (often leading to a greater burden on most webmasters).
• Some popular dynamic features, such as forums and interactive calenders, are very difficult to implement in a static environment.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic website content is content that inserted into a display framework by a program or script when the page is called by a requesting web browser. This can be as simple as a counter or current date and time information, or as complex as custom user management and interfaces. Many of these scripts work together with HTML in order to produce robust and flexible content possibilities. Most web sites with dynamic content also rely on the use of a database as well, which is used to store the information for retrieval.

One of the nice features of using dynamic content is the ability to update content in a database through the web interface. This allows individuals who may not be familiar with the formatting tags of HTML to easily update information that will be posted on the site. While the initial preparation of these tools may take a substantial amount of time, once they are implemented, very little upkeep is required on the part of the webmaster.

In order to implement dynamic website content, you will need to select a program/script and a database server to work with. You will find that many web hosts will provide hosting packages that combine at least one program or script along with a database to use for storing content. Some of the common options include:

• Programs/Scripts
• Active Server Pages (ASP) – ASP is Microsoft's server-side scripting language that is typically paired with IIS on computers running some version of Windows
• ColdFusion – ColdFusion is Macromedia's tag-based programming lauguage for writing internet-based applications
• JavaScript – JavaScript is an object-based scripting language that is used for web applications as well as other projects
• PHP – PHP is a general-purpose scripting language best suited for web development.
• Database Servers
• Microsoft SQL – Microsoft SQL Server is the software giant's primary and most powerful database tool, and has a number of useful management applications that accompany it.
• MySQL – MySQL is a free, Open-Source database server for which there are a number of 3rd party management application.
• Oracle – Oracle is an extremely powerful database server that is distributed by the world's largest enterprise software company.

In the coming weeks, we will be addressing the differences in each one of these alternatives in more detail so that you can find the one that best fit your needs. However, the use of dynamic website content typically has the following strengths and weaknesses:

PROs:

• Separation of the content from the design framework of the page, allowing for more flexibility.
• The ability to create powerful custom tools for the management and presentation of your site, or implement pre-made packages that can be altered to fit your sites needs.
• Most web hosts provide one or more of these tools along with their standard hosting packages, meaning no extra costs for you!

CONs:

• There is a substantial learning curve for these dynamic languages/scripts and database servers.
• Due to the use of dynamic content, there is more greater chance of errors occuring if content is not handled properly, so more development is required.
• The use of additional applications may require more upkeep of the site's framework.

The vision you and your church or group have for the site and the resources you have available will greatly impact the decision of how you want to handle your content. Static web content is still the standard for many pages on the web. However, with the growth of user participation in the web leading to the flourishing of dynamic content on almost every major site, I recommend trying to work towards the dynamic approach. Not only will you be able to have a database record of everything on your site, but you will be able to port that content between languages/scripts over time if need be. While it does require more time and effort, the rewards are well worth it!

As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. -John Donne

One common mistake made by many churches putting together their websites is to heap all the responsibilities for the site on a single person. This may seem reasonable, having only one contact for everything web related, and while this is feasible in some cases, it is usually far from ideal to maintain a smoothly running and functional site.

As an analogy, would you expect a single pastor or reverend to:

• Write and preach all sermons.
• Lead all outreach activities.
• Organize all fellowship activities.
• Lead children's and teen ministry activities.
• Field all phone calls.
• Schedule all church use.
• Perform all building maintenance.

The honest answer, is "No", because it is simply asking too much of an individual. That is why most churches rely on a core of people, both paid and volunteers, to help keep the church running smoothly. Each person is responsible for a subset of the church's needs.

Churches and Christian websites should take the same kind of approach to their presence on the internet. We cannot expect to have one person in charge and being forced to wear so many different hats (especially if that person is volunteering their time). The responsibilities for the site should be divided amongst several different individuals, each with a defined set of duties. Some of the key roles you should consider are:

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Webmaster

The Webmaster should be responsible for maintaining the daily operations of the site, formatting of the content of the site, and adding new features and functionality. If a link breaks, it is the Webmaster's responsibility to fix it. If a form-based interface for updating page content is needed, then the Webmaster should create it.

Think of the Webmaster as a building superintendent. He's responsible for making a place where everything can go, keeps things in running order, and plans for expansion and additions needed in the future. However, he's not responsible for the content being provided inside.

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Scribe

The Scribe should be the person responsible for the main content of the site. This includes all welcome messages, major announcements, church information (descriptions of ministries, vision statement, church history, etc.) and any other major written content posted on the site. The Scribe may very well be the same person who is providing these items for the church in a standard printed format, which is a good approach because it leads to consistency in presentation.

Please note that the Scribe doesn't need to have any technological savvy (though it would be nice if they could at least e-mail the content they produce to the Webmaster), but a little HTML experience can lead them a long way towards producing more visually appealing content.

Keeping with our running analogy, the Scribe would be to the website what the pastor is to the church building. They're not personally responsible for the building, but they are in charge of what is going on inside of that structure.

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Datekeeper

The Datekeeper should be responsible for keeping people "in the loop", and similar to the Scribe, little technological experience is needed. While the role may sound like it could be handled by the Scribe, it is often a good idea to keep the two separate. The main reason for this is a different target audience. The Scribe's main audience is those people who are searching for a new church or searching for God, the Datekeeper is targeting those people already involved in the church community. Besides that, in a busy church body, there's usually more than enough going on for one person to keep track of!

So, the Datekeeper for the website is much like the Secretary or Activities Coordinator for the church. They may not be in charge or putting together the actual events, but they make sure that everyone knows what is going on and keeps the place running smoothly.

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Now, I've only mentioned three major roles which will help a church website run smoother, but there are many more roles that can be played, depending on the size of your church or organization and what kind of features are desired on your site.

The important thing to remember is that you shouldn't try to lump all these roles into a single person, even if they are extremely talented all-around. In order to best provide the best website you can, you need a team of people working together.

Just like having a single person in charge of doing everything for the church building and body will leave them pulled in so many directions that they can no longer do them to the best of their ability, leaving all the responsibilities of a thriving church website to one individual may cause that presence to crumble.

Welcome to IfJesusHadAWebsite.net, a new resource for Christian web designers and webmasters to come together and help each other make the most of their sites.

There are many things to consider when putting a good church website together, and no one person has all the answers. What we at IJHAW are doing is trying to bring together that knowledge for the benifit of all. However, don't think of this site as an instruction manual, but a guide that will present you with a number of options to consider when working on your own site.

So you're in the right place if you're looking for:

• Ways to improve your site in order to make it a better tool for coordinating the congregation and reaching the lost souls, you've come to the right place.
• Advice on bringing your church or church group into the world of cyberspace for the first time, but aren't sure where to start.
• Layout ideas to improve the appearance and functionality of your site.
• Things to consider for the organization of your web efforts and the presentation of site content.

So come aboard, soak in some of the knowledge presented here by fellow webmasters, and help us all to represent Jesus Christ more fully here on the internet.