If Jesus Had A Website

No worries…I'm still here. I've been out for a bit thanks to my wife, who brought me with her to San Diego while she attended a conference of the American Association of Neurological Nurses. You may be thinking "lucky guy", and you'd be right, but it did get me thinking…

While in San Diego, already known as a conference hotbed, I was just amazed at the number of conferences going on out there. I counted at least 5 different ones over a 3 day stay, with hundreds, if not thousands, attending each one. Why are these people meeting? Sure, some are there for the trip, but for the most part it is an opportunity to exchange knowledge with peers.

Now, a few years ago I attended a conference on worship that was held nearby, thanks to the funding from my church. We're only a small church, but they recognized that I was a relatively new worship leader and that I could use the guidance. So I got a chance to go out and learn from a number of other worship leaders over two days, including Paul Baloche and Israel Haughton, and it was a great experience that really helped me to grow in that area of my ministry.

Now, I was wondering if we needed something similar in the area of web ministry. Are our online efforts any less important than the worship efforts of the church? Of course not, especially as the usage of the internet in daily life continues to grow. Also, I know that 1 Corinthians 12:14-27 applies here because we all have different skills and talents when it comes to web programming, design, and management techniques. We all could learn something from one another to make the whole stronger.

So, I have to ask: If we were able to put together some kind of conference for church webmasters would you be interested in attending? Would an association that provided a regular newsletter of useful tools, tricks and reviews interest you? Let me know below in the comments section, and if it does interest you, pass the word along and have them let me know as well!

I know that this probably goes without saying, but I ran into this situation several times over the past few weeks so I thought it warranted a post. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE remember to post your service times during Holy Week, Lent (if you celebrate this church season), and Christmas. It is imperative that you post this information in an easy to find location (hint hint: the homepage or link from the homepage is best) so that visitors to your church can easily find out what time to show up! Over the Easter weekend, my wife and I travled to the beach for vacation. Since we knew we would be out of town we tried to find service times in the area to which we were traveling, only to find none listed on the website. We did find a church to attend, but it was not of the tradition that we were familiar with and will soon become pastors in. So my point, please post your worship times and keep them updated.

I was having a conversation with a fellow church webmaster the other day, and he was discussing placing private church materials (budgets, etc.) on a "roped off" section of a message board for their church. My first reaction was that it wasn't a very good idea because of security reasons, but since then I've found myself continually asking the age-old question…why?

With all the technology available to us today, it is often easy to lose site of what we are trying to accomplish with a church website. In order to regain perspective, I believe that we all need to sit down from time to time and ask ourselves the following four questions:

1. What is the purpose of your church website?

A church website should strive towards two goals.

• Build up the members of it's existing congregation.
• Reach out to seekers.

If your website isn't working towards either of those two goals, it may be time to step back and seriously rethink your approach.

2. Does the church website fit in with the mission of the church?

Many times the church webmaster and the church pastor start off on the same page, but over time their work leads them down different paths. Your church and church website should portray a single unified entity. Does your church's website depict an accurate portrayal of your church and congregation as a whole? Do your church and church website work together to compliment one another?

3. Who's going to be using your church website?

It's always important to know your audience. If most of your congregation are not daily internet users, it's probably not the best approach to push the use of a message board. If you've got an internet savvy congregation, then the sky is the limit. There are some features and plug-ins out there that are really cool to use, but if nobody is going to use them, it might be best to hold off for now. It's also not a good idea to use features just because you can. Make sure they serve a purpose. Many times, simplicity can be your best friend.

4. Why are you working on your church's website?

This is probably the most self-actualizing question we have to answer. Are you working on the church website out of devotion and celebration of God, or are you doing it for personal glory and satisfaction? Most of the time, the answer to this question can be seen in your work. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, or it may be best to step back and refocus.

Remember, many of us who work on church websites have been blessed by the Lord with these talents, and we should work to make the most of them. Also remember that we are also burdened with the responsibility of being the mouthpieces of our churches on the internet. Take the time to think through each change you look to make on your church's website, and re-evaluate how well you are accomplishing the goals you have set out as a church for the website. You'll find that it is well worth the effort in the end.

You may or may not be familiar with Squidoo, a service that allows you to create and share "lenses" which focus on information specified by a "lensmaster". They are a great way to share useful resources that you've found with the world. For you to see a lens in use, I've created the Church Webmaster Resources Lens.

You may be thinking, "Ok, neat…but how would I use them with my church website?".

Here's 3 good ways to use them:

1. Let Your Pastor Create A "Reading Corner" – There's often a lot of good information on the web, but we don't want to clutter up our church's website with 101 links to different articles. A lens from Squidoo allows you to create this collection of links and have just one link on your website.
2. Create A Community Of Sites Related To Your Church – Does your church provide services to other groups, or are associated with other ministries that have their own web sites? Do you sponsor missionaries who maintain a website? If you do, then a lens is a great way to coordinate that information into a single place for your visitors to check out.
3. Publicize Your Church – While it may be in a more indirect way, you can publicize your church through Squidoo. If you have an RSS feed for your church, you can have it displayed on your lens as well. Then you can also tie your lens in with other related sites such as the city or town website, the denomination website, or a similar churches in the area. You can even add a map to your lens to provide easy directions.

As you can see, a Squidoo lens can be applied in a number of different ways. On top of that, they are also extremely easy to maintain. Take some time and see how you can fit it into your website.

And if you'd like to add your website to the Church Webmaster Resources lens, please either leave a comment below or contact us.