What Do Your Wish Your Church Website Could Do?
Today I've got a question on my mind:
What Do Your Wish Your Church Website Could Do?
We've spent a lot of the last year or so discussing what should and shouldn't be done with your church website, but I've been wondering lately what some of you would include if you could. I'd like to hear from you whether you do work directly on your church's site, or if you've just been visiting your church's website and found something lacking. Also, it can be anything; from something more complex, such as secure online tithing, to something that you may have seen on another site, like a church photo album or a message board.
For me, I'd love to be able to offer secure online tithing on my church's site (hence the example) because it's more convenient. My wife and I barely use our checks because we pay most of our bills either online or by AutoPay scheduling. Right now, from time to time we forget the checkbook at home on a Sunday, so if we could pay our church tithe online, then we could still pay it instead of having to wait a week. Plus, the church would get the money immediately, instead of having to wait until the next bank run by the treasurer.
Now it's your turn! What other features would you like to see on your church's website?
Hi Greg, long time reader first time poster.
I've always wanted my church site to be a place where members of my church could communicate, share photographs and stories. A place where ministry leaders could update their own content easily and effectively - to save me having to do it ;-). I wanted it to be a place that was an extension of our physical and spiritual body so that you could taste what our church is like before actually coming. Kind of a cross between myspace, flickr, wordpress and youtube.
However until the majority of people in the church become web savvy and there is a desire from the congregation to have that kind of place then there is little point in me reaching for it - unless I want forums where the last post was 6 months ago, where all the pictures are out of focus, where bloggers get a soapbox to publically criticise the leadership etc etc etc
What I'm really aiming for though is a much more integrated events diary thing where I can enter an event once and it makes it way automagically to various appropriate parts of the website
thus increasing event exposure
I hear you on the web savvy front. We in the technology field have been playing a lot of hurry up and wait in the last few years. We've got so many powerful tools at our disposal, many of which are relatively easy to implement, and we're just looking for someone to use them. This is seen not only in churches, but in the corporate world as well (something I see every day when I'm at work).
There is a clear generation gap in existence right now, having those who have integrated technology in their lives, and those who use technology when they have to. We're in the unfortunate state of limbo where many of our congregations are dominated by the latter group, while we try to be prepared for the prior group. It may be another five years before we actually see that shift occur, and imagine the tools available to us then. We could then actually make the website a part of the church, and not just a presence online.
Just thinking about it makes me giddy!
You're right...I may be a bit optimistic, but I've seen a lot of things change in just the last 5 years with how the world treats the internet. Not too long ago, the idea of quality and stable streaming video was just a Real Networks pipe dream. Now, streaming video is everywhere, from CNN and YouTube to a number of large church websites.
The church in general will have to keep up, and I like to think we can help make that happen.
I'm a first-time visitor of the site, however, I can't imagine it will be the last. Nice site!
I am the webmaster at eaglebrookchurch.com. I'm been searching for some new ideas for our site, but I haven't had much success. As for now, it will just have to be graphical upgrades and functional tweaks that users will probably not notice.
Our site features a lot of things that I don't often see on other church websites I thought I would mention for ideas or if anyone has questions they can feel free to ask. I use PHP and MySQL for most of these:
- Needs board: People can post needs that they have, and others can browse and fulfill needs if they can (all monitored by an admin section - all posts must be approved before showing up on the website).
- Automated Events: All the events on the website (on separate ministries website or on the events registration page) are all automated. I can enter them in before they are to be displayed and set a date and time for it to show up on the site, and I can set an expiration date so that I don't have to worry about keeping the events up-to-date. It does it itself!
- E-Invites: People can invite whoever they want to our church. They enter in their name, email, friends name, and a message. It then sends their friend an email with a link that directs them to the current message series invite page that displays their name, the message, and all the information for the current message series.
We've got a lot of other things going on too. Just thought I'd list a couple for ideas.Josh,
It looks like you've got a nice site there, with some quality (and useful) features. The Needs Board and E-Invites are great examples of using existing tools for a not-so-common purpose. I'm sure you find the Automated Events as useful as anybody, just to have it all in one place. Keep up the good work.