3 For This Year, 3 For Next

Coming up on the end of the year, I'd like to do a quick wrap up of a few of the things we've seen this past year, and what we expect (or at least would like to see) in the next year. Let's thank Darren for the inspiration, and get on with the list.

3 Things Church Websites Should Have Learned In 2006

1. Jesus Loves Web 2.0 - To borrow one of the t-shirt slogans from eBible. Christian websites caught on to the web 2.0 craze this year as eBible, myChurch, CrossConnector, People2Pray and others all made technical strides, providing churches with more resources to enhance their sites.
2. It's So Easy, A 5-year-old Could Do It - Well, close enough. Adding audio and video podcasts, streaming audio and video, and other multimedia resources to your website has become a whole lot easier in the past year, and it's no longer just for large churches with big budgets. Still dangerous if not used properly, but can be a great way to give a better look into the life of your church to visitors.
3. Design Matters, No Matter How Much We Want It Not To - Thanks to scientific studies, we now know that the appearance of our site is judged in a fraction of a second. We must work to make our website appealing to visitors and treat it as if it's important to the church (which it should be, IMHO), and not give the impression that it was just thrown together so that we're not missing the boat.

3 Things Church Websites Can Expect Or Hope For In 2007

1. The Growing Importance of Viral Video - It's already beginning, but I expect to see more Christian videos on services like YouTube (like the CCC-Canada Swimming video and the Christmas Eve In Canton rap) that look to break some of the stereotypes held by the world. It's a great conversation starter, both through the web and face-to-face, and we should be taking advantage of it.
2. Teamwork Makes Us All Stronger - Maybe this is more of a wish on my part, but I'd love to see collections of smaller churches start to work together on their websites. Not only does it make the available resources go further, but it also brings together members of different congregations and helps build inter-church community.
3. API = All Possibilities Included - Expect to see the growing Christian web 2.0 companies continue to follow in the footsteps of their secular counterparts and offer API's to access their functionality more directly. This will allow for more customizable, and likely more powerful, resources to use on your church website.

That's what I've seen (at least as much as I can remember) and what I'm seeing (and hoping for) in the coming year. Anyone got anything else I just completely ignored/forgot/missed the boat on? I'd be curious to hear what you feel were the big stories for church websites in the past year, and what you'd like to see in '07. Feel free to let me know in the comments below.