Earlier this year I came across two different articles:

1. Top 10 Features of an Effective Church Website by Lauren Hunter in Church Solutions magazine (Thanks Cory Miller!)
2. 10 Things an Effective Church Website Can Do For You by Mean Dean at Heal Your Church Website

These got me thinking...what is the connection between the features of an effective church website and how they can be used to make the site more effective.  Well, I decided to try to combine these lists to observe how website features can be used to make the site more effective:

• Dynamic Content
  • Save On Printing and Postage - If we no longer have to produce as many physical copies of the announcements and other paperwork used by our church, we can help save it money.
  • Communicate Across Boundaries - Dynamic content also helps to make our church website more visible to search engines, which will make the church more visible to...
  • Reach New Residents
  • Convert Seekers - Let your site be a dialogue of faith instead of a pamphlet for the church.
• Online Donations
  • Save On Printing and Postage - Reduce the need for checks and tithing envelopes!
• Online Calendars
  • Reduce Staff Support Loads - Make your scheduling easier to maintain and all kept in one place.
  • Build the Body Online - Keep everyone on the same page!
  • Save On Printing and Postage (again) - No need to print a new calendar each week to keep up with changing events.
  • Maximize Press and Ad Campaigns - Put everything in a central place that is easy to peruse.
• Event Registrations & Payments
  • Reduce Staff Support Loads - Allow people to take care of these tasks on their own when it's convenient for them.
  • Maximize Press and Ad Campaigns - Take advantage of the impulse buy since they can take care of it right where they are instead of depending on someone to make the venture to your church to take care of the same tasks.
• Online Ticketing
  • Support Lay Ministries - Instead of having someone be physically present to sell tickets, let them simply check on requests when they have time.
  • Gauge Relevant Interests - Quickly know how well your special event is being received.
• Volunteer Ministries
  • Support Lay Ministries - Allow a place for these ministries to congregate online instead of depending on physical meetings.
  • Build the Body Online - Present people with the opportunities available!
• Small Groups
  • Communicate Across Boundaries - Your small group could be people from all over the globe, or just people unable to make a session due to travel.
  • Gauge Relative Interests - Are your small groups too small or not small enough?
• E-newsletters
  • Save On Printing and Postage - Since there won't be any more!
  • Minimize Dead Ends - Help keep everyone more aware of what is going on in a more timely manner.
• Member-Only Areas
  • Reduce Staff Support Loads - Allow members to maintain their own contact information online.
• Blogs, Podcasts and More
  • Reach New Residents - Provide church seekers a venue to learn some more about your church without actually having to walk in the door.
  • Convert Seekers - Again, blogs and podcasts help to generate a dialogue, which allows seekers to find out more about their faith.

As you can see, different features can help with multiple functions.  So if you're looking at adding some new features, try to figure out which ones will benefit your church the most and prioritize them accordingly. 

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.

This week, Google Labs has rolled out their new tool, Google Trends. What this tool allows is for you to enter a set of search terms and see their popularity over the last few years of records. It allows us to see trends that we may not have otherwise been able to see.

Some interesting trends:

• Church Fellowship vs. Evangelism
• Preaching Focus
• God vs. Money
• Gifts Are More of a focus than Tithes or Donations
  
• Major Religions (by faith, book and building)

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.