So I’m looking into getting a website designed within the next year.
I’m already aware of FaithHighway.com, MustardSeedStudio.com, FaithConnector.com, and Perfect-Fit.
Our home on the web here in San Francisco needs to be top-drawer – let’s break it down …
I googled “Church of Christ” and found a few examples of what I DON’T want (no offense :p):
- http://www.church-of-christ.net/
- http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/indexf.html
- http://www.jordanpark.org/
- http://churchforchrist.com/
- http://www.ch-of-christ.beaverton.or.us/
Here are a few examples of what I DO want:
- http://www.marshillchurch.org/
- http://www.vintagechurch.org/
- http://www.ucmcampus.com/
- http://www.kcrevolution.org/
- http://www.stonebriar.org/
It is a fact that most people today will visit a church’s website before they’ll attend an actual church service – especially in a city when you’re working with today’s middle class. It’s not enough to have a website just to have a website. If your site is sub-par, you’ll leave a lot of people with the impression that your church is sub-par. If your site is filled with irrelevant or outdated information, you’ll leave a lot of people with the impression that your church is irrelevant or outdated.
Think of your church’s website as the first smell that hits a guest’s nostrils when they walk into your living room. Is yours fresh-baked bread, or did somebody step in something?
Having a site could do more harm than good, or it could be something that’s awesomely beneficial to your ministry. I prefer the latter.
Any suggested resources for me?
UPDATE: Check out the website I had designed for Lake Merced Church: www.lakemercedchurch.com
I went with FaithHighway, and they did a great job designing according to my specifications.
The Overflow 
Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving some comments. Thanks for the cool links on what a church website can look like … our needs some updating too I’m afraid.
Wes,
You are so right about the look of a website and what it says about a church. Here is a blog link to a friend of mine, Charles Kiser, who has helped plant a church in Dallas, TX (www.charleskiser.wordpress.com). From there you can find his contact info and find the link to the website for the church he helped plant. It is a fairly decent website. I thought of C.K. because he, like you, is a church planter and that fact (as opposed to being in an established church) changes the dynamics and resources you have to work with.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Hiya Rex – thanks for the info.
Actually, I am working with an existing church here in San Francisco. I will be planting a campus ministry in the future, Lord willing, but the next year or two’s work will mainly be helping the existing church “relaunch.”
We have a rather large facility right beside a major university campus, and have a great opportunity to reach a whole lot of students, but we have to be prepared to recieve them first. That’s going to take some time, and that’s what we’re working on right now.
It really is an exciting time here 🙂
I’ve heard Charles Kiser’s name before – I’ll follow up with him.
Thanks again 🙂
Helping churches relaunch… that is what I feel like I am doing. Helping churches that were launched for a modern, “Christian” society now relaunch for a postmodern, post-Chrsitian society. That is not easy business. God bless!
Grace and peace,
Rex
Wes,
Since you are helping revitalize a church, you might check out some of the work by Paul Keifert and Craig Van Gelder. They are two of the Professors at Luther Seminary who teach in the Congregational Leadership and Mission program. Their interest includes helping existing congregations revitalize and they are familiar with the CoC, since they have two CoC students currently doing doctoral studies under them.
Blessings,
Rex
This article is right on the money.. This is a battle that I’ve been fighting for the last 5-8 years. It’s a struggle to get priority for website commitment and backing when there are those within leadership who do not understand the importance of it in culture. Our site is content driven and set up to easily update so it can always be up to date. The problem I run into is I’m not a creative artist… I do all the infrastructure back end work that the end user doesn’t see, but is critical to having a site that remains current. My talent is not really on the presentation side of things…I struggle getting help with that side of things…. Anyone have any recommendations on front end designers that they’ve had good experiences with…
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