Outreach Websites

[flutem3]

Hi,

I have been thinking about the outreach/evangelism aspect of our website. I think we fall short.

Would somebody give me some examples of websites which are really good at outreach? I would like to take a look and maybe come up with some new ideas for our website.

In some ways in my brain a church website which is outreach in a sense, of course, is not the same as a website devoted to outreach. I really would like to see if there is a way to make the functions more or less equal.

Thanks.

[pmburrow]

Carol,

You mentioned that you felt that your web site fell short in the aspect of outreach and evangelism. Our team had this discussion several years ago. Someone challenged us to write a mission, and a purpose of our site. This was the best advice that we ever received. It made us think about our purpose. Was it to evangelize, or was it to tell those interested, about the church activities? It made us ask ourselves, ?Just what did we want to accomplish?? It is not that one is better than the other is, but sometimes it is best to concentrate one?s efforts on a single objective.

Our mission at Discovery is ?helping searching people discover new life in Christ?. We chose as our web team mission ?helping searching people discover Discovery?. In other words, we chose to see our site merely as an electronic bulletin that points people to Discovery, while Discovery points people to Christ.

I have seen sites that try to pull off both objectives. Some may do a good job, but I think that the better ones chose a sole objective first. I ran across a great evangelic site one day, the guy had really put some time into it, but that is all it was. Unfortunately, I don?t have the link, but the point is that he concentrated on one thing, and pulled off a very good site.

I would like to offer you the same advice. Sit down and ask yourself just what you want to accomplish through your site. Then write it down. Remember that this is your purpose. Keep it in front of you. Anytime you add something, or change something, make sure that it is in alignment with your purpose. I made a little logo that is placed in the top right corner of any document that I might issue. Then each time I send a document from our team, that logo reminds us, and keeps us focused on the purpose of our ministry.


Phillip
www.discoveryumc.org

[flutem3]

Phillip wrote:

<I would like to offer you the same advice. Sit down and ask yourself just what you want to accomplish through your site. Then write it down. Remember that this is your purpose. Keep it in front of you. Anytime you add something, or change something, make sure that it is in alignment with your purpose. I made a little logo that is placed in the top right corner of any document that I might issue.>

Hi Phillip,

Thank you for your interest and advice. One of the reasons I was asking the question was that I could not see how I would be able to manage good outreach with the stated goals of the website...or whether I should/could change them.

When I began the website a year plus ago, I had zero knowledge. But I have written many papers in my life so I knew that I needed goals before anything else was done. I picked two. Now, you notice that I say I because I am it. :)

1. Provide information for people who are looking for a church in our area
2. Provide information and resources for the membership

And one other thing overrides these...make the navigation easy. I don't want anyone to leave the site because the navigation is confusing. My feeling is that if I want to do outreach, it would need to be on a separate website. I am not skilled enough to combine them.

However, outreach is one reason I put the scripture on the index page, even though it may break all sensible rules, because:

1. Is is possible though not probable that someone who has never read scripture could land on our site and because the scripture is there, read it and decide to see what the Bible is about and read more. That's the big hope and prayer. And we will never know.

2. It is possible though not probable that someone who reads scripture occasionally would read the scripture and decide to read more.

3. It is possible that a person who reads scripture all the time would come across a passage which just speaks to him/her on that particular day and bring him/her closer to God.

That will not happen if the scripture (I use the gospel reading for that Sunday) is even a click away...in all probability.

There was a man who is a professor at Georgia Tech University who said that everything that is on a website needs to be there for a specific reason. I think he is right. There are some things I have on the website because they are fun and people enjoy them...and will stay and read the page more...I think. I am not positive about that. Anyway, all of this is to say that I have indeed written down goals and have not strayed from them one iota. Outreach, as I have been thinking about it, would be straying. But it desperately needs to be done. And I am not sure I am the one to do it yet, but I can learn.

[David Gillaspey]

My feeling is that if I want to do outreach, it would need to be on a separate website. I am not skilled enough to combine them.Hi Carol,

I don't believe that making a website evangelistic necessarily has to be hard. Often, it's the details that count. As I've done in many places (on my site), I would point you to Tony Whittaker's 60+ tips for making church websites evangelistic (http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-site-tips.php).

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church Websites

[flutem3]

Hi Carol,

I don't believe that making a website evangelistic necessarily has to be hard. Often, it's the details that count. As I've done in many places (on my site), I would point you to Tony Whittaker's 60+ tips for making church websites evangelistic (http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-site-tips.php).

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church Websites

Hi, David,

I have read the 60+ tips for making church websites evangelistic. I think they are good, and I refer to them often. I just haven't figured out how to incorporate another goal into the ones that I already have. However, that is an issue I am constantly considering and actively working on in a simple way. For one thing, I do not yet have the beginning established. But I know what the outcome is desired...introducing and bringing people to Christ.

That is okay though. Somehow in my head I know that one day I will know what to do. Now, please don't ask me how I know that. I just do. And it has happened before...all of a sudden, it is clear. I am grateful that happens and don't question it. I just go with it. In the meantime, I read, study, participate here and at UMConnect, and fiddle around with designs and ideas. And one day I will direct you all to a website and ask what you think. :D

I enjoy this forum, David. It is a terrific place with some talented and wise people on it. Thanks for having it. And thank you for all your hard work on the greatchurchwebsite. I enjoy checking out the churches. But sometimes I wonder why they are there. :) I am sure you have criteria, but I haven't seen it anywhere. Is it listed?

Carol

[pmburrow]

I had never seen Tony?s web site before, but he has a lot of good advice on his site. Thanks for sharing it, David.

Carol, I think that you are going to do just fine. You seem to have a clear idea of what you want. This is important. You?ll learn the technical stuff as you go. You have certainly picked up on a great deal so far.

I know what it is like to dream of something, and not be able to make it happen. Sometimes it is just not the right time, but you don?t stop dreaming. I spoke of our new version coming out next month. One of the features on this version has been a dream over for three years. For whatever reason, it would never quite come together. However, it is very exciting when you finally see God bring the pieces together.


Phillip
www.discoveryumc.org

[flutem3]

I had never seen Tony?s web site before, but he has a lot of good advice on his site. Thanks for sharing it, David.

Carol, I think that you are going to do just fine. You seem to have a clear idea of what you want. This is important. You?ll learn the technical stuff as you go. You have certainly picked up on a great deal so far.

I know what it is like to dream of something, and not be able to make it happen. Sometimes it is just not the right time, but you don?t stop dreaming. I spoke of our new version coming out next month. One of the features on this version has been a dream over for three years. For whatever reason, it would never quite come together. However, it is very exciting when you finally see God bring the pieces together.


Phillip
www.discoveryumc.orgThank you, Philip,

When your new version comes out, let us know what the feature is that was a dream for three years. I would like to know. One of the things I find fun is that in trying to get something to gel, I learn so many other things as well. I think God drags me by the nose through the internet. (interesting picture, isn't it?) I end up on just terrific sites like greatchurchwebsites and have no idea how I ended up there. It is wonderful...a great journey.

Is FrontPage hard to use and is it very expensive...and if it is, is there an inexpensive way to buy it...like a sale.

Does anyone have any idea what a person could mean by saying "we need a more sophisticated website"? How is that defined? Any thought and ideas?
Thanks.

Carol

[David Gillaspey]

Would somebody give me some examples of websites which are really good at outreach? I would like to take a look and maybe come up with some new ideas for our website.Hi Carol,

A webmaster in England wrote me a few days ago regarding her church website

http://www.familychurchchristchurch.org.uk

While I wouldn't say it's explicitly evangelistic, what impressed me about the site is that everything is explained for the unchurched visitor. That is, all the copy is written with the unchurched visitor in mind, as opposed to churched visitors or members of the church. This is really quite different from a lot of church websites I've seen.

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church Websites

[flutem3]

Hi Carol,

A webmaster in England wrote me a few days ago regarding her church website

http://www.familychurchchristchurch.org.uk

While I wouldn't say it's explicitly evangelistic, what impressed me about the site is that everything is explained for the unchurched visitor. That is, all the copy is written with the unchurched visitor in mind, as opposed to churched visitors or members of the church. This is really quite different from a lot of church websites I've seen.

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church WebsitesHi, David,

Thank you. I have not been through the entire site, but you are right. It is different, and I like it a lot. It is very explicit about things and uses as little jargon as I have ever come close to seeing on a website. I think it does what it was intended to do...explain the church and activities to everyone and invite the reader to join or at least take a peek. And it does not hit the reader over the head. Thank you for bring it to my attention. I appreciate that.

Carol

[David Gillaspey]

And thank you for all your hard work on the greatchurchwebsites. I enjoy checking out the churches. But sometimes I wonder why they are there. :) I am sure you have criteria, but I haven't seen it anywhere. Is it listed?No, I don't have any criteria written down.

The database itself is based strictly on design of home pages. I'd be the first to admit (and did, right on my home page for a long time) that there's much more to a "great church website" then just design. Website content, navigation and accessibility are all just as important as design. However, it was exhausting enough work for me to focus on the design (alone) of 10,000 church home pages. Imagine how much time and effort it would require to judge church websites on all four criteria!

I included some, shall we say, "weaker," designs on purpose in my database. I didn't want to have a database of home page examples the designs of which were all beyond the reach of less-talented designers. (That's a category that includes myself.)

Also, the "bar" varied by state. I wanted a representative sample of well-designed church home pages from each state. Some states, such as Texas and California, have a large number of churches to begin with. California churches, in particular, seem to have the best-looking websites (as a percentage of the total number of churches with websites). A smaller percentage of churches in Bible-belt states like Tennessee and Texas, by contrast, had well-designed websites. So, depending upon the state, the design "bar" above which a church home page had to be, to be included in my database, varied.

Sincerely,

David Gillaspey
President
Great Church Websites