Hello New Friends

[eliciacw]

I am the webmaster for Christ Church Nashville, in TN. Our website is www.christchurchnashville.org (http://www.christchurchnashville.org). I've been running the site for the past 5 years and while it is still in simple HTML format I am gearing up to finally implement a CMS and get some other hands in there to help me.

I'm curious as to what other larger churches are doing and how reliable your staff members are about helping keep web information up to date. My biggest challenge here is not keeping people motivated about the importance of the web, but certainly with their follow thru on getting new info up there!

I've held the reigns tightly on the site and managed it for so long with a "do it myself" attitude, but as you are aware THAT'S A LOT OF WORK.

Also, currently we are streaming using .wmv and that is throwing a lot of kinks for a lot of our users. We are beginning the process of moving to .flv and hoping to solve some problems for a lot of people. I'd love some advice for those of you have already been down this road.

Glad to be here... Looking forward to interacting with you all.
Elicia

[generalhavok]

For videos, here's what I'm recommending these days: YouTube. Organizations can create their own channel on YouTube and promote themselves to the world...I find that a useful tool. You can upload your videos to their site, and they'll convert and scrunch them. They then give you embed code for your site, and viola!...instant videos.

Of course, YouTube videos aren't the best quality. There are tricks to improving them, and I can think of two off the top of my head. Food for thought.

Welcome, by the way...it's nice to meet you!

[eliciacw]

yeah... we are already utilizing YouTube. Not as much for sermons as just highlight clips, but we use it regularly.

We currently have a few years worth of .wmv's of entire services that we archive and have available for ondemand viewing through our site.

[StubbyD]

Hi Elicia.

Stuart from the UK here and I understand what you mean by your 'do it yourself' approach but I've learnt of recent years that one can't always do it that way and eventually one needs to let go ...

When I did it was such a blessing.

Now I just fight to get the pastor to realise the importance of certain things.

[generalhavok]

yeah... we are already utilizing YouTube. Not as much for sermons as just highlight clips, but we use it regularly.

We currently have a few years worth of .wmv's of entire services that we archive and have available for ondemand viewing through our site.
For that reason alone, I'd more heartily recommend YouTube or Google Video. You won't have to store the videos or take the bandwidth hit if you use them...they store the videos, their bandwidth gets used, and they output the video in a near-universally accessible format. It's really the best of both worlds.

[Guitar Praise]

Forum administrator's note: Please see this post by me about Mr. Williams, which explains why I have banned him: http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/forums/showpost.php?p=5268&postcount=15

I am the webmaster for Christ Church Nashville, in TN. Our website is www.christchurchnashville.org (http://www.christchurchnashville.org). I've been running the site for the past 5 years and while it is still in simple HTML format I am gearing up to finally implement a CMS and get some other hands in there to help me.

I'm curious as to what other larger churches are doing and how reliable your staff members are about helping keep web information up to date. My biggest challenge here is not keeping people motivated about the importance of the web, but certainly with their follow thru on getting new info up there!

I've held the reigns tightly on the site and managed it for so long with a "do it myself" attitude, but as you are aware THAT'S A LOT OF WORK.

Also, currently we are streaming using .wmv and that is throwing a lot of kinks for a lot of our users. We are beginning the process of moving to .flv and hoping to solve some problems for a lot of people. I'd love some advice for those of you have already been down this road.

Glad to be here... Looking forward to interacting with you all.
Elicia
Hi, I hate to say this ,but these days, the people updating church records and websites get paid just like the sound men do.....I remember yesteryear when people did it for free unto the Lord as a service. I guess times are changing.
Best thing to do is find one person who knows thier ministry and use this person because they'll do the best job, I feel, it works out better using 1 top man than having 10 others helping once in a while.


Anyways welcome... C ya GW Williams

[flutem3]

*

I'm curious as to what other larger churches are doing and how reliable your staff members are about helping keep web information up to date. My biggest challenge here is not keeping people motivated about the importance of the web, but certainly with their follow thru on getting new info up there!


Elicia

Hi, I hate to say this ,but these days, the people updating church records and websites get paid just like the sound men do.....I remember yesteryear when people did it for free unto the Lord as a service. I guess times are changing.
Best thing to do is find one person who knows thier ministry and use this person because they'll do the best job, I feel, it works out better using 1 top man than having 10 others helping once in a while.


Anyways welcome... C ya GW Williams

Hi, Elicia,

Welcome to the forum!! It is a good place to be. David, the administrator, has worked for a long time to establish his wonderful website and this forum. Somebody will know the answer.

What size is your church? How excited are they in general about having a website? Do they use it? (Our church has a membership of about 300.) I ask these questions because most of the people in our church could care less if we have a website, are not exited, and seldom use it. There will be a few who weren't able to attend the cantata who will listen to it.

www.wabashfirstumc.org/sermon_player.html JOY CAME DOWN, if you would like to listen.

It is like pulling teeth to get people to submit information in a timely fashion. I even have trouble with one of the pastors. However, it is a joy to do. I am not experienced with making websites and use WYSIWYG to make ours. But nobody minds, and I am able to use it. Getting information is the bane of church webmasters I think. :-\

GW,

I don't know what people you have been around who get paid to build and/or maintain church websites. The majority of the people I know about, by far, are volunteers. Not only do they do the building and maintaining, but some of them pay for hosting, etc.
Our website is not even a line-item in the budget. The church has no investment in it. I do. Now, I know that is "wrong," but if I did not do it, there would be no website. Some people might think that is preferable. :) But, if nothing else, it keeps me out of trouble...and I have learned a lot about the Bible along the way. Those of us who build websites are frequently the people who benefit the most from them. It is true.

Merry Christmas to one and all,

Carol

I hope it is not sleeting where you are. It is a mess outside. I am grateful to be inside.

[David Gillaspey]

Hi, I hate to say this, but these days, the people updating church records and websites get paid just like the sound men do.Actually, in most churches, the audio ministry is volunteer. (I've run sound in three small churches.) Likewise, in most churches, the web ministry is volunteer.

Proof is easy to come by. Just go to http://www.churchstaffing.com and count the number of help wanted listings for web designers and sound techs — not many. Most jobs advertised on this site are for pastors, e.g. senior pastors, preaching pastors, children's pastors, youth pastors, worship pastors, and small groups pastors.

These are the positions that get staffed first (that is, with paid part- or full-time salaries) in churches as they grow and their budgets begin to permit the hiring of more staff members.

This is why I maintain that, sadly, churches are still far behind the curve when it comes to web ministry. Churches provide a salary for ministry positions that are most important to them, as their budget permits. In the majority of churches, web ministry is lower on the list of ministry priorities, else it would be salaried.

Now, in the interest of fairness, I must add that the listings on the church staffing site may reflect a couple of biases:

1) It may be that churches generally hire a web designer from within (from among current members) and thus don't rely upon a job board. Perhaps churches do this to avoid paying relocation costs, or just because they believe that current members best know the ministry philosophy of the church.

2) It may be that churches actually do hire people for web design positions from outside the church, but they just use some other job board. A local church in Portland, Oregon, (where I live,) uses Craigs' List, for example.

[generalhavok]

I know a LOT of church webmasters, and can count on one hand the ones that get paid to do it. Like Carol, I've paid 100% of the cost for ours, and have done virtually 100% of the work...for 7-8 years.
It's a hobby, a passion, and now a career...so I don't mind too much. What I do mind is that the website isn't promoted at the church. I'm ready, willing, and able to make it a useful resource for any ministry at our church, but NOBODY wants to put 5 minutes into it. Go figure. =)