Carpe’ Digital

Does the look and feel of your website match the look and feel of your church and/or your ministry. One thing to remember is that your website will communicate something, one way or the other. It may be exactly what you want communicated or it may not.

In today’s culture, your website is the front door to your church. Keep in mind that in the web culture of today, the building relationships are at the heart of the Internet. The ability for people to make connection with others is becoming the driving force in the way things are structured, designed and facilitated within the web environment.

I believe that if you permit people to share needs, ideas, and ask questions on your website, you have a much greater potential to build community and trust with those who may visit your site and then they will show up at your door.

I would encourage you to create a “Sense of Community” with your website and remember that the Internet isn’t just a mere repository of information or simply a destination, but if we embrace the fact that the Internet is a journey and a platform, we will be much more successful at building relationships with this incredible tool.

“Communication opportunities (cell phone, texting, social networks, etc.) continue to explode, but do young people know how to talk to anyone but their peers?” asks Scott Stevens, director of student ministries for LifeWay Research. “As marriages and families continue to disintegrate, alienated teens and young adults continue to move “underground’.”

Imagine four 20-something roommates on a Sunday morning, all of whom are Christians, but only one of them is leaving to go to church. Almost everyone in ministry will agree that there’s something wrong with this picture … (more)

A Great Article by John Carlisle in Church Solutions.

What type of church do you want to be perceived as?  Are you a friendly and welcoming church, to all who walk through your doors or are people who visit you for the first time unable to feel welcomed? I don’t believe that a single church wants to be viewed as a fortress, it’s just that sometimes we can give that impression to people, if we don’t make the effort to welcome new faces and extend that hand of friendship, which stays with people long after they leave the church.

One simple and easy way of helping new people to get a ‘taste’ of who you are and what you do is by providing (on your church website) as much material and information, about your ministry, your people, your passions, community outreach, and most of all Jesus Christ. 

You see the biggest percentage of people today use the Internet to explore new things such as where to go on holidays or vacations and what are the best restaurants in the area and where are they located. The same thing is happening with churches. With that in mind, is it not sensible for churches to begin looking at new ways to communicate with their local community? Is your ministry doing that effectively?

As Christians, we all have a responsibility to be an example of Christ and spread the Word. You may be doing a really good job to those who actually walk through your doors but let us not forget about or abandon those that do not?  With today’s technology, churches are not just limited to the people who walk through their doors. The Internet is a tremendous tool to work with those individuals who are seeking God and looking to take those first steps towards learning about Him and how He can change the history of their lives.