Church Web Evangelism - An Opportunity Lost?
by Gary A. Snow
I have visited many church websites, however, most of them fail to use it effectively.
Being married to a web designer I've picked up on some of the nuances
of good website design and effective web ministry. As I scan the various church
web sites, they are all the same. No, they may not look exactly alike
and the pictures sure are different, but the message is the same – “This is
our billboard, in case you want to come here.”
If a
church has a webmaster, they may update the “billboard” website weekly, or
if they do not have a webmaster, you may see month, even year-old content.
One site I visited has photos from an event that occurred over 18 months ago and some information
over 6 months old. Another site once published a fresh message from
the pastor each week, but since the webmaster moved away from the area, this
is no longer done on a regular basis and announcements stay active for a
month or longer. What I’m getting at is, “What a waste of an
opportunity to spread the good news of God’s great love and forgiveness.”
The
Apostle Paul would have used every method available to him – as he in fact
did – to spread the Word of God and the good news of redemption through
Jesus Christ His son. I think Paul would have screamed out God's message
from his web page. Paul’s web page would not be filled with social news,
but news of the redeeming power through the blood of Jesus, our Savior. I am
sure there would be instructional, and perhaps mundane announcements of his
meetings or church news, but the thrust of the page would be to gather new
converts and members to the Lord's supper. It would be a message to compel
people to come and hear more, not to simply invite them.
So, if
it would suit Paul, “what’s your problem church?” Too busy to reach out to
the vast untapped web community full of souls hungering for the salvation grace
and peace that a life with Jesus would give? What an opportunity!
We preach from the pulpit to go out and invite people to church, exhort
congregants to spread the Word to all their friends and neighbors. Good
advice, but what about the “unreachable” people, those folks that walk away
when the conversation turns toward religion or the Bible? How will we reach
out to them?
A suggestion would be a fresh, upbeat – yes, even jazzed up website that
tells them how to fill the void in their lives and find the peace they
seek. How do you spread the word of forgiveness and hope to the unwed
mother or convict? Yes, there are outreach groups and prison ministries,
but how would these lost souls know where to go to find them? And, speaking
of prison ministries, how many men and women are intimidated away from
church because it doesn’t fit the bad actor image they feel necessary to put
forward to stay alive behind bars?
Should these pages entertain? You bet, if it gets one more soul through the
gates of glory! “How do I do this... who has the time?” you might be asking.
You do it through prayer, imagination and a good dedicated webmaster. You
needn’t spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of precious church funds to accomplish
this task. There are professionals out there – good Christian men and women
who do this type of work as a second income or a calling. But, a good
professional approach to your web design and your message will give your
ministries the "faith lift" they may need. The costs of these services
are extremely reasonable from one of these Christian web design
services... and, they can maintain the site after the design is done for
just a few
dollars per month. So you get the exposure for your church, reach the
unreachable and best of all, get people the help they need to get back on
track and into Heaven.
There
are four basic steps to making your website grab the attention of the
casual browser and get your message of God’s love out there:
First – ask
other pastors and church leaders for recommendations of Christian web
designers and Christian web hosting. Check your local web design
listings. Do an Internet search for Christian freelance designers, web
design directories and associations.
Second –
contact the web designers for their pricing options and be sure to
comparison shop. Use this as an opportunity to become web savvy by asking
questions and seeking as much detailed information as possible. Not so much
asking about price, but about their Christian beliefs if this is important to
your search. Ask about the what is included in the development of the
web pages and whether they provide hosting and domain name registration.
If they don't provide hosting and domain registration, can they assist in
acquiring them? These are but a few questions to ask.
Third –
have a fairly clear idea of the who, what, when and why.
a. Who –
do you want to reach? What group of souls are you best equipped to minister
to? Always keep in mind when planning your pages that you cannot be all
things to all people.
b. What –
is the message or programs you want to promote? How do you want your
message to look and sound.
c. When –
or how often do you want your fresh new message to go out on the Web pages?
Don’t let your site get old, keep it and your message fresh and current.
d.
Why – is the church or ministry entering this ministry stream? You must
know what your goals are and who will supply the information. Your designer
can offer maintenance plans for your site and help you to keep it fresh.
Remember, keeping your site updated and fresh will help in spreading the
Word.
Fourth –
share your vision with the designer you choose and listen to the designer’s
ideas on presentation. Between the two of you, you will develop a vibrant
site to glorify the Lord and spread the love of Jesus Christ.
So,
church, get the picture? Get out there and use your website for the glory
of the Lord and be about doing His work.
Gary Snow is
husband of web designer, JoAnn Snow, owner of
ChristianWebmaker.com. He is an accountant by
profession, an active church member and published poet and writer.
copyright © Gary A. Snow 2005
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