W00t! My guest post got published today in ChurchCrunch! I’m famous! Well, OK, maybe not. But that’s pretty darn cool. Thanks to John for giving me the opportunity.
Welcome to anyone who's arriving here from ChurchCrunch.
Welcome to anyone who’s arriving here from ChurchCrunch.
You know how hearing your voice recorded and played back always sounds weird? Well, reading your words on someone else’s blogs looks weird too. The words read better on his blog than they sounded in my head when I wrote it. I like it. I really like it. Thanks for the kind comments too.
This is a Guest Post by Conrad Walton.
The biggest hurdle to getting a web site up and running is people. That’s true in the corporate world and in the church world. Technology is easy and fun. Design is easy and fun. Getting people to understand and agree is the hard part.
I’ve been building web sites since 1994, back when each page was lovingly hand crafted and slowly placed in the server. Web sites are in my blood. I’ve grown old with HTML. I’m so intimately involved in web sites that I dream about them and speak HTML as a native language.
But, not every one is like me.
Imagine that.
Some people actually think that building a web site is difficult and expensive. Some people think that they don’t know enough to be able to create one. Other people think that web sites only exist in the realm of those techie guys and geeks.
Some people are afraid.
I want to tell everyone that putting up a web site is cheap and it’s easy. There are a couple technical things to know, but there are a couple technical things to know about driving a car too. Setting up a DVR can be tricky. If you can figure out how to use a cell phone, I think you can set up a web page.
The basic steps involved are:
1. Register a domain name.
2. Rent space on a web host.
3. Install wordpress.
4. Pick a theme and activate it. (one click.)
5. Write content.
That’s it. There are no more steps to setting up your very own web site.
Want a free site? That’s even easier! In that case, you only have the last two steps. Go to Wordpress.com, sign up, pick the theme and start writing. You don’t have as much control, but it’s free!
It seems that the biggest reason that more people aren’t doing this, is inertia. They think that it’s hard and they are afraid. It’s easier to site on the couch and watch TV.
If your church does not have a web site, why don’t you go to http://www.wordpress.com right now and create one. Don’t tell anyone about it quite yet. If it doesn’t work, you can bail on it. Play with it. Put in some content. Change the theme a few times.
When you feel like it’s pretty cool, go tell someone at your church about it.
They won’t like how to you did it or what you wrote about something. They won’t like the color. They’ll ask you to make changes.
What will happen then is that the question will be the color or the content or the style or something. It’s no longer about “Do we need a web site at all?”. Now it’s “What kind of a web site do we want?”.
Make their changes and you’ve done it! The world is a better place. Your church will have a web site, more people will attend, members will better know what’s going on, and everyone will be happier.
You might actually be responsible for someone knowing Christ. Isn’t that better than watching TV?
Really? Is it really time for Twitter? They have clearly captured the platform and will be the way to the future of microblogging or whatever you want to call it, but I’m just not sure that the numbers are there yet. You need to have people to make it valuable. There are still too many pastors that don’t quite get why they need a web site.
I had a client ask me about “social media” this week. The joke is that every one is a social media expert, but the reality is that it’s not there yet. I think it will be in a year. I think it’s time to get your user name staked out for the future. Yes, I am at /conradwalton, but I don’t ever tweet. I don’t think it’s a fad, but I don’t think that it’s mature yet.
Facebook has everyone and their brother on it now. I’ve met more people from my past in the last two months than I knew that I knew. It’s what’s happening now. Twitter is what will happen next year.
Do you use Twitter? Do you use it often? For what purpose? Do you follow more than you tweet? Please leave a comment.
The Reasons Your Church Must TwitterAnthony Coppedge recently released a $5 e-book entitled The Reason Your Church Must Twitter.
It covers everything from what in the world a Twitter is to how your church can make maximum use of Twitter in various flavors–from simply having public conversations to using Twitter as a devotional tool.
Yet the recent image makeover of churches is unpalatable for some. In 2006, Pastor John MacArthur published a popular article (“Grunge Christianity?”) condemning modern churches that trade sanctity for “cultural relevancy.” MacArthur and his supporters disagree with so-called pragmatists who seek bigger, more worldly congregations. Nathan Smith (GodBit.com) counters, “we are naive if we try to take an isolationist approach. God wants a direct relationship with each person, so we—as facilitators of that calling—have to meet people through what they know, and if that is pop culture, then so be it.”
How many congregations identify with dark, gritty imagery?
From a design perspective, applying a pop culture flavor to a place of worship can mean many things, but comes down to doing what’s appropriate on a church-by-church basis. Says Chris Merritt (Pixel Light Creative), “If the church is a traditional conservative church, then I’m probably not going to use an abundance of grunge brushes and ragged textures. Every once in a while there’s a church who wants to launch a new image and use the web site as a launching pad. Even in that case, moderation is important; otherwise you may end up alienating those who are comfortable with the original image.”
So what about the multitude of recent church web sites designed around ragged, dark, asymmetrical elements—what does this communicate about the church? How many congregations identify with dark, gritty imagery?
The Sermon Browser Wordpress Plugin allows churches to simply upload sermons to their Wordpress website, where they can be searched, listened to, and downloaded. It is easy to use with comprehensive help and tutorials. Features include:
1. Sermons can be searched by topic, preacher, bible passage or date.
2. Full podcasting capabilities, including custom podcasts for individual users.
3. Sermons uploaded in mp3 format can be played directly on your website using the 1PixelOut Audio Player.
4. An optional sidebar widget displays sermons on all of your posts or pages.
5. Embed videos from sites such as YouTube or Google Video.
6. Other file types can also be uploaded, including PDF, Powerpoint, Word, text and RTF. Multiple files can be attached to single sermons.
7. The full Bible text of the passage being preached on can be included on each sermon page (seven different versions, including ESV).
8. Files can be uploaded to your own site through the browser or via FTP. Alternatively you can use other free audio hosting sites such as Odeo.
9. Powerful templating function allows complete customisation to complement the look of your site.
10. Simple statistics show how often each sermon has been listened to.
11. Compatible with Wordpress MU.
12. Extensive help and tutorial screencasts.
I’ve always liked Penn Jillette. He’s my age and I’ve liked his sense of irony and wit in his stage shows and in interviews. He’s always stuck me as someone who is very intelligent and thoughtful, which is a rare combination. Usually, intelligent people are very close minded and not thoughtful.
Penn Jillete is an atheist. Even though I’m a Christian, I really respect people who are thoughtful atheists. At least they thought about something, even if the conclusion is wrong. Most people, probably 90%, have a vague belief in God, but have never really thought about it much.
This is an amazing video. Penn has some very thoughtful things to say about how much Christians must hate everyone else.
Half of all churches in America today do NOT have a web site. Half! What excuse is there for that? This article below is quoting a Duke University survey to make the point that the church has caught up with the times, that only a fifth of them had a web site in 1998. But the glass is not half full here. It’s half empty.
If you are involved with a church that does not have a web site, I can show you how to get one for free, using Wordpress.com. All it takes is a little initiative on your part and you can have a web site. You don’t need a $300 site. You don’t need a $500 site. You can have a free web site for your church. Go to www.worpdress.com and follow the instructions.
For example, local churches have caught up with the secular society in their use of computers and technology. In 1998, fewer than one in five U.S. congregations hosted Web sites; today, close to half of the churches offer Web pages to their members and local community. A friend of mine who ministers to a large Washington, D.C. Baptist congregation has a frequently updated interactive Web site whose volunteer editor works from India.
A good church website needs to be informative, visually appealing and have a bit of interaction with the visitor. After all shouldn’t your church’s website inspire people to visit your church physically? It can be easy to forget that people not in your local community may be searching for a church to attend a worship service. What features do you look for when you are looking at a church website?
How do you get there? Sure an address is great, but a map or written directions would be better.
Driving Directions
How do you get there? Sure an address is great, but a map or written directions would be better. Make it as easy as possible for the website visitor to locate your church.
Service Times
When do you worship? Often more times than not the service times are not listed on most church websites. Be sure to place your worship times prominently on the homepage of the site.
Sunday School
Let’s say that your visitors have children. What do you suppose they would like to know about your church? Make it well known that you offer a Sunday school service to avoid any confusion with new guests to your church.
Events Calendar
What if a member of your congregation misses a Sunday, but would like to know about the youth soccer game in the park? By having an up-to-date events calendar you can let your church members know what is going on.
Pictures
Sure stock photography is great in some cases, but what about those great pictures from your church’s mission trip? Be sure to include real pictures of your church and congregation. This will give your site a more realistic and personal touch.
This is a great check list to run through while you review your existing web site. If you have any of these things, please remove them. I’m begging you. It’s for the sake of the children.
1. You have an over excessive use of animated clipart.
This may have been acceptable in the 90’s for personal home pages, but it should never be used on a church’s website.
If you want to really annoy your visitors, keep this feature because it works.
2. You play background music that cannot be turned off.
If you want to really annoy your visitors, keep this feature because it works.
3. Your site is in frames.
So you figured that you would make it easy for the navigation to be updated. Too bad you didn’t realize that search engines and some web browsers cannot properly view frames.
4. The last time you updated the site was two years ago.
It’s always good to know what events took place in the past, too bad we have no idea what’s going on in the present.
5. You utilize scrolling marquee text.
Sure it may look okay on CNN, but it looks horrible on a website.
6. You use numerous font types throughout the website.
A little Comic Sans here, a little Arial there and a few Wingdings here, it’s a masterpiece! Perhaps only to a child.
7. You built the site using Microsoft Word.
It was easy, just outline everything how you wanted it and then save as webpage. It doesn’t matter how different web browsers and different screen resolutions see the site, because it looks fabulous on your screen.
8. You used Java or Flash for your navigation.
Look at the pretty cool effect. It’s a shame that search engines have a hard time trying to crawl a site with that type of navigation.
9. You didn’t properly resize images before you added them on the site.
Why is that picture of the Pastor so blurry?
10. You have used the same website design for the past five years.
Why change it now? That old outdated look really defines our church.
Bennie Greene, left, chairman of Media Services for Hopewell Baptist, and Ken Mull, sound technician for Hopewell Baptist, work on a recent Sunday morning to get the churches services online.
Photo contributed by Joshua Norman
MORGANTON – Much like an interactive church bulletin, local congregations are embracing the Internet to broaden the scope of ministry and stay in touch with members.
Hopewell Baptist Church uses the Web for their church calendar, prayer requests and member contacts. Josh Norman, who handles media and technology for Hopewell, said they had a test run in October for previously recorded services over the Internet.
“We record all our services and broadcast them on the Internet. We went full streaming with our Sunday morning services in November,” Norman said.
Along with offering free sermon outlines, questions may be asked and submitted to Dr. Raymond Rowland. The Web site has information about ordering a CD or tapes with messages through the Bible by Rowland. These are free and can be received by following the links on the site at www.afocusonchrist.com.
When I reached into my wallet to pull out my debit card to pay, I pulled out a churchinabrewery.com card as well. I laid it down and said,
Web addresses on business cards just work.
“I worshiped with these guys on Christmas Eve.”
She said she’d never heard of Church in a Brewery but that she really enjoyed the Christmas Eve service at Grace UMC. She asked to keep the card. (My vibe was that Grace is the right place for her – but I’m suspecting she might have a friend to pass the card along to who would find a great home at Sojourn.)
Business Cards with a web addresses just work. In a situation where it’d be awkward to try to start up a conversation about going to church while there are 300 other people waiting for driver’s liscneses it’s simple and gets you to the point quick.
WOW! THIS is what using the Internet is about. Here is an organization that advocates spending less money on Christmas and giving more. This is what Christmas is all about.
This is what Christmas is all about.
Now, look closely. Their web site is hosted on wordpress.com, a free hosting service. This is what I advocate you do in my Web Site Starter Kit book. Look at the domain name of the site.
This organization has a free web site that looks great, works great, and has great results.
Yes, they did lobby displays and other, more traditional marketing efforts also, but the free web site was part of it.
How did the movement generate such a massive response?
Church leadership sowed the seeds several months earlier. Beginning in October, the congregation, including children, repeatedly heard the Advent Conspiracy’s call to “spend less, give more, worship fully and love all.” Officials added a blog to the church Web site (adventconspiracy.wordpress.com) and created a lobby storyboard where churchgoers could share ideas on how to give creative gifts of time and relationship.
This is quite an indictment against the church’s use to technology, or the lack there of. This is how the secular world views the church, as “a primitive, backwards relic from a superstitious, theocratic Dark Age”. While this article is specifically about the Catholic church, the view applies to most all Christian churches.
I think that phrase could also be used for any business that doesn’t have a web page. In 2008, there is not reason that any business doesn’t have a web site, none at all.
It’s not that hard folks. It’s really not. I sell a book, Web Site Starter Kit, that will tell you how to get a web site for free, (yes, free!) and it won’t suck, I promise. You need to drag your small business or church out of the Dark Ages and into the 21st century. All the kids are doing it these days.
Church is a primitive, backwards relic from a superstitious, theocratic Dark Age.
Secular people practically own the internet. It’s old news. We’ve been bloggging, podcasting, all of it, ever since the internet was invented. And now the Vatican has just figured out what this crazy “iTunes” thing is that all the kids are using. The Pope made headlines in 2005 because he figured out how to use a five year-old piece of technology known as a “text message” with the help of only a $90 million Peter’s Pence Vatican budget.
The whole story is quite a commentary on what people really think about the Church. Why would it be news for them to use the internet if it didn’t defy our understanding of the fact that the Church is a primitive, backwards relic from a superstitious, theocratic Dark Age?
This is the correct use of a church web site! When things change, it’s much easier to check the computer in the den to see if the church service is still on or not than to drive down there in the snow to find locked doors.
My dad lives in Portland. He said it’s been snowing, melting, freezing, and snowing more. It’s really slippery. This is why I live near Los Angeles, a half mile from the beach. It will never snow at my house. Never.
Church web sites should contain current information about everything that is happening at the church. Special events information is at the very core of why you want a church web site. What time was that meeting again?
Please use care and discretion in problematic travel conditions. God wants you healthy and happy and so do we.
The Portland First Church of the Nazarene and the Portland Christian Center canceled their Christmas Eve candlelight services because of the weather. So did the Portland Foursquare Church , Hinson Baptist Church, and New Song Community Church.
Portland’s First United Methodist Church scaled back to a single service at 7 p.m. with carols, a children’s story and informal communion in the chapel. The church’s Web site expressed what many in the religious community are thinking: “Please use care and discretion in problematic travel conditions. God wants you healthy and happy and so do we.”
I have some experience with building and maintaining web sites for churches. Most of my professional life has been building them for large corporations, which is cool. It paid the bills. My heart is for church web sites though.
It just hurts to see what some of them look like out there. I am going to change the direction and focus of this site a little bit to point it more towards churches. Most of the advice and knowledge about small business web sites will apply to churches as well.
I’ll write a new version of the Web Site Starter Kit, this one will be for churches. You’ll learn how to build a site for FREE! Yes, this means that there will be no excuse at all, for not having a web site.
I am going to change the direction and focus more on churches.
My first church web site was in 1996. I had discovered the wonders of this new toy called The Web, so I registered the domain name for the church I was attending at the time. I had a web hosting business (I still do), so I built a simple site that had the basics; service times, a map, statement of faith, bios of the staff, etc.
I told the worship leader about it and he was excited. He “got it” back then.
I had a meeting to tell the church business manager about it. He told me to take it down immediately. The Internet was for child porn and software pirates, not churches. He was angry that I had even registered the domain name. Wooah… Dude. Slow down.
I left the meeting disheartened. Of course, being the obedient, submissive soul that I am, I left the site up and did what I knew was the best thing for the church anyway. Idiot.
There were more meetings and the business manager backed down. He began to see the benefit of the site. People were actually excited about it and word got back to him that it was “a good thing”.
The next step, after the “fear and loathing” step, was obviously the “control” step. They wanted to dictate to me exactly what should be on the site. They wanted everything approved before it went on the site. Again, I submitted by doing the best thing for the church. He never went to the site, so he never knew any better.
We finally got some people in the main office trained to keep it updated. It began to really become a useful tool in the life of the church. They started to look for a higher end publishing platform and spend money on it. About this time, there was another political shift in the church, unrelated to the web site, and my lovely wife and I chose to leave and help start a new church.
The original site fell into the hands of the, well, we’ll call them ill-equipped to design and maintain a web site. They didn’t spend any money after all and the site follows all of the “10 Common Mistakes for Church Web Sites”. It’s horrible, last time I looked.
Based on that wonderful experience, and the others that followed, I’ll be giving my advice on how to create and maintain a web site for a church. I’ll try to not go on religious rants, whether they involve Calvinism or Microsoft.
We received a nice email from Kristin Cole, the press rep for the Sadleback Church letting us know that they are keeping their anti-gay rhetoric on the church website after all.
Cole writes us:
“I wanted to make sure you were aware that the Q & A addressing homosexuality on the Saddleback Church Web site has not been permanently removed, but rather repurposed for clarity. I know your readers have noticed the change.
Just a reminder that what you put on your site will be forever available. Hardware wears out, but data is forever. Apparently Rick Warren’s church changed their web site in the midst of criticism, but Google remembers the old version in its’ cache.
So Rick Warren pulled the anti-gay language from his church Web site. The site used to explicitly ban gays from membership in the church. — Now the offending language is gone, but you can still find the anti-gay language via Google’s cache.
Apparently Rick Warren's church changed their web site in the midst of criticism, but Google remembers the old version in its' cache.
I firmly believe that you should stand up for what you believe in and not back down in the face of confrontation. It makes you look bad. Be who you are.
We don’t know if this was a staff person acting on their own to polish the web site or if it was a directive from Rick himself. That question points out that the owner or head of an organization should be aware of what goes on the web site.
Mistakes happen. Change occur. A leader can’t always be aware of what is going on in the organization. When something like this happens, you better come out and explain it right away. The truth will always come out (except about the Kennedy assassination…)
People will always forgive if you tell them the truth. They will never forgive a cover up. Compare Nixon with Clinton.
I worked with a designer once who was playing around and used monkey heads instead of human heads on some presentation comps that were to be presented to a client. It was a joke and he would change them before the presentation. You know what happened.
A developer was coding a site once and had some external links on it. He didn’t know exactly what the correct URL was, so, as a place marker, he added the tag as <a href=”xxx”>. When the client reviewed the site, they clicked on one of those links.
What does your browser do when you don’t complete a URL? It adds a “www.” to the beginning and a “.com” to the end and tries to go there. What do you suppose the client saw on the site at “www.xxx.com”?
Find out how my site beat Wikipedia in Google. Even if you don't know anything about any of this web stuff, you can learn how to improve the ranking of your web site in the search engines.
This book is targeted at the very beginner, people who are not savvy about the web or the Internet. It explains it all, from the very basic, so you won't feel like you're in over your head.
The world has changed. The Internet is becoming a normal part of everyday life for a majority of people. With every new change in technology, comes the rise and fall of businesses as they try to adapt, from railroads to airplanes, from buggies to cars, from radio to TV, from vinyl records to CDs to MP3s.
If you need a web site that is attractive, easy to use, and it's easy to maintain, we can build that for you. Multiple features can be built in, including a shopping basket if you want to sell your products on the web. Read about our design services.
If you want Google to list your site as close to the top of the first page as possible, we can show methods to make that happen. These methods are called "SEO", Search Engine Optimization. Higher page rank means more customers. Do you want more customers? Read about our SEO services.
Conrad Walton commented on The Easiest Way To Get More Traffic:
Thanks for the feedback!
I did a scientific study that determined that I have no idea what the best days to send out the newsletter are. Monday seemed like a good start of the week day. Thursdays seemed like a good pick me up in the middle of the week. Also, Chris Guillebeau, http://chrisguillebeau.com/, sends his
Robert Schott commented on The Easiest Way To Get More Traffic:
This for feedback about the newsletter. I really enjoy your newsletter and once a week seems to be a good interval.
I am wondering how you determined which day of the week to send it out?
I am currently involoved in a social network type of startup. Do you ever comment on that type of
Ken commented on Newsletter Changes – OK! I get it!:
I too like the personal stories. I found you via a post (by you) on another web site, got your book, and have been hanging around ever since. The stories help with keeping the material enjoyable.
For those of us that are land locked, please keep the beach stories coming! I might even
naughtymonkeys commented on Cycling, Waves, And A North Wind:
Agree completely! I can't think of anything that isn't cyclical, and it seems like we can use the downtime to think about what is and isn't working, and get renewed and re-inspired. In other words, it's all good! Thanks for the reminder!
Jill Brock commented on Learning SEO: It Can Get Noisy | SEO Book.com:
I really enjoy your stories and look forward to your e-mails. I can hardly wait to get enough money to upgrade my computer so I can update my web browser and start my own blog. p.s. The SEO book is great for someone like me who doesn't have a lot of experience but
Deborah Leon commented on Newsletter Changes – OK! I get it!:
Are you serious...5%. Kinda scary..cause I was liking the personal stuff. Maybe because I'm interested in people not just stuff. Man you are brave to get right our there, post the result and ask how to correct it ASAP. Good Luck Conrad.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas,
Deborah Leon
www.mermaidspurseseaglass.com
Deb Roehl commented on My Awesome New Profile Photo:
Ah...that one lifegiving day to all the other days that you give life. Isn't this a wondering stage of life we're in? Your pictures "took me away" and gave me a day off too. Thanks for sharing your memory! We love you, even though we don't see you!
Linda Welcome commented on My Awesome New Profile Photo:
You get a day a week with someone you love? You canNOT be a geekoid computer guy...you just do NOT fit the mold..and that pony tail begs for a Harley! Great post. Great picture Victoria!
Untangling The Web
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Fair Winds and Calm Seas,
Deborah Leon
www.mermaidspurseseaglass.com
