8 Web Site Design Questions with Tulsa Asbury Methodist’s Jan Weinheimer

Are part of the Building Rockin’ Church Web Sites series, I also emailed several church communications director or other staff members at churches with rockin’ web sites.

One of the first to answer back was Jan Weinheimer, communications manager at Asbury United Methodist Church. Asbury is located in Tulsa, Okla., and also one of the fastest growing churches in America.

Here are her answers to my questions about church web sites:

1. How did your current web design come about?

Our website was launched (designed by a volunteer team) about eight years ago. Keeping it maintained and updated became too much to expect of a volunteer, so about five years ago we brought the effort into our department. January 2006 we hired a webmaster who did our current design. He spends about 10 hours a week keeping it maintained and updated. His other job responsibilities include video production and photography for our monthly magazine.

2. Who was involved in the design?

The charge was given to the Communications Department to come up with a design. We interviewed every department to get input on what they would like to have included on the site. Our webmaster, who is gifted both artistically and technically, was able to take their suggestions and develop a site that communicates effectively with the congregation, as well as with the internet community.

3. Who manages it now? How?

Our webmaster, Chris Lo, continues to do our updates. Each department sends me their additions, deletions, and changes along with the link where the change needs to be made. After I’ve reviewed it to make sure it follows our guidelines, etc. I send to Chris. He does maintenance every day.

4. What is your goal or purpose for your web site?

Our goal is to keep the site accurate, fresh and exciting so that our congregation learns to use it as the No. 1 tool for obtaining information about the church. In addition, we want to provide information to the viewing public that accurately depicts the heart of Asbury. While we are a very large church (membership of over 7,000 with weekly attendance approximately 3,500), we are committed to encouraging small group involvement, through our Discipleship Communities, service and mission opportunities, etc. We believe the website allows the viewer to explore those options. In addition, we use the website to promote upcoming events, both church-wide and ministry-wide.

5. What should web sites accomplish or do for churches?

I believe the website should offer an accurate view of the heart of the church while communicating information that is fresh and updated. The viewer should be confident that the information they receive is reliable.

6. What do you see the future holding for church web sites?

There is so much more that we can be doing with the Asbury website, and we’re limited only by the time our webmaster has to invest in this endeavor. Our long-term plan involves more interaction, the ability to register (with payment) online, etc. At the present time, our webmaster is designing a unique site for our Student Ministries, which will reflect a more youthful approach with more interactive options.

7. Any advice for other churches seeking to design/redesign their sites?

The site needs to be as simple as possible to navigate. Because we have a large senior population in our church, many who are just learning to use the web, we want to keep down the frustration level. I would also recommend that static information be used whenever possible, and that nothing should be included on the site unless it can be kept updated, either by staff or reliable volunteers.

8. Other thoughts, ideas, ramblings appreciated too …

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. We found early on that many people (volunteers) are willing to help design a site, but few are willing and able to keep it updated. Having a staff person responsible for that task has been a huge advantage for us. Chris came to us with many years of experience but more importantly, he came with a love for Asbury and a very clear understanding of who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re headed in ministry.

I see my responsibility as making sure that the staff reviews their pages often, submits their suggestions to me, and then to pass them on in a way (with links, etc.) that can be easily deciphered. For example, if the same information is on several places on the website (calendar, event page, front page, etc.) the responsibility is to let Chris know every place where the change needs to be made. This allows him to spend his energy taking care of technical difficulties and design elements, not guessing where the changes need to be made.

Some of our departments check their own pages, others use volunteers to check regularly. Since I am nearly 60 years old and get 99.9% of any information I need from the internet, I can only imagine that everyone younger than me does as well. Because of this, I’m more committed than ever to do all I can to equip and enable our webmaster to keep us moving forward.

[Thanks, Jan, excellent advice for churches!]

[ See the master story list for the Building Rockin’ Church Web Sites series here ]

November 6, 2006 · Filed Under Rockin' Web Sites, Web Site Design

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