A four-part series on church web sites by Kevin D. Hendricks

You can’t just dump content online and expect people to be transformed. It can happen, but you need to do a little more work.

You need to find ways to connect. Here are three suggestions:

Be Current
Our culture is obsessed with the current. Often with good reason. We’re concerned with what’s happening here and now. If your message is going to have any impact, it has to be current. Find ways to connect your message to what people are worried about. Today that’s a no-brainer: What does Jesus have to say about the economy?

Tell Stories
You can’t just write copy and hope to connect with people. Try telling stories about real people. It’s likely a few folks in your congregation have weathered the greatest economic collapse this country has ever faced. What’s their story?

Answer Questions
A third way to connect with people is by answering their questions. What burning questions do people have about your church or specific doctrines? Answer them.

Church web sites don’t have to be limited to potlucks and sermons. Try offering content that’s more likely to connect with people.

Kevin D. Hendricks is the editor of Church Marketing Sucks and runs his own freelance writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, where he helps organizations communicate.

A four-part series on church web sites by Kevin D. Hendricks

Christians have a strong preference for the written word, but the Bible never says we can only communicate our faith in writing. As your church branches out on the Internet and finds ways to connect, don’t be limited by text.

Video
The most obvious format is video. Consider telling stories and answering questions with video. Keep it simple and short.

Audio
A podcast might be another way to tell your church’s story. Convince the old timers it’s a radio show. With Sunday morning worship music as transitions and nuggets from the sermon, half the work is already done.

Photos
Pictures are worth a thousand words. Load up on photos and let the smiling faces, the hands raised in worship, the tears of confession tell your church’s story.

Your pastor may like to sit at the computer and write sermons and newsletters, but that doesn’t mean your web site has to be all text. Branch out with some new media.

Kevin D. Hendricks is the editor of Church Marketing Sucks and runs his own freelance writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, where he helps organizations communicate.

A four-part series on church web sites by Kevin D. Hendricks

Churches have the greatest story ever told. But we’re not giving that message of hope to the people who need to hear it. Churches have a communications problem.

Churches can barely manage to communicate next week’s potluck, never mind communicating something as life-changing as the idea that our security rests not in the stock market or the economy, but in the grace of God. There’s an idea worth communicating. But how many churches have been able to get that message past the last pew? And if you’re only reaching the folks in the pews, you’re preaching to the choir (so to speak).

Here’s a free tip: communicate online.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s very easy and very cheap to get your message out there where people are listening. So why don’t churches do it?

Step one is to start communicating. Get your church’s information out there. Make sure your web site had a news section, a calendar, a blog, a place where you can load up lots of content and it’s easy to find and search through.

Granted, it’s not easy. It takes time, effort and money (though less than you’d think), and you have to compete with an increasingly crowded market. But there are also people searching for information, yearning for hope. If you offer it—someone will eventually find it (you’d be amazed at the inane information that’s perennially popular on my personal blog).

But if you’re not communicating your message, then don’t be surprised when no one hears it.

Kevin D. Hendricks is the editor of Church Marketing Sucks and runs his own freelance writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, where he helps organizations communicate.

In case you haven’t heard or don’t know…I (James) joined the iThemes team back in August to work alongside of Cory on the mission to build the coolest and easiest to use premium Wordpress themes on the planet.  It has been amazing so far and I can’t wait until November when we bust open the crate on a super secret project we have been developing!  It is gonna rock!

In the meantime, Cory and I re-launched ChurchTheme.com yesterday to offer some sweet premium Wordpress themes specifcally for churches.  bChurch is the first theme design I completed for iThemes and I am pumped to offer this to you!  Why?

I have worked with churches for seven years on branding and design projects.  One of the biggest needs is church websites that are easy to maintain, quick to implement, doesn’t cost your entire budget to do, and that really looks professional.  bChurch and The Springs themes meet these needs and then some!

There are some cool features in both of these themes:

• Image Rotater and Image Fading: This really keeps your site fresh and appealling.
• Social Media: These icons help people connect to you and your church easily with one click.
• Search Engine Optimized: They are Google and Yahoo friendly, making your church a quick find.
• Blogging: Incorporate your blog with your website.
• Audio and Video: Simple to upload and plug-in.

These are only a few things to consider.  The great thing is that you can get a theme for $79.95 and hosting for less than $120 per year.  This means you can have a functional site without spending thousands of dollars - and they will be better than most of the custom websites I have seen churches invest in.

Please check out ChurchTheme.com and see what these themes can do.  I’ll be working on a couple more themes that we will add in the next month so stay tuned for those.

Logos Bible Software recently released a Bible Reference plugin for WordPress