How one church uses web technology to keep its congregation up-to-date.
by Lauren Hunter
For many churches, building an interactive website and maintaining it as a significant communication tool remain unconquered tasks. Churches rarely use their websites to their full potential. A new understanding of a website’s purpose must be grasped.
Too many church websites are nothing more than a static collection of documents—a listing of a few events or a page of church contact names and numbers. Many church leaders might not even be aware that websites today can have many interactive features, including sections for visitor comments, tools to access church membership data, ways for church staff to communicate goals and purposes of special projects, and more.
To get more from this valuable tool, you need to extend your vision of what a website is and what it can do. As you’ll see, a church website can be used to communicate goals, increase volunteer activity, share strategic vision, and connect and assist members in making a greater impact in their community.
Use Multiple Sites
Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Georgia views its three websites as tools to convey goals and visions. The pastoral staff relies heavily on the different websites to keep church members informed and connected.
Their initial website, www.MountainLakeChurch.org, has undergone three different redesigns in the church’s six-year history. Shawn Lovejoy, lead pastor, and David Putman, executive pastor, later developedwww.ChurchPlanters.com to assist and empower young church planters to reach disconnected people in their communities. Then two years ago, the pastors developed a third website, www.BecauseWeCare.com, as a part of a strategic initiative designed to expand the church’s influence and its physical campus.
“BecauseWeCare.com was designed to relate closely to our strategic direction as a church,” says Putman. “We worked with all our pastors to make sure the right content was up on the pages. Instead of including details on church growth and expansion projects on our main website, we decided to launch BecauseWeCare.com as a spiritual initiative with one of our goals being expansion of space.”
Constantly Promote
The pastors launched a six-week “Because We Care” teaching series and continued this theme in its sets and lobby. “Every aspect of our communication was aimed at driving people to the website,” notes Putman. “One of the important dynamics of the site during this time was what we called ‘life-changing stories.’ Each week, people could go to the site and communicate how God was changing their lives. With hundreds of people doing this, it was an extremely dynamic site.”
The church included all of its goals and plans for the new building project on the site. Church members could easily get information regarding the building plans and financial needs. But although the building expansion was important, church leaders wanted to make sure it was only part of the overall website project.
“We had a set of goals we called ‘The S’s:’ Spiritual influence, expansion of Space, additional Staff, and Strategic missions,” Putman adds. The church categorized information about each goal on the website. Regular updates gave details of how these goals were being met.
At its core, the Because We Care initiative challenged church leaders to ask, “God, what do you want to do through us (the church)?” and for each individual to ask, “God, what do you want to do through me?” In all aspects, the website communicated this core mission and encouraged members to pursue God’s plans in their own lives.
Create Interactivity
The church used the BecauseWeCare.com website to post comments about expansion project accomplishments, recommend ways for members to pray for the project, post pictures of the land acquired for new buildings, and post details of the master plan for the 30-acre site. The website even included a form for submitting questions about the building project. It also had a frequently asked questions page to address concerns from the members.
Putnam says that because their ministry is so dynamic, they placed a high value on technology that allowed them to be quick, flexible, and in control. They chose the ACS Extend Platform because it integrated well with the communication structures already in place at the church.
Several key ministry team members at Mountain Lake Church have administrative access to the three websites and can edit and upload new content including images, videos, slideshows, and audio clips. New information keeps the sites fresh in every way. Because the ACS Extend Platform is a content management platform, church staff can access and update their web pages from any location, and they don’t need to know HTML or be computer wizards to maintain the site. With an easy-to-use HTML editor that works much like a word processing program, they can create and layout new content and upload it to the website.
“Having a system that allows for multiple people to upload content and rearrange the site saves me from having to make lots of updates,” says Putnam. “It spreads the workload out and helps us focus on keeping the site fresh—with less work for one person.”
With their three-website strategy, Mountain Lake Church is able to accomplish three goals. The first goal is to communicate with those outside their church in a relevant way. The second goal is to communicate to those within the church and provide resources for personal growth and for creating community through small groups. The third goal is to provide resources for those within the church who are committed to reaching others.
Handle Donations
Functions for donating online are strategically located on the Because WeCare.com website. “We really didn’t want to hit new visitors to the Mountain Lake site with ‘Donate Here’ right in their faces,” says Putnam. “We wanted to invite visitors to the services and help them become a part of the church and not worry about donating from the get-go.”
The online donation information on the BecauseWeCare.com homepage can be reached by links from the Mountain Lake site. The church uses ServiceU for both its online donation functions and online volunteer forms.
“Providing members with easy ways to donate online is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing tools for us as a church,” says Putnam. “Currently, about 25 percent of funds donated come in through the website. Just before Christmas, I preached on giving proportionally to one’s income and utilizing the online donation tools our church provides. It was a huge success.”
Reach Everyone
In addition to using its websites, Mountain Lake Church provides information to its members through printed and mailed materials, e-mail, from the pulpit, and through printed worship guides and cards left in the sanctuary seats. During the Because We Care series, the church put computer kiosks in the lobby so that members without Internet access at home could have access to the site.
“We made our websites an important part of our culture, but we still have a long way to go,” adds Putman.
The church goals for 2006 include stepping up even further its web presence and commitment to technology. Church leaders hope to increase their use of e-mail for communication and to begin taking online registrations and payments for missions trips and other youth activities.
“In all things, we are strategic in our use of technology to encourage and support our ministries,” Putman comments. “Our focus is in changing lives through Christ—if web technology can help us accomplish this, then it is in our best interest to pursue it.”
Mountain Lake Church continues to research and implement new technologies that assist them with their ministries. They are pioneers, paving the way for more churches to make technology inroads and increase their ministry effectiveness.
