Church Websites

Lately I've been delving into the dark underworld of church websites. All part of the arduous process of searching for a job after graduation. Good to know the lay of the land, see who might be moving on or who might have opportunities for growth in the future.

As I've been looking around I've been struck by how few websites are interactive for users/visitors. Church websites are mainly set up like bulletin boards, places where you can get information (hopefully) about service times, staff, community projects, and so on. These things are essential, but I'm wondering if it is sufficient for modern communities. Think about the popularity of Facebook/Twitter/etc. These are not sites where you go to get information, but places where you join in discussion and find communities of like-minded people and get to know them. They are fast-moving, vibrant, and unpredictable. By comparison, the Rosetta Stone was probably updated more recently than some of the websites out there (and contains more useful information).

Here's a wacky idea - why don't we have members of our congregations contributing regularly to the content of their church website? Wouldn't it be encouraging to read about a particular Home Group and how they've been reaching out to people with the Gospel? How about using our church websites to let people know about touch footy games/surf trips/shopping excursions/movie dates? Is a youth group discussion forum a possibility? At the moment everything is looking very Top-Down and that is rarely a good thing. Let's give Power to the People!