Seriously? A bunch of mismatched, free web services? All of them have their own logos and none of them are really well suited for a church website except for being precariously linked together through a common page? What a mess!
Yep, it sure is. What would make us settle for this?
Well, first off, we don't think that many people are going to come to know Christ through our church website. It's a nice thought, but who are we really kidding? We'd rather use the free services and put the money we save into more effective ministries.
Second, in an ideal world, a church website should accomplish two things:
1. Tell non-members what your church is about and how to get there, and
2. Provide current information for members about upcoming events.
What tends to actually happen is that one volunteer gets burned out with the task of maintaining the website and then it sits there, neglected, and terribly out of date.
So we decided to pick services that would allow us to share the load: Blogs are designed to have several people easily post updates. Good picture sharing sites allow multiple people to share pictures in a group. Online calendars can have many people adding and editing events. And since they are all easy to use, anybody can do it. By choosing well designed services, we are not only trying to share the load but also helping to build up our community.
Besides,
isn't that what a church really is; a bunch of mismatched people, all of us
having our own philosophies and none of us being really well suited to
run a church except for being precariously linked together through God's grace?
What a beautiful mess!