Websites aren’t just for businesses anymore. Whether your church is big or small, there are many ways churches benefit by having a website.
With a strong church website, you can:
Engage members. Use tools such as videos, photo galleries, event registration and prayer requests to keep your members engaged online.
Educate people about your church. Use the website to tell visitors what they can expect when they visit your church. Websites can offer audio and video podcasts of past sermons.
Answer frequently asked questions. Provide answers to questions from members, visitors and people searching for a church. These people may have questions about the church’s location, worship times, office hours, faith statements, classes and small groups.
Share events and ministry information. This information may prove valuable to church members and new people visiting your website. If events and happenings are mentioned during the service, they can also be posted on your website for anyone who missed the information.
People search online for churches in their towns. According to
internetworldstats.com, North America has more than 300 million Internet users. If your church is not online, you may be missing great opportunities.
Web design can be scary. New technologies and acronyms emerge every day and make the design process seem daunting and confusing. But don’t worry. Help is at hand this summer with Web design training and new media resourcing at General Conference 2015.
The Free Methodist Church – USA and Light & Life Communications are partnering with industry-leading corporations to develop and train Free Methodists in the ways of media communications. Come to General Conference 2015 in Orlando, Florida, to experience an amazing opportunity to build your church website with professionals. For more information, visit gc15.org. More details will be posted as soon as they become available.
Jay Cordova is the director of communications for the Free Methodist Church – USA.
NEWS BRIEFS:
HEAVENLY EMBERS RELEASES LYRIC VIDEO
Troy, Michigan
Heavenly Embers, a music group whose members are all on the worship team at Stone Haven Free Methodist Church, recently released a lyric video for its single, “Whispers.” The single can be purchased on Amazon MP3, iTunes, Google Play, and eMusic, and can be heard on Spotify, last.fm and MOG. Go to fmchr.ch/hvnembers for the video.
ROCK OPERA TELLS OF JOSEPH, MARY
Columbus, Georgia
Brad Wilcox, the church administrator at Christ Community Church, wrote and directed “Joseph’s Journey,” a rock opera sharing the story of the first Christmas using the music of the 1980s. The church’s free performances of the rock opera attracted extensive coverage by the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper. Go to fmchr.ch/leccc for the Ledger-Enquirer’s article.
GREENVILLE TO BECOME UNIVERSITY
Greenville, Illinois
Greenville College will celebrate its new identity as Greenville University on Sept. 20, 2017, which will also mark the 125th anniversary of the institution’s first convocation ceremony in 1892. The official 1,000-day countdown to this event began Christmas Day 2014. Greenville trustees unanimously approved the transition of the name. Go to fmchr.ch/illgcgu for details.
GLOBAL WESLEYAN ALLIANCE AT WMC
Indianapolis
The Global Wesleyan Alliance convened its fourth annual meeting Dec. 5–6 at the World Ministries Center. “The initiatives of this past year and those planned for 2015 reflect our commitment to be whole as a church in service to Jesus and the world He loves,” Free Methodist Bishop David Kendall said. Go to fmchr.ch/fmgwa for details.
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