Church Website Excellence

During his last visit to the UK, James Emery White spoke of the importance of churches prioritising their website as a ministry tool because of the opportunities it presents to enquirers and members alike.

Thus we are compiling a list of good ideas we come across on church websites which we hope will prove helpful in your website development. Here’s the list so far:

DESIGN

Contemporary, Smart, Ease of Navigation, Great photos, etc…

Cornerstone Church Swansea: http://cornerstonechurch.co.uk/

The Vineyard Church, St Albans: http://www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/home

EVANGELISM/OUTREACH PAGES

Christ Church Abingdon’s ‘Who is Jesus’ page, a great way to connect with enquirers – http://www.cca.uk.net/northcourt/jesus

St Mungo’s, Edinburgh – particularly like the right side bars ‘I’ve got questions…’, ‘I’m looking…’ etc http://www.stmungos.org/

Newport on Tay – Youth Seekers Group: http://www.notchurch.co.uk/

Oasis Church, Chelmsford – loved their ‘Can’t Stand Church’ page:
http://www.theoasischurch.org.uk/new/newcomers.php

WELCOME PAGE

M2O’s church photo – happy and welcoming with people waving, great stuff! Click this link – http://www.m2o.org.uk/ then click ‘Connect’, ‘Services’, ‘St Matthews’. (There’s a smaller one on the home page but the big one on the other page has a real impact)

Riverside Church Birmingham – great photos on home page and welcome video in About page: http://www.riverside-church.org.uk/

Finchampstead Baptist Church – friendly welcome message and video of the sermon: http://www.finchampstead.com/

Crawley Baptist Church – virtual tour (plus great photo on home page): http://www.crawleybaptistchurch.org.uk/virtualtour.htm

Christ Church Surbiton – short, sincere, well crafted description that will appeal to seekers and believers alike: http://www.ccsurbiton.org/1-Home/1-welcome.html

WHO’S WHO PAGE

St Leonards – witty staff descriptions in their ‘Who’s Who’ page – http://www.stleonardscb.org.uk/about-us/about-us-general-background-information-activities-and-services/whos-who.php

WHOLE LIFE DISCIPLESHIP

Rising Brook Baptist Church – Work Life page: ‘From time to time we run forums for people in particular sectors, we deal with work issues in our Sunday morning celebrations…’  http://www.risingbrook.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=99013

MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER PAGE

Abbey Monkstown Presbyterian – Message from the Minister and Looking for Help? pages: http://www.abbeypresbyterian.org.uk/

St Andrew’s, Goldsworth Park – daily messages from the Vicar: http://www.goldsworthpark.org.uk

PRAYER REQUESTS PAGE

Luton Christian Fellowship – clear instructions on Prayer Requests – http://www.lcf.biz/prayerrequests.shtml

Calvary Church, Kingswindord – ‘Say One For Me’ http://www.calvarychurch.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=26

YOUTH PAGES

St John’s, Wimborne – Youth blog site: http://stjohnsyouth.co.uk/

St Birinus & St John’s – another youth blog with great articles by the youth leader: http://www.banjos.org.uk/index.html

VOLUNTEERING

Wokingham Baptist Church – Nice message about volunteering and gifts: http://www.wokinghambaptist.org.uk/cm15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=135

Ascension Balham Hill – a great invitation to get involved with a wide choice of activities/ministries:
http://www.ascensionbalhamhill.org.uk/activities.php

ONLINE TRAINING

The Baptist Union of Scotland – downloadable files that train-up your community: http://www.scottishbaptist.org.uk/downloads.htm

Ashtead Parish Church – training page with downloads:
http://www.sgsgashtead.com/Groups/67172/Churches_of_Ashtead/Church/Teaching_and_training/Teaching_and_training.aspx