How can a website help your church?

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Help People Find You

Brad is a regional sales manager and just found out he was promoted, requiring a move to your city. When he tells his wife Cindy that night, her first reaction is to go online and explore their new town, including its churches. They are particularly interested in finding a church with a strong children's ministry. She finds your church’s site within minutes, and she begins to learn about you. They are able to listen to a sermon, read your statement of faith, review your children’s ministry philosophy and policies, e-mail the director, view a photo gallery of a recent picnic, confirm service times and even print a map. They become excited about being a part of your ministry before even stepping in the door for the first time.

People use many criteria to search for a church including:
• Geographical Area
• Age- or gender-specific ministries
• Worship style
• Support groups
• Denomination
Your GoGrow web site can be a fully-informed top-notch greeter, always providing a terrific first impression!

Improve Internal Communication

Your church has a Jr. High ministry with a strong following. Last week, there was a lively discussion about how to respond to Muslims, and Rick left the meeting with some burning questions left unanswered. That night, he logged into your church’s forum and posed his questions while they were still fresh. These questions were reviewed by the pastor and approved for publishing to your site, because of the fruitful discussion they would propel. Others were then able to chime in and interact together with the pastor in a more comprehensive discussion over time.

Interactive web sites (web 2.0) allow both the web site owner and visitors to post content. Remember, users have limited access, until you allow greater input, based on the permissions you set. This allows for much more interaction, useful for things like:
• Developing curriculum
• An engaging book study
• Real dialogue (anonymously or not)
• Scheduling and organizing a church picnic or other activities
• Fellowship throughout the week
Your GoGrow web site can enable easy to use two-way communication which fosters fellowship, promotes discipleship, and increases accountability.

Allow Your Church to Minister 24/7

Beth has faithfully attended your church for 13 years. No one knows her secret, but she is regularly physically abused by her husband. Your church advertises a new feature that allows anonymous questions to be posted to a special forum. Late one night, Beth gathers the courage to post a very carefully worded question, desperate for advice on how to start finding help. A counseling pastor is able to gently offer support and some first steps to finding healing. Unknown to Beth, several others in the church have the same need, and begin to follow the responses.

A good web site can enable the local church to extend their ministry so it is not bound by geographic constrains or weekly meeting times. Including:
• Allow people who are traveling or homebound to stay current with your sermon series
• Let people download sermon notes, handbooks, or newsletters and other mailings (saving the church printing and postage costs)
• Distribute notes in preparation for Bible studies or business meetings
• Post titles of books in your library and promote other underused resources
• Allow folks to ask questions any time of the day or night
• Allow those with the proper access to post entries or cancellations to website content.
Your GoGrow web site can contain your most requested printed and recorded materials and enable communication with people from within and outside of your community.

Expand Your Outreach

Bob has been your assistant pastor for five years. At a recent men’s breakfast, he opened up about being a Vietnam veteran who survived a deadly ambush when a fellow soldier pushed him into a ditch just as a grenade exploded. This event changed his life, serving as a graphic lesson of what it means to be saved. You encourage Bob to write this in story form and feature it on your website as a testimony. Three states away, Jerry has just returned home from Afghanistan and is struggling to cope with his transition to civilian life. Finding it difficult to communicate with those who have never served, he searches for combat stories on the web and finds Bob’s testimony. This starts an exchange between the two men that eventually opens the door for Jerry to meet Bob’s Savior.

Every local fellowship can minister to the world around them by posting relevant content including:
• Current events
• Topics of interest
• Areas of expertise
• Spiritual questions
• Public Service/community events
Your GoGrow web site can help your people tap into a huge mission field, the internet. This gives even the smallest congregations unparalleled access to nonbelievers.

Increase Your Worldwide Awareness

Your teens travel to Guatemala on a short-term missions trip. Within 24 hours, they post pictures of Jose and Anna on your church website, school kids they met on their first afternoon of street evangelism, and they include a short video clip of their first outreach puppet show. Within days, they get to know the host church leaders and blog about urgent prayer requests they are facing. Back at home, parents know how to pray better for their kids’ experiences and the needs they are encountering. Friends of the kids at school, some who have never attended church, watch for updates and soon begin to understand the love of Christ.

Consider opening the eyes of the people in your congregation to:
• Ministries your church respects or supports
• Online Theological resources (like blueletterbible.org)
• Statistics related to world-wide poverty or religious freedom
• Others around the world who are interested in discussing issues of Christ
Your GoGrow web site can help broaden the vision of your congregation as well as everyone else who visits your site.