Church Website Design
A web site can be, and should be, so much more than a simple e-brochure. I will talk very briefly about two concepts in web design that I would like you to be familiar with when you think about where you are and where you should be. Information in a website can be "pushed out" which means that a visitor to your website would be a "viewer" or it can be pushed in BY the visitor, who at that point would become a "user".
Malls and Bazaars
Here's a way that I think about this: there are malls and there are bazaars. A mall is my metaphor for a structured environment. You know, everything in straight lines, all nice and tidy, all structured. The environment is fixed. When I walk into a mall I am "pushed" through whatever experience the designers wanted me to have, whatever they decided was the "optimum". It is top-down, centralized. I have a little room to maneuver, but not much leeway.
Then there are bazaars. If you have ever been to one, you know how different an experience this is! In fact, you can go to the same bazaar again and again and again and it can always be a different experience.
You walk in and there are hundreds of stalls everywhere, without any apparent logic, and no one has priority over the other. You can start your shopping at any point and leave at any point. You are even able to open your own little booth without much difficulty. It is decentralized, and chaotic. You may get overwhelmed, but you could never say it was dead!
We have all been at churches which are like a mall: people file in, get through the Eucharist, and leave straightaway. Now, there is something to be said about some stability in this topsy-turvy world of ours.
But I am talking about the extreme case of a church which is unable to break out beyond its own boundaries. I am talking about a church where there is an overwhelming, oppressive sense of duty. A church where the spirit of hospitality has long ago ceased to attend services. A church which has become, well, more like a club.
Now, the
other model, the
You walk in and you are enthusiastically greeted at the door. You are welcomed at the coffee break. You hear very soon, if not right on the first Sunday, about some of the exciting groups in the church, about all the various opportunities to volunteer. The services, and there are probably three of them a weekend, are packed. Why are all these people here? And why are they all smiling?
Going Beyond a "Cyber-Brochure"
I would like to suggest to you that a website is just an extension of that thought. There's two reasons: A website is a portrait of the community. Just like you would list all the activities going on in your parish in a brochure or a newsletter, those activities should be in the website. But a website can be more than a brochure. Let's say the Men's Bible Study Group wants to raise some money for a particular cause they feel called to help. You can bet that they will have meetings about this, that they will plan and strategize. That they will coordinate. That they will communicate. That they will fundraise. Now these things will happen "behind the scenes" as it were, they will talk on the phone, they will email each other, they will meet.
Well with a well-designed website, all these communications can happen within it. Messages can be traded within the website, files shared with designs for the brochure, and even the tickets for the raffle can be put on sale online.
A website can do more than simply list or report the activities of a community, it can DEMONSTRATE them! It can help the various groups coordinate their activities. And (and this is the part that starts getting me excited) considering both the theme for this workshop (Go Ye Forth) and the greater theme of the Council itself (Cast your nets): the website can become another way to attract those people who are currently outside, because they think we are archaic, because they think we are dead or dying, because they think we are irrelevant to their lives.
Mostly those are people who feel that their world, with all its information glut, its consumerism, its despair, is so far removed from the church (and they are imagining a Mall Church) that they cannot understand how, for someone who goes to church and contributes to the community, the church can be much more than simply a duty - it can become a central part of their lives, it can make their hearts gush with love just like the rock gushed water for Moses when he struck it.
I want you to think about malls and bazaars, I want you to think about "users" versus "viewers", I want you to think about the seekers out there who think we are a run-down old mall, keep that all in mind as you hear what the various people will talk about regarding how they use their sites.
Resources
Without doubt the hardest part of developing a brand-new website, or redesigning an old one, is asking yourself the right questions. Without the right questions you may not know what you need to know, and end up designing something which does not work for your community.
Here's a link to the website for the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. They have put together an excellent and comprehensive list of criteria for judging congregational websites. I think the questions will create a wonderful framework for anyone who is either building or rebuilding their church's website. I would almost go so far as to say it is mandatory reading.
Another
great resource is the book "Secrets of Successful websites" by Paul
Rand. It also provides criteria for building websites. Below is a copy of how
the Web Action Board worked through the questions when we first designed the
Diocesan site -- as you will see some of the final product did not include all
the points that were discussed at the initial stage - but it provided enough of
a sketch to allow us to move forward with some sense of direction. Here's a copy of
their project questionnaire from their website.
Thinking About
the Final Design
Goals and Requirements
1) What are the primary goals
of the site?
Ideally, you want to
inform and engage the people visiting the site.
2) Who are the primary and secondary audiences? (interest,
needs, skills)
What demographic will you reach? What denomination?
3) Audience capabilities
(browser, speed, savvy)
It is important to be
aware of things like connection speeds and the degree of computer
sophistication in your target audience. For example, large pictures will
frustrate dial-up users.
4) Will the site attract different audiences? Who? What are the areas of interest
to each?
Yes. It will attract the young (when the content is developed). But it
should attract the average Episcopalian looking for
information on her church, the national church and tools for spirituality as
well.
5) What is the number one take-away (key message to convey content)?
For example: Christ loves you. The Episcopal church
welcomes YOU.
6) Existing content or new?
A combination. Any new content will have the new look, the old content will remain old and be in the archive
section.
7) What existing images are available?
Episcopal shield, Bishop's shield. Photos of
8) Do we need to capture user
data? What do we need to know? Why?
No. But it would be great
to know browser types, perhaps connection type (not possible?).
9) What new technologies will be used? What, specifically and why?
Databases for church information and personnel,
are possible. An Email database.
10) What information will
change? How often and how extensively?
You may wish to publish
your newsletter online, or to post lay ministry schedules. Other ideas
include Op/Ed pieces for various areas: biweekly. Databases will be updated in
ad-hoc basis.
Tone and Personality
11) What differentiates the site?
What differentiates your church versus others? For example, what is
"Virginian" about our
12) Describe product as if a
person (serious? Weird? Young?
Reliable?)
It is a site which pops
with the Spirit. It electrifies. But does so in a quiet,
non-self-asserting manner. It is full of energy
but well structured, just like an Eucharistic
celebration.
13) What areas benefit from updating? Who? What areas are of interest to
each?
Some people will use the site simply as an archival resource, or an
electronic address book with useful numbers. Others will use
the site to find a church of their liking. Still others may use it as a portal
to other sites and resources for their own ministries
and pursuits.
14) Strengths and weaknesses (compare to competition)?
Strength: energy, ease of use, clarity of purpose and description, variety
of uses. Weaknesses: original content (or lack thereof),
limited utility, too much stuff.
15) When does the site need to be complete?
Launch of major headings and reorganization of existing content: 8/31/2003.
Development of new content for individual sections: December 2003.
16) Who will approve our work?
What actions require approval?
Web
Development Board. Any
content changes and development tasks.
17) Who will host and maintain the site?
Will you use a member of the parish or use outside assistance?
18) How long is the site
intended to last?
Lifetime.
19) What is the budget?
This will depend upon
your current investment in hardware and software, and where you wish to host
your site.
20) What are the plans to
promote the site? Who is responsible for this activity?
You can promote your site
in your own publications as well as on signs, bumper stickers, etc. In
addition, consider submitting your URL to Diocesan or Presbytery sites, as well
as national church sites. Finally, you can submit to Search Engines, such
as Google, Alta Vista, Yahoo.
Written by:
Mr. Leo Campos
