In the world today, the gospel of
Christ is growing daily with high success rate but the spread is not stopping
because it has been made a mandate by Christ. Therefore, with the increase of
the saved souls, there have been need for churches where these converts and Christ
likeminded people can come together with the singular purpose of worship. Today,
a lot of church ministers make use of computers and smart phone during services
for either their sermons, to google relatable topics or even take down sermon
notes on their phone but not many of them have websites for their churches
because they have not been able to discover the importance.
There are a lot of ways a church can gain exposure through countless means and reach out to souls in the process which includes;
· Radio ads and sermon broadcasts
· Television ads and sermon broadcasts
· Creating an Email list
· Text messaging members and random individuals
· Magazines
· flyers
· billboards
· Tracts
· Content marketing
· Building apps
Since the world has gone digital, we would like to add the most frequently used method that has been adopted which is social media. But The father of all digital platforms that accommodates even social media and all other marketing too with little or no stress is Church website. We are adding this unique item to the list of ways the church can gain exposure and reach out to souls because it has been overlooked. This is the CHURCH WEBSITE. This might not sound very important to you until you are able to see all the benefits it has. This is what we want to help you figure out.
The church website is the online home of every church, just like the church building which is the physical home of the church. A website already provides all the information the individual needs from the church. With this means, everyone doesn’t have to visit the church premises to know about the church or do certain things. When we need something these days, all I need to do is search online, and we often go for the available options we find. These days, before anyone visits a church for the very first time, they would have to search online for details which includes address, events, minters, doctrines and many other information. The website is like the hub for detail of the service times, picture of the church building and some of its members, phone numbers, email addresses, maps & directions, and more. Having such information available online will help prospective congregation members feel much more comfortable visiting the church in person, as they will already have enough insight into what type of ministry they will like to experience. Millions of church-goers search the internet for their church website for information and many potential visitors also search for churches online before deciding to give a church a try.
Every single person who is old enough to know the function of a digital device is online these days. People would shop, meet people, book appointments, attend meetings, pay bills and do a lot of things online and for them, it has made life easy. All they need to do is pull out their mobile phones or computers and do these things. As much as they would love to participate in a lot of things, the tough of the long processes they would have to go through could be discouraging. Imagine for example, Adam Bright was at service last Sunday where there was a lot of announcements made but he is unable to remember a single one but would really love to attend to the announcement because they sounded important. What does he do? He has to start making calls to several people he knows could have the information or he might just not bother. With a website, things are easier and faster.
This website can serve as a space to extend an open invitation to prospective members and those who are seeking spiritual guidance.
ABOUT HAVING A WEBSITE
1. YOU HAVE FULL CONTROL OF YOUR WEBSITE AND THE ACTIVITIES AS AN ADMIN
It is easy to think that just because a company designs a website, they are in control of all its activities and would be able to pry into your personal information. This is not true. A website is the personal space or office of the admin where decision is made by the individual about the organization. Personal details of every member of the church are stored on the website and financial details of the church are also stored here. For security reasons, it is best to keep this information private. That is why not everyone can have admin access. The admin has full access especially to edit and add details. But the visitors can only view. Every church needs an online platform to carry all their members along and where they are in complete control all its activities and only a website can offer that assurance. More than one person can have access to a website only if the original admin gives them direct access.
2. YOU CAN GIVE A GOOD LASTING IMPRESSION TO MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS
Quite a number of people discover your church online, it’s important to recognize that first impression of your church is being made every single day. it only takes about 0.05 seconds for anyone visiting your website to form an opinion about your it and have an opinion about your church. How people perceive your church’s website is how they will perceive your entire church as a whole. This is where the majority of first impressions are being made concerning your church after anyone visits and once a first impression is made, it usually sticks. first impressions are being made on your church’s website first, especially for a first-time visitor. Once it sticks, it would require a considerable amount of effort to undo a poor first impression that has already been made.
3. IT ENCOURAGES MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS STAY INFORMED AND BE ACTIVE IN CHURCH ACTIVITIES
A church website would often encourage members to be more active because they will be carried along on all church events which offers them with serving opportunities. If you include valuable information such as community bulletins, blogpost, event calendars, volunteer sign-up forms, appointment bookings, blog posts, social media links, etc. helping your members stay well-informed in the church’s activities, helping them stay active in what is happening at your church, as well as events and programs your church is sponsoring or organizing will help them stay active. Having this platform will encourage them to be able to sign up for events and programs online at their own convenience, which will be much easier to organize and track.
Overall, with an online presence, you’ll see more engagement from the setup groups and be able to build an active platform where your community members can get involved and support one another. For example, when members are aware of when a prayer meeting is being held, they’re more likely to sign up for it and show up for it. Ekklesia solutions have has builds a website that accommodates even non-members to volunteer their services. They’ll also have access to detailed information about what types of services and programs you offer.
4. IT HAS AN UPDATED SERMON FOR THOSE ABSENT FROM SERVICE
Everyone in the world gets extremely busy at one time or the other in their lives where they are either late for service or are even too far away to attend that service with amazing sermons, due to conflicting work schedules or even personal issues. it does not mean that they do not want to be at the service, it only means that they cannot attend due to whatever circumstances is surrounding the reason for being absent. This makes people rather attend online live services so they are not left out of the Sunday blessing. This does not necessarily mean that you have to also become an online church. There is a simpler way of getting the message to those wan want to listen or even re-listen out of interest. Now they can always catch up by going to the website and visiting the uploaded sermons to read up. The sermons are usually updated so that no one misses out on anything. This service also encourages even non-members to share in the delight of your messages without physically attending your services and it would still be a blessing to them.
5. YOU CAN EASILY SHARE WITHOUT PRINTING
Most times, to keep members posted, many churches print information, announcements and writeups in their bulletins and magazines just to help them stay informed. A website is a great opportunity to reduce the cost of spending in the church’s budget. Many churches still allocate large portions of their budget for printing out calendars event, program details, and service bulletins or handouts, and then mailing them out to their members or even do a door-to-door distribution.
Have you ever noticed that printing a church magazine for information purpose does not often work? After each service, you would find these magazines and bulletins on the chair abandoned or bulletin ends up in the trash. We can now save cost and reduce paper trail. Instead of spending money trying to print out the church’s calendar with programs and events, it could be uploaded and shared on the website and the members can get a notification when this is uploaded. The calendar can easily be updated even with last minute information. You can also easily share blog posts and emails about new and popular programs, as well as include information about where anyone interested can visit on your website to sign up or learn more about your church and its programs.
6. ENCOURAGES ONLINE DONATIONS
Many transactions are done online today because it seems to be safer and faster. With a church website, this allows others to donate at their own convenience online. You can include a secure portal that collects payments digitally on your website which goes directly to the church’s account and has saved records of all transaction for both the member and admin. The websites even allows non-members give donations. Using the church website as a central platform, this can serve as a convenient option for your members.
HOW SHOULD A WEBSITE LOOK LIKE?
The very first page any encounters when they visit or log into the website is the homepage. The homepage should be very welcoming and extend open arms that portrays a message of community and hope. A lot of prospective worshipers may be unsure about attending church just because they do not know much about the church and are scared of not being accepted by the church. That is one major reason why the website has to be welcoming.
In conclusion, Your church’s website is the frontline of your ministry in this digital age. Asides the church’s physical worship service, that will determine is a visitor comes back, the website is where first impressions are being formed. Even with all what it offers, it is very fast, anyone can easily use it and it is cost effective. Your website can facilitate signups for events and ministries. It can accept donations and process giving. Considering everything you now know about a church website; do you think you would love to own one? All the benefits of owning a church website which has proven to not only be beneficial for just the church but also the members and for community outreach. This will by far give your church the necessary online presence the church needs specially to make church management very easy. Ekklesia solutions offers the best church management solution by building a website for your church that is going to make serving God more interesting and fun. We would be delighted to answer any question you have about whatever your decision is, choose wisely.
To enjoy a beautiful experience, we offer anyone who registers with us free consultations and you get a free website to go global with Ekklesia Solutions
