Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

If you're like most churches, then spending $2,000 for a new website can seem like a lot of money ... and it is.

But as you know, more and more consumers are researching online the products they buy offline before they ever head to a store.

"Church shopping" works the same way.

In fact, our research shows that potential newcomers are using your church’s website as a filter and that churches with old or “crummy” (their word – not mine!) sites are getting passed by.

But even after someone takes the plunge and visits you they still have a lot of questions.

In fact 85% of them will continue to go your website for the next year to help them integrate into the life of your congregation.

That is … if there is something there on your website that will keep them coming back.

But if all they find on your site is the same old content, then they may get discouraged and drop out.

Now when I was in seminary, they didn’t teach us much about using the parish website as a tool for evangelism.

So, after I was ordained a deacon, I started teaching it to myself. I worked for a new media company for a year. I talked to major consumer brands. I operated in country.

And you know what?

All of them had stories to tell about how the products they were selling were making people’s lives better.

(Who knew your laundry detergent could help Haiti?)

And not only did they have stories to tell, but they were committed to telling those stories as well as they could be told and to as many people as they could possibly reach.

Then I thought: “We have a story to tell.”

Your church has a story to tell.

The Episcopal Church has a story to tell.

And we have a Great Commission to tell that story to as many people as we possibly can.

Like you, I’ve seen the Internet become a major force for telling stories in the last two decades.

When you think about what you want from your next website, I want you to think about how your website will help you tell your church’s story.

Maybe you’re emerging from a split. Maybe you are a plant or a mission. Maybe you’re an historic downtown church or a small country parish.

This is about you; this is your story … and I’ll bet it’s a good one!

Now, let me make something clear: I do not want to sell you a website.

(In fact at the end of this post I will tell you how you can get a new website for free.)

What I do want to do is to help your congregation tell its story. And if you like, I can introduce you to some people who can help.

We live in an age when it’s never been easier or cheaper to reach thousands – even hundreds of thousands – of people with your message.

What’s your congregation’s message?

I’d love to hear it.

Oh, and that free website solution I told you about? Check out Episcopal Church Web Hosting… a wonderful volunteer effort from the folks at the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge/USA.