Your Church’s New Front Door
When people are looking for a church to attend, most will check out their options online before ever walking through the physical door of a church. On average, people will check up to a dozen websites before visiting a church in person.
What does your church website say about your congregation? What do you want it to say? How can you make the “new front door” a welcoming place that will turn web viewers into church visitors?
This was one of the topics addressed at the November 2011 Day of Encouragement for churches in Edmonton, ON, sponsored by Northern Alberta Diaconal Conference and Diaconal Ministries Canada. Their theme this year was “Hospitality: Love in Action.”
Jerod Clark, Project Leader for Church Juice, offered a workshop on using media to become a more welcoming church. “Being a hospitable congregation goes far beyond just having a friendly greeter at the door,” says Clark. “Everything you do says something about who you are. Is your website visitor friendly? Do you have a plan for welcoming guests? Are you consistently communicating with your members so they feel like a valued part of your congregation? Every time someone encounters your church, whether it is through the web or in person, you have a chance to be hospitable to them.”
Those who attended the session came to learn principles and best practices for being a welcoming church and left with “a lot of info that I hope to implement in my church,” one person told Clark after the workshop.
Another commented, “Good info; an interesting way to see welcoming visitors to our churches.”
Church Juice is a service provided by ReFrame Media, the English outreach of Back to God Ministries International, to help energize church communications. Clark offers a variety of workshops to help train and consult with church staff or volunteers about how to more effectively use media as an outreach tool. The Edmonton event was just one of several he offered over the past year.
Clark will also be leading an interactive webinar on January 25, 2012, starting at noon EST. “We'll talk about making your website visitor friendly as well as useful for members,” says Clark.
If you are interested in learning about web strategies, from planning and designing to content creation and updating, feel free to contact Clark at jclark@crcna.org. Or, plan on participating in the January 25 webinar. To sign up, visit the online registration page. If you aren’t available for the January 25 webinar, you’ll be able to catch the session online at your convenience after January 25.
