Why should your church have a functioning website?

We live in a technologically advanced, media driven society. Arguably, good stewardship would require a church to use some of those resources. A church website is one of the easiest and most effective media tools for teaching and outreach that every church can, and should, implement.

It helps people find information about your church
The "yellow pages" are rarely consulted when folks are looking for a church or any type of business. Most people have never even heard of a yellow pages directory, much less used one. Newspaper ads are another thing of the past when it comes to finding a church. Instead, people are turning to the internet. They search Google for local churches and if your church does not have an internet presence, they will not discover anything meaningful about your church ministry, and may not even discover that your church exists.

A website allows you to provide some pictures, a list of various ministries, your doctrinal, mission, vision and philosophy of ministry statements. You can also provide sermon recordings for people to listen to, or watch, to learn what the preaching and teaching are like at your church.

It helps your church family, including your shut-ins, stay connected through the week and enhances the opportunities for ministry to them.
By using tools such as an integrated blog, calendar, discussion forum and members-only area, your church family can connect with one another during the week for prayer updates, and encouragement. The weekly bulletin, with its announcements, can be posted on the site as well as important church documents of interest to the congregation.

The pastor can post insights from Scripture, or even sermon audio and a study guide. Most churches that post regularly updated teaching material online have more people using it than the total number of people who attend their church. Not only do people read and listen to the online study material, but they share it with friends and family, use it in their own Bible studies, and eventually, it gets spread around the world.

It provides a worldwide channel for outreach with the Gospel
People are lost and desperate for real answers in this world. They have questions about God, the Bible, Jesus, and the church. Multitudes are researching spiritual issues and looking for answers in the privacy of their homes. Your website can provide a source of the truth for those searching for answers.

It enables your church to make a good first impression by putting your best foot forward
It used to be that parking lots and landscaping created the first impression people had of your church. Now it is your website. You may have the cleanest parking lot and most manicured lawn, but when people think about attending your church, they check your website. If it is non-existent or uses clipart, out-of-date and stale information, broken links, and bad color schemes, they will not attend your church. An attractive, professional looking, website will make a good first impression.

Good stewardship requires that a church's website be an extension of the church's ministry to the church family as well as a point of outreach to the lost. Technical limitations, however, make the achievement of such a goal a demanding thing for most churches. It can be a genuine struggle to create and maintain a website of any size while keeping it fresh and professional looking.

There are available products and services available for creating and maintaining a website. Some are prohibitively costly. Others are free but often packaged with unwanted ads, limited options and delays in responding to content update requests.

FINALWEB is a leader in putting the creation and maintenance of professional looking websites on a level that is easy to learn. Ease of use, an impressive variety of features including additional options for mobile apps and live streaming, extensive video tutorials and documentation, fast and friendly tech support (though rarely needed) make this product an easy winner. All of that at an amazingly affordable cost make FINALWEB a "must have" for large and small church ministries!

Check it out for yourself with a FREE TRIAL below. Or, if you prefer, let us help you get started with a FINALWEB product of your choice. Contact me to let me know of your needs and we will work together to make it happen!