Church Web Sites That Work: Talk Where People Are Listening

A four-part series on church web sites by Kevin D. Hendricks

Churches have the greatest story ever told. But we’re not giving that message of hope to the people who need to hear it. Churches have a communications problem.

Churches can barely manage to communicate next week’s potluck, never mind communicating something as life-changing as the idea that our security rests not in the stock market or the economy, but in the grace of God. There’s an idea worth communicating. But how many churches have been able to get that message past the last pew? And if you’re only reaching the folks in the pews, you’re preaching to the choir (so to speak).

Here’s a free tip: communicate online.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s very easy and very cheap to get your message out there where people are listening. So why don’t churches do it?

Step one is to start communicating. Get your church’s information out there. Make sure your web site had a news section, a calendar, a blog, a place where you can load up lots of content and it’s easy to find and search through.

Granted, it’s not easy. It takes time, effort and money (though less than you’d think), and you have to compete with an increasingly crowded market. But there are also people searching for information, yearning for hope. If you offer it—someone will eventually find it (you’d be amazed at the inane information that’s perennially popular on my personal blog).

But if you’re not communicating your message, then don’t be surprised when no one hears it.

Kevin D. Hendricks is the editor of Church Marketing Sucks and runs his own freelance writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, where he helps organizations communicate.