While WordPress has an iPhone plug-in for websites that use WP as a CMS platform, I think AppChurch would be an awesome tool if your church uses another CMS system.  Both Mars Hills and LifeChurch.tv have created and used this type of technology (I love both) with great success and I really feel it would be beneficial for you to check out for your church as well.  The AppChurch is a free download from the iTunes store though you do have to pay a monthly fee if you want your church logo, service times, map, events, and sermons to be included for your visitors to see … but at $7 per month for one website, I think this is a small investment if people visit your church because of it.

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In this webinar, you’ll learn the essentials of highly effective church websites with two experienced church marketing professionals.

Watch the Church Website Webinar here

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If you wanna read the article, visit Church Marketing Sucks, but please remember that as Christians we should strive to be Christ-like in our actions and responses.

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I admit that I have neglected CCP and keeping it fresh and updated.  It’s been a busy year with iThemes – especially with us now acquiring and launching our new business WebDesign.com.  Cory Miller and I am extremely amped up about this venture to say the least but it’s taken a lot of work to get things in order.

This past year has also brought new changes to my business and personal life as well.  I shut down a successful business and joined an awesome team all while trying to finish up freelance work, keep different blogs afloat, and staying involved with church planting in some degree.  What I have discovered is that I am not one who can spin many plates and keep them from crashing to the ground.  So last week I decided to bring all of the Branding Shed’s content and products (I’m still having problems with the domain redirect) to CCP and make this a permanent home for all of my church branding and church marketing related stuff.  The fact is I love helping churches and Cory poured a lot of sweat into building an amazing resource here and I want to see this website continue to grow and help you.

I have also realized that if I am going to do this I will also have to let some things go, including domain names and other ideas I’ve held so closely for years.  While this is a hard decision, I do look forward to focusing and doing a few things well, not to mention it really is refreshing to cast off added weight.

So I sincerely apologize that Church Communications Pro has seen a lack of love and attention over the last few months and with my renewed focus (plus a need for a hobby) on investing in the Kingdom through this ministry, there will be a new injection of passion to keep CCP moving ahead and not letting Cory’s awesome vision for this site be in vain.

If you have ideas and suggestions I’ve love to hear them.  This resource is for our brothers and sisters in the trenches and it’s with your involvement we can work together for building the Kingdom through ministry and media.

Blessings! – James Dalman, Acts 20:24

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Thank you all so much for your support of our work at Church Communications Pro!

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Here are five great Twitter ideas you can use for your church communication efforts:

1. Celebrations: Every time a person dedicates their life to Jesus, gets married in the church, or does something awesome you can tell the world and you church members about it!
2. Prayer: While you may want to be careful on what details you provide, you can ask your Twitter followers to pray for a specific need or person — or just offer a short daily prayer people can read and feel energized by.
3. Events: You can easily keep your congregation or church members informed of planned gatherings (or even spontaneous get together’s) by sending Twitter updates — or why not use it to invite people to church in a non-threatening way?
4. Sermons or Message: Why not drop a link into your conversation and let people know you have a new sermon or message uploaded so they can listen or watch if they missed it?
5. Community Dialogue: People in your community will probably be on Twitter and you can begin conversations on pressing needs in your town, schools, or other churches.  You can discuss social issues to religion to sports…all great things for building trust and building your church “brand”.

The truth is your church will need to start taking risks and using tools such as Facebook, Blogs, and Twitter to establish connection points with the people you want to reach or help.  Just don’t let it take a back seat to personal attention and care as these will/should always be the staple in creating strong relationships in a church!

So what are you waiting for?  Go get started on Twitter today!

Please feel free to follow James Dalman on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesdalman)

You can also download my FREE ROCKIN’ TWITTER BIRD ICONS to plug into your site.

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It allows us to communicate in a way that is totally different from traditional websites, blogs, and e-mails.  You can tie in Twitter with your FaceBook account, send voice mesages to Twitter using your phone, TwitPic your photos, and even synch it with your Google iCalendar. The applications are many and you should consider using it for your church or ministry.

Anthony Coppedge (whom I’d love to meet and have missed at a few conferences) launched a website called Twitter for Churches (www.twitterforchurches.com) and offers a PDF book called “The Reason Your Church MUST Twitter” for only $5.00!  Having read Anthony’s posts in the past, I think this is going to be a great read and recommend checking out his new website.

Twitter could help your ministry to communicate more efficiently or carry on conversations with people in your community.  Don’t miss the boat.

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Mark Barnes recently sent me an e-mail about his Sermon Browser WordPress Plugin that allows churches to simply upload sermons to their WordPress website, where they can be searched, listened to, and downloaded. It is easy to use with comprehensive help and tutorials.

While I haven’t tried it out personally (because I’m a WordPress dummy) – it sounds really cool!  Feel free to check it out for yourself.

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Budget

There are two main budgetary concerns with CMS’s: set-up (or design) fees and monthly hosting charges. A custom designed CMS, like the one we use at Calvary Church, can be pretty pricey. With the extra expense comes more custom functionality and future expandability. There are less expensive set-up options in the form of plug and play CMS’s. Most of the CMS companies targeted at churches only charge a small set up fee (if any) and a monthly fee. With these, you typically do not get a custom design, but rather get to choose from a selection of templates that you can tweak yourself. Typically you should budget more for monthly hosting of a CMS than for basic web hosting.

Custom Templates

Most CMS’s operate using templates to maintain the design of the site’s pages. Consider whether the CMS has a wide selection of templates from which to choose, if you can design your own templates, and explore whether the templates are easy to change.

Features

Another factor to consider when selecting a CMS is the list of features. Do you only need to design static web pages? Will you need email forms? Is there an easy way to upload and edit images? Do you plan on streaming audio or video? Will you be selling items in an online store (e-commerce)? Does the CMS provide tracking statistics for your site? Will you need forums, chat rooms, or a live chat support tool for your site? Do you need a WYSIWYG editor or is a basic text editor sufficient? Along with the consideration of the list of features the CMS currently has available, you should consider whether or not the CMS has the capability to add custom features for you should you need them in the future.

Support

Most CMS providers will help you get your initial site set-up and designed (as mentioned above, some may charge you a hefty set-up fee, just for that purpose), but what do they offer you once you’re up and running? Consider the number of support hours you anticipate needing a month and look for a CMS that has double that amount. Other support considerations include on-site training for users of your system, online documentation, and an online knowledge base or user forums.

FTP Access

With basic web hosting, pages are updated using FTP access. Most CMS hosting plans do not include FTP access to your site. This can be problematic if, for example, you need to bulk upload pages or images, or if you ever need to migrate your site to another provider. Look for a CMS provider that will offer you FTP access to your files, or at minimum some FTP space on their server in another location.

Ownership vs. Leasing

Most CMS providers retain the rights to the structure of the CMS (while you own the content that you place within their system). In other words, they’re leasing you their software application. If you need to own your CMS, expect to pay a lot more money and make sure both you and the CMS provider are clear on the need. Don’t assume that a custom-designed CMS will be yours to own.

Ease of Use for Advanced Designers

Another consideration is the ease of use for an advanced website designer. Chances are, the volunteers who step forward to help maintain content on your CMS will have some web design experience. As such, if they’re restricted by a CMS that doesn’t allow them to “do their thing,” they might be frustrated. Look for a CMS that has, at minimum, the capability to edit the source code for the page.

Trial Period

Does the CMS provider give you a trial period or unlimited demo login so that you can take the CMS for a test drive before you commit? If not, keep looking. You might want to have potential web volunteers take a look at the CMS as well.

This list of things to consider isn’t exhaustive, but hopefully it will give you a starting point in selecting a CMS. Carefully evaluate your needs and don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions to the sales person at the CMS provider you’re considering. Making a successful choice of which CMS to use can take you a long way towards having a website that is successful in drawing guests to your church and intersecting with members of your congregation.

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Chuck Scoggins is Creative Communications Director at Calvary Church in St. Peters, MO and President of 374 Designs. His latest project is Serve15 and you can email him at chuck@374designs.com.

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