Sticking to a consistent prayer habit can be hard for many of us. It’s easy to let the weight of the world get in the way of our thoughts and lose focus even when we know that we need prayer more when we are busy. While some people simply try harder (usually resulting in feeling more guilt) I am a firm believe that using tools and “life hacks” (ergh I hate that word) can help establish a habit which in turn changes our hearts (which in turn makes the habit easier and changes our mindset). That where 7 minute prayer challenge comes in, an app that uses behavior tricks and technology to promote a regular prayer habit.
Church Website Case Study: Why Use WordPress?
There are a lot of different options out there to power your church website.
Wix, Squarespace, Jekyll, Drupal and more can all be used as the service to run your churches website but in my (admittedly very biased) opinion, you should choose WordPress.
Here’s why:
[Read more…] about Church Website Case Study: Why Use WordPress?
A Church Website Case Study: Needs, Wants and Don’t Fits [Series]
Now that you’ve had a chat with other people invested in the church website and worked out what the purpose of you churches website is going to be, it’s time to work out what functions, pages and so on you are going to build in and when. For example, there may be a feature that you need on day one when you push the site live. There might be another that you can add later on down the line and shouldn’t slow you down from getting things up and running, finally there might be something which people are pushing you for but really isn’t a good fit.
[Read more…] about A Church Website Case Study: Needs, Wants and Don’t Fits [Series]
A Church Website Case Study: Before You Start Coding [Series]
If you are helping out with your church website, it can be exciting to begin coding and designing. However, there is something very important you need to do before you start implementing your incredible vision for the church website. It’s not as attractive as getting your hands dirty in code and Photoshop, but it is far more important and it will save you time and hassle latter on.
You need to sit down and chat with all the stake holders.
You’ll be amazed at how many people are (or consider themselves to be) a stakeholder in your church website. In a large church, this may include people who are responsible for different ministries within the church, but it also includes people who have strong opinions about how the church site should look. This second group can be large within small churches as well as larger ones, in fact it may even be bigger in a small church.
[Read more…] about A Church Website Case Study: Before You Start Coding [Series]
A Church Website Case Study: Intro [Series]
Recently, my church put out a call for help in a variety of different areas.
One of which was our church website whose design was lagging behind a bit compared to modern standards and was missing a few features that could really help.
I realized that I possessed a particular set of skills which I had acquired over a long career (well a relatively short one) that meant I was the perfect person to get the job done.
[Read more…] about A Church Website Case Study: Intro [Series]
6 Church Calls to Action
It’s not surprising that many people involved in church media, be that social media, emails, newsletters, logos or whatever, look at general marketing resources. They often contain points which are true no matter what the context is. General good points like “speak plainly” or “have one call to action” are true for church communications just as well as for profit businesses.
However, I sometimes feel very strange when I see people directing articles to others involved with the church which are heavily focused on making sales and similar business specific goals. While there is nothing inheritor wrong with making sales and providing paid resources can be great for everyone involved (How many free ebooks have you got which you haven’t read? How many free courses have you signed up for then not finished? Contrast that with things you paid for.) But the church should be focused on more than just sales. We are in the business of changing lives and helping people to enter into a relationship with Jesus so here are a few things to think of instead of sales.