One of your church website’s primary goals should be to explain who you are and what you strive to do. Most websites simply create a few pages in their About Us section to achieve this goal, writing out their mission and beliefs in lists or bullets. This can be an effective way of telling your values, but a better way is to show your values at work in the lives of people.
Every thriving ministry has hundreds, if not thousands, of stories about changed lives, including the story of how your church came to be. Its these stories that inspire website users to become church visitors and encourage regular attenders to serve and take the next step in their relationships with Christ.
Here are four other reasons you should tell these stories on your church website.
Why You Should Share Your Story
1. Stories attract readers.
Compelling, fresh content that is consistently updated is the best way to attract new website visitors, and keep them coming back. Intriguing stories interest all kinds of people–young and old, men and women, from all backgrounds. Most people can relate to the story of a person who spent their life looking for something, then found that something in Christ. What a great way to explain the gospel.
2. Stories are the best way to show your ministry at work.
Which do you think has more impact?
A. Saying that you strive to show Christ to those who do not know him.
B. A video showing a person who has found Christ through your ministry.
Easy question, right?
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3. Stories are ready-made content.
Everyone can tell a story. It takes no special education or extreme skill to recall a series of events. This is why your ministry’s stories are perfect for your website–anyone can write them down, post them, and they are ready to encourage.
4. Stories are sharable.
A great story is one that gets told over and over. The Internet is perfect for great stories because it’s so easy to spread content from person to person (Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, instant messaging). I’m sure you’ve been sent funny YouTube videos that you pass on to your friends. Shouldn’t a story of how the faithful prayer of a Christian wife saved a lost husband likewise be spread?
How to Share Your Story
- Blogs: Write a series of stories about changed lives.
- News articles: Recap a ministry event where people learned about Christ.
- Videos: Interview a person who made it through a tough circumstance with the help of God.
- Photo albums: Let images tell your ministry’s history and how God has blessed it through the years.
Article written with the help of Bryan Young
Bryan Young
I am a web content nerd who blogs by night for iMinistries, a church website content management system. During the day I work in Web Communications at Moody Bible Institute. I do not sleep.
Great post! We’re developing a new website for our church and stories are at the heart of it. Through photos, videos and written word, we’ll be using the stories of God at work within our church body to encourage and to be living examples of our why statement, “To glorify God by leading people in a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Your article affirms our decision to move in this direction.
Brendan,
I’m glad this article was able to confirm what direction your church is heading in for an online presence. If you think about it, after the site is done, I’d love to see how it turned out.