I thought that I might ought to capture this text in case it disappears someday,  given that it was written in 2000.  It came from here which is at the Fuller Theological Seminary site

Creating a Congregational Web Site That Is a Venue for Mission

BY THOMAS H. WALKER

Congregational web sites have become a new kind of litmus test in ecclesial circles these days. The pressure from fellow clergy, members of the congregation, and the popular press has ministers scrambling to try and get up a "WWW" something. There is some justification for this. The advent of the Internet and web technology represents the most significant advance in communication technology since Gutenberg’s press. The church must rise to the formidable potential of this new medium, but the reasons need to serve the true mission of the church.

This is why a congregation and its leaders should create a web site that gives it shape and focus. Often congregations put up web sites because of the social pressure to establish a presence on the Internet. These web sites frequently provide only the same kind of information found in the Sunday bulletin or monthly newsletter, that is, information about what is happening in the church building and congregational events. Little, if anything, is done to directly engage the online visitor. However, if the reason for the web site is to enable the congregation to communicate its understanding of God’s Word in an interactive way to people of all cultures and creeds amid the fastest growing marketplace in human history, then a very different kind of web site will emerge. It will be a web site that supports the congregation’s expression of the gospel.

So why should a congregation go to the effort of creating a web site? How can it become a venue for mission? There are at least three really good reasons for a congregation to put time and energy into making sure their web site does more than alleviate the social pressure to "get something up" on the Web. These reasons are:

A. Strengthening Parish Communication

The health of a congregation is often a reflection of its internal system of communication. The larger and more complex a congregation becomes, the more energy and care needs to go into ensuring clear communication. The World Wide Web is one of the most promising communication tools available today.

Most congregational web sites make use of information from bulletin announcements and newsletters, often posted online in their entirety. However, congregations are beginning to make tremendous progress in parish communications by focusing on the Web as their first form of communication. Its immediacy and fluidity become the best place to get important news and information documented quickly. Once posted to the Web, then announcements and newsletters can be easily drawn from the web site and put out in printed form. The Web can also complete the life cycle for parish communications in a way that leaves them continuously available to the congregation. All public communications, such as newsletters, sermons, bulletins, annual reports, etc., can be archived in the web site and be accessible through menu-driven systems or a full text search.

Congregations live their lives as a series of events that shape the communal identity. Just keeping track of the schedule is a difficult task in most churches. An online calendar is another good example of how the Web can truly enhance parish communication. On the Web the schedule of congregational events becomes an effective way for leaders to keep the latest information posted so that members can quickly verify dates and scan for events that interest them. Links from the calendar allow viewers to quickly access further information about events. Important communication tools, such as instructions and directions, can be woven through web links into the fabric of the web calendar. Forms required to support events can be formatted for printing or can process the desired information interactively through the Web. Pictures and write-ups from past events can be linked into the calendar following the event to create a kind of multimedia history of the life of the congregation, which can share valuable insights for newcomers and long-time members alike.

Advanced web facilities can enable a considerable amount of actual church business to take place through the web site. Sub-webs can be used to support the work of committees, organizations, and departments. Web discussion engines can allow groups to work through issues with fewer meetings and better documentation. Links can be created that enable congregational members to send prayer requests to the pastor or a prayer team. A daily devotional can be posted to encourage members in the development of daily meditation. Members can be encouraged to set their web browsers at home and work to load the congregation’s daily devotional page first. In many important ways a well-managed congregational web site will gently integrate congregational communication into the everyday lives of members.

In the future, as congregations develop web sites to facilitate their work, it will become increasingly possible to search the Web for exciting initiatives being reported in other churches’ web sites. The Web will become a primary way that church leaders share ideas with each other and begin to communicate about more effective ways to develop congregational mission. The same tools that enhance parish communication will be used to enable congregations to collaborate where they share interest and common need. Web sites will be used to link multicongregational undertakings, giving them both a communication tool and a symbol of unity in collaborative ventures.

Organizations of affiliated churches and denominational structures will find the Web a valuable way to share information and support common work. Many church headquarters have been working hard to develop high-quality web facilities that serve the mission of the church and provide links between the various expressions of the denomination. With the Web, however, collaboration can rapidly progress beyond traditional denominational lines. Partnership can be expressed easily on an international, ecumenical basis as congregations from around the world with common goals use the Internet to find each other and establish shared mission.

It is possible to imagine that, as congregations, judicatories, denominations, and worldwide church organizations manage information through the Web, the church will be able to globally express itself in a powerful new way. But, as expansive as this vision may be, it must begin through the creation of web sites by local congregations, enhanced by their members’ ability to adapt to this new method of communication.

As more and more churches realize that the Internet offers them an opportunity to directly answer the Great Commission, web sites and other Internet technologies will enable local congregations to "make disciples from all nations." The Internet is a splendid mode for a local congregation to reach out with the good news. People encounter a wide variety of strongly stated messages on the Internet. There is no stigma associated with speaking one’s mind on the Web. Communicating faith is quite acceptable on the Internet. People who visit a web site feel safe, can leave when they want, and are more likely to pay attention while they are there.

The church web site is the cornerstone of a good strategy for witness through the Internet. However, the web site must bear witness to faith and directly share community. Faith stories shared by real people through text, audio, and/or video show the congregation’s commitment to its belief. These stories with pictures of people sharing community together help the visitor to hear the witness, while the gentleness of the Web’s passivity enables them to explore the beginning of their faith at their own pace. A site must be rich with good quality material attractively arranged and clearly organized. Religious language must be minimized or very carefully defined. Every effort must be made to engage the visitor through an exploration of faith in daily life, not just pious meandering.

However, to be effective in witness through the Internet, a congregation must be willing to go beyond the Web. Web sites can stimulate visitors to think, but there needs to be a way that they can begin to interact with the community of faith. Inviting visitors to share questions or comments through an E-mail link becomes the perfect opening for a conversation. With care and permission, other members of the congregation can be brought into the conversation and a kind of community can be formed. Internet chat allows "real time" conversations that help to develop lasting relationships and more spontaneous interactions. Online learning techniques can be brought to bear so that people can acquire a sense of a learning community as their faith develops.

It is important to remember that online community is different from the physical community of a congregation. Face-to-face community is often held together by charismatic, articulate leadership that has roots in the physical presence of individuals. Online community actually favors those who write well, are thoughtful, and are kind. On the Internet, shyness is less of a barrier and can actually enable empathetic caring and witness. Age, gender, race, physical impairment, etc., are not nearly the barriers to online community that they are in the average local congregation. A faithful venture in witness through the Internet may be able to draw on a congregation's untapped resources and release new power for mission.

For the sake of faith’s development, the physical Christian community, beyond the virtual community enabled through the Internet, must engage believers. Even so, Internet technology can play an important role as evangelism teams search the Web for compatible congregations in regions where new friends live. E-mail becomes a good way to introduce seekers to new communities and to support them in their transition into the church. As these activities proceed, a natural network of relationships builds up as members of different congregations collaborate via the Internet to support hospitality to newcomers. Can we imagine a new era where congregations join in shared mission to their communities and the world through the intelligent use of Internet technologies?

Why a congregation’s web site is created has a lot to do with its long-term impact. Many church leaders are beginning to think that the Web may become a crucial tool for enhancing communication within the parish. Some are realizing the Web’s potential for linking all parts of the church together in new and exciting ways. There is new thinking abroad that there may be a new way to reach out directly with a witness to the faith of the church through the Internet. Each of these reasons, or a combination of them, gives ample justification for a congregational web site that will endure and serve the mission of the community it expresses.

Once a congregation sees how a web site serves its true mission, it is much easier to create something that will have value. Much has been written about the technical details of creating a web site. What follows here are some strategic considerations that will help in bringing such tools and techniques together in developing or redesigning a congregational web site. In this section we will address these key issues:

It is the underlying information structure that gives web sites their shape and usefulness. This is the most frequently overlooked aspect of web design. Because the Web is such a flexible medium, people tend to underestimate the importance of organizing the information carefully. Designers should think of a web site’s flexibility like a parachute. Creating an information structure is like folding and packing a parachute. Quality information structure has a great deal of influence over how it will unfold and deploy for the user. Like a parachute, a web site needs to work right the first time it is used. Second chances are rare.

The most important task in developing information structure is to envision the web site from the perspective of the visitor. Often church leaders create the site's information structure based on how the congregation’s ministry is organized. In other words, a section focused on worship, a section on youth ministry, a section on adult education, etc. This is not a bad way to organize information. However, it may not be readily apparent to the visitor how to get answers to fundamental questions such as, How do I telephone the pastor? What is it like to be a member of this congregation? How do I answer my children’s questions about God? The best kind of web structure will anticipate the questions and information needs of the visitor.

Of course developing a visitor-oriented structure would be much easier if everyone came to the web site from the same perspective. Because they don’t, it is vital to think of potential web site users as general constituency groups. Although these vary from congregation to congregation, they will probably include constituencies such as the church staff, members of the congregation, potential members, other church professionals, seekers, and casual visitors. No information structure will meet all the needs of these groups. However, by focusing on the constituencies they most want to serve, designers will greatly enhance the overall effectiveness of the web site.

Today’s leaders are very aware that Sunday visitors are beginning to form an opinion about the congregation even before they enter the church building. The impression left by a person’s first visit to a congregation is crucial. Is parking easy to find? Is the church facility attractive? Are the grounds well kept? Are people friendly? Is the sanctuary inviting? Do signs help the newcomers find what they seek? Increasingly, the first impression of a web site may be just as critical as the one formed at the door of the church. Does the "look" and "feel" of the web site really portray the image the congregation wants to project?

To understand the strategic significance of look and feel, one must know that the Web is designed to adapt information as best as it can to the software and hardware of each user. Because users have so many different kinds of software and hardware, it is almost impossible to determine exactly what every visitor will see. Well-designed web sites bear this in mind and use a number of different strategies in designing look and feel to make sure that what each visitor sees is pleasing and functional. Three key issues need to be accommodated. First has to do with the browser the visitor is using. Second is the screen resolution produced by the monitor the visitor is viewing. Third is the information transfer speed available to the user.

The browser software determines what advanced capabilities employed on the web site will actually be useable by the visitor. For instance, a wonderful little animation may cause an error in some users’ browsers. As a rule, visitors will assume that something is wrong with the web site and will not realize that their out-of-date browser is causing the problem. It is important to make sure the web site doesn’t demand the latest and greatest browser and that it is compatible to older versions of the software. Also, a web site should describe what version of browser is required for optimal viewing and provide users with links to the places from which updated browsers can be downloaded. At this point, designing for a so-called 4.0 browser is about right.

Screen resolution is a continuous problem for web design. Many workstations used for creating web sites have large high-resolution monitors. What looks great on the designer’s monitor can be almost unusable on the tiny, low-resolution screens of some visitors. It is vital to take steps to plan for low resolution, especially with the increasing development of web-enabled appliances such as WebTV and Palmtop devices. This means paying attention to how graphics are used. The display width of the screen must be controlled. A technique called "frames" can also cause problems because the frames take up so much screen space that they frustrate users with low-resolution monitors. And finally, a carefully developed color palette can help to ensure that the user’s monitor is displaying the intended color. Designing for 800 x 600 pixel resolution on a 15" monitor is today’s de facto standard.

The third issue that greatly affects the look and feel from the users’ perspective is the speed of their connection to the Internet. Most web sites today assume that the lowest rate of speed is a 28k modem. This is a fairly safe assumption throughout most of the urban and industrialized world. But in many parts of the world, and even in some parts of rural America, speeds can be lower than this for a variety of reasons. This is important because certain types of information such as graphics, audio, video, etc. require a very long download if the connection speed is slow. Users tend to become annoyed with long waits and will quickly move on to other sites. The most common problems arise from the use of overly large graphic images that automatically load when the browser calls for the page. Careful use of graphics can be the single best way to enhance the look and feel of a web site. Congregations that are serious about reaching all around the world should even consider keeping up a separate parallel "text only" site that leaves out the graphics. The additional effort may pay off in the delight and return visits from users in parts of the world that cannot access heavy multimedia-laden sites.

Because of the technical nature of these issues, it is beyond the scope of this article to describe in detail how to create a pleasing look and feel that accommodates the variations in browsers, screen resolution, and connection speeds. These techniques are well documented in the large body of "how to" literature for web development that has lately come to market. Also, wise leaders will draw on the help of experienced web designers to set up the basic parameters and standard practices for their web site.

Once there is a well-thought-out plan for the information structure in a web site in place and the basic parameters for quality look and feel are set, it is time to carefully consider how navigation will work. Navigation refers to the method or system that enables users to find desired information by moving about the web site. Common elements in a navigation system include such things as navigation bars, drop-down link lists, site indexes, and search engines. There are many things that can be done to provide a way to move around a web site. Suggested below are three keys to a successful navigation system worth keeping in mind when developing a church web site:

The first key to a successful navigation scheme is simplicity. Overly large graphics or clever animations slow users by forcing them to wait for these large elements to load. If they are part of the overall navigation scheme, they will slow down the site's performance page after page. Large control frames often frustrate users by obstructing their view, requiring them to constantly scroll in order to see the whole page. Icons employed to help users navigate to various portions of a site must be very clear or should include text so that users don't have to guess what the designer has in mind. When the Web was first created, most navigation was simple words linked to various areas of the Web. It has been amazing to watch the fashion preferences of the Web return again and again to a simple text-based navigation system. Many designers believe that with the artistic use of "tables," text-based navigation will always be the best because of its simplicity, clarity, and speed.

The second key to a successful navigation scheme is consistency. Users should be able to anticipate precisely where basic site navigation will appear on any given page and how it will work to get them around the site. For instance, the navigation bar should be one of the first things to take shape as the browser forms the page. This allows users to browse the site quickly and efficiently. Users find it irritating to wait while a whole page loads before the navigation system comes up. Or worse, visitors have to hunt around a page to find the navigation, which is appearing in different places on different pages throughout the site. It can also be quite effective to have the navigation bar change slightly to reinforce the identity of the page that is presently being displayed. For instance, a navigation bar using a button motif appears to have the "home" button remain pressed down when at the home page. However it is important to do this carefully so that the consistent appearance of the navigational scheme is not subverted.

The third key to a successful navigation scheme that we will mention here is to pay attention to a fundamental rule called the "seven-plus-or-minus-three" rule. This rule arises from the frustration users experience when they encounter page after page filled with links and options. Good navigational design includes making sure that the number of options at any given point is clear, consistent, and reasonably limited. Over time it has been discovered that four to ten options on any given page is about the right range. Fewer options seem too confining and more options become confusing. Some special pages (such as site indexes and directories) are obvious exceptions to this, but the seven-plus-or-minus-three rule will greatly enhance the overall quality of navigation in the web site.

In order to develop web sites that truly serve the needs of congregations, it is vital for leaders not to be mired in the techniques and options that commonly assault those endeavoring to create a web site. Instead, we would urge decision-makers to focus their thinking in three areas. First is the development of a good information structure that is designed with the needs of the site visitor in mind. The second area deals with securing the talent and support to make sure the site’s look and feel will be useful to the broadest range of visitors, regardless of the disturbing variation in software, hardware, and connectivity speeds that they may have. And finally, congregational web site developers need to provide clear, consistent, and carefully tuned navigation that supports easy repeated use of the web site by all constituencies.

The single most common failing of congregational web sites is that they are not adequately maintained. It would be better for the congregation to not have a web site than to have one that has fallen months behind on maintenance and updating. The decision about how a site will be updated and maintained should be made at the same time the site is created. It is vital for the sake of its mission that a congregation put into place the resources to adequately maintain a web site. We urge that congregational leaders carefully consider the following issues as they enter the process of creating a church web site:

A Setting Up a Maintainable Web Site

Most church staff or volunteers will not have the expertise they need to develop a web site that will be easily maintainable over the long haul. A congregation may want to develop a high quality, long-term facility to consider employing a consulting web designer to assist in developing the web site. This does not mean that a congregation should turn its web site over to a web development company. Far from it. The purpose of hiring a consultant is to design a web site that the congregation itself can maintain and manage.

Another important step in providing for the future of the web site is to go to the effort of deciding on and securing an Internet domain name for the congregation. This is so that users can find the site at something such as "www.yourchurchname.org" and not at something like "www.joesbar&isp.com/~yourchurchname." Having a domain name will not only make the site easier to find, it will ensure that the web site address will not need to be changed with each new web service provider.

Congregations choosing to develop web sites should make at least the same level of human resource commitment to it that they do to the Sunday bulletin or monthly newsletter. Somebody must be put in charge of the web site and be expected to work at it on a regular basis. Most congregations should expect this task to be carried out by a member of the church staff.

Congregations that expect to make the Web a strong aspect of their mission will need to make sure that congregational leaders are continuously increasing their understanding of and commitment to web-based processes. This means that staff and leadership will need to make regular use of the Web for carrying out church functions and expect to spend time furthering their understanding of the impact of Internet technologies on our culture. Some of the best ways to accomplish this is through regular training of church staff in the technical abilities they will need to make the Web a natural part of their work. This way the Web becomes integrated into the normal leadership processes of the congregation.

The most important reason for careful maintenance is that it helps to develop a high level of confidence among the site’s visitors. The key to this is to make the web site the first place interested folk can find information. Announcements and calendar notations should appear on the Web as soon as possible. Changes should be clearly marked so that visitors develop the impression that the information is fresh and interactive. Key aspects of the home page should change at least weekly and should provide valuable information that will help visitors want to return for future installments. Meditations, daily devotions, prayer concerns, etc., in the form of regular installments, may furnish this kind of immediacy and interactivity on a congregational web site.

However, it is not just what is added to the web site that keeps it fresh, but also what is taken away. The judicious pruning of old material is a crucial aspect of effective web maintenance. Web sites tend to grow in amazing ways. Once information is no longer useful, it should be quickly removed. Some information is useful in a historic sense or will be used on a periodic basis. This kind of information should be moved to an archive or storage area where it can be found later when needed. Often these archives themselves, when combined with a search engine, become one of the most useful and interactive parts of a web site.

The long-term serviceability of a web site has a great deal to do with how it is maintained. It first must be set up in a way that is maintainable. This often requires the help of a consultant or web expert. Then it is crucial that the web site is resourced by staff and volunteers who will regularly keep its information up-to-date. Finally, it is vital to develop confidence in visitors that they will find fresh, reliable information for ongoing congregational processes on the Web.

In spite of the constant pressure in our day and age to signal a congregation’s presence to the world through a church web site, such endeavors should not be entered into lightly. A congregation should examine its motives for creating a church web site. There will not be a good outcome if the only reason is a vague idea about establishing a web presence to keep up with the "trends." This motivation will likely result in an inadequately resourced web site and portray a poor image for the parish. However, if the congregation can envision carrying out its mission through better parish communications, closer linking with the greater church, and through efforts to witness to faith through the Internet, then the Web may become a vital and powerful aspect of the parish's work.

The actual development of the congregational web site requires some careful planning in at least three arenas. First, careful attention must be paid to how the site's information structure is organized. This underlying structure is crucial to making the site understandable for visitors and maintainable for the congregation. Second, the way it appears to users rests to a large degree on some rather technical issues relating to the nature of the Web itself. To be effective, congregations will have to develop or employ the talent to make the look and feel of their web site usable by the great variety of software, hardware, and connectivity rates that will access it. Finally, navigation must be made simple, consistent, and carefully tuned to the needs of actual users.

In conclusion, it must be reiterated that for a web site to have the desired impact on mission, it must be enduring and reliable. Successful congregations will allocate resources to have their web sites designed so that they are easily maintainable. They will put staff and volunteers in place to ensure that the information is fresh. And, finally, they will use the web site as the primary place to locate the latest and freshest information about the life and work of the congregation.

October 2000, Volume 47, Number 3

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