# 1 Outreach: Your Church website should be an effective tool to reach out to the un-churched in your community.  It should show that the church is made up of ordinary people. You are community, family and that there is an unconditional welcome waiting for them. Attention to the following details will help the website visitor feel comfortable and at home, relieve fears and answer some of their difficult questions long before they make up their minds to come to your church.

Because this is an internet ministry your outreach will actually be effective 24/7, world wide via the world wide web. I provide many links to great evangelical websites that explain the gospel and dispel misconceptions. These are valuable sites like "When disaster strikes, Why hurt (about abortion), who is Jesus, the four spiritual laws, a comparison of world religions to Christianity, An Atheist's Riddle, Honest answers to tough questions and Creation versus Evolution" to name a few.

A- The main page should inform a website visitor : Who you are (Denomination / affiliation) B- Where you are: Your address and a clear map to find the church. Possibly directions from a known landmark and local transit information. C- What you believe: For the benefit of people looking for a new church home or visiting in the area.   D- Communication: An email link and a phone number for various facets of your ministry such as  church office / secretary, Senior pastor, Youth pastor, men's / women's ministries etc. E- Include: Photos of the building, inside and out. Photos of the leadership and some of the people that attend. F- Post: Articles, music, videos and links to effective Evangelistic websites that are clear in presenting the love of God and the need of salvation. G- Facilitate the work of the Holy Spirit: Display pertinent, encouraging, comforting and educational scripture throughout the website. H- Provide a selection of proven outreach links to satisfy the toughest questions and relieve some of the fears and misconceptions that keep people out of church.

# 2  Service: Your church website should also serve the members of your church and have quick, useful links to some of the many great Christian resources to equip your members to tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ.

A-To serve the members of your church an "Events" page is useful where members could  be informed of coming events, church activities, event times and locations / program changes. B- Provide links to an online Bible, commentary, Bible dictionary and other helpful Christian resource links to educate, edify and strengthen your members. C- Create a link to at least one good daily devotional. D- Develop the site as "Destination site" that would draw people on a daily basis to listen to music, watch a Christian video, read informative articles or enjoy the educational and fun children's page / links.

 

# 3 Community: Your church website should serve the community. This will bring community internet traffic to your site to use your handy resources.

A- Provide a list of "HELP" links such as the crisis center, the Amber Alert ticker and your local hospital. You could also include medical clinics and pharmacies, your local MLA etc.   B- A list of all the other churches in the area would be a benefit to other believers trying to find a particular denomination. C- You may opt to have a "community page" that advertises events in your area, again this will bring traffic to your site. D- Creating other websites (Micro-sites) that serve the community but are maintained by your church can drive more traffic to your church website and make your church available and known in the community. An example of a micro-site may be that of a car club, a rowing club, hiking club, coffee house or other group forming activities. E - A real attention getter is a gallery of the most scenic photos of your area. People will frequent the site just to view the photos. While they are there they will explore your website.

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