Church websites come and go, and what’s considered good changes so much. But their value is hard to overstate.
Have you seen (by your own definition) some really good sites lately? Extra credit for pointing out Unitarian Universalist (or Universalist, Unitarian, Free Christian or kindred) ones.
I think most UU churches are timid with their websites. But two that I really think are good are:
-Unity Temple in Minneapolis
http://www.unityunitarian.org
-All Souls-D.C.
http://www.all-souls.org
a third really good one is…
-Unity Temple in Chicago
http://www.unitytemple.org
My favorites though blow every UU church website out of the water.
-Trinity UCC in Chicago
http://www.tucc.org
-Allen AME in New York
http://www.secure-allencathedral.org
-Ray of Hope Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Atlanta
http://www.rayofhope.org
I’ll nominate some about one at a time…
But a good example of a web site produced by a small congregation is the site for the New Church of LaPorte, Indiana ( http://www.laprotenewchurch.org ). The congregation is a small Swedenborgian congregation of about 40 members. Their site is easy to navigate, has most of the basics a newcomer might want, and has a clean and dignified design. They also mostly avoid the use of jargon that non-Swedenborgians would find foreign.
woops… typo in my web link for the New Church of LaPorte. Try http://www.laportenewchurch.org
Arlington UU Church (Arlington, TX) makes me long for the days of cheesy websites rendered in comic sans: http://www.arlington-tx-uu.org/. It’s simple and easy to navigate and covers everything a visitor needs to know. But on another note… I prefer church websites that are less wordy and not very flashy. I assume most people are like me in that they don’t go to a church’s website to read a text book. Nor do they go to a church’s website to be entertained. They go to a church’s website to retrieve basic info like the when-and-where of worship services or other meetings, and what the church believes. Having a few photos or videos to thumb through is a nice plus but posting huge galleries of every church event is not necessary. If the church has active Facebook and/or Twitter feeds, then a link to those on the website would be appropriate (do not, for the love of god, embed your facebook or twitter feeds into your website, that’s just annoying). Beyond that, I’m not going to learn about a church through its website. I have to actually meet the church (the people) to learn about it. A UU church’s website can be a very effective bulletin or flyer. But a text book? Not as much. The website should offer enough to invite a visitor to learn more in person.
Ah, that was my student church!