Your parish website is your opportunity to tell visitors about your parish: where the church is, what happens there and when. It is a crucial first step in inviting newcomers to become part of your church community.
A Church Near You contains information about parish churches and the services and events that take place there. The site enables people to find the church nearest to where they live (or for visitors, nearest to where they’re staying) and provides a map of the parish indicating where the church is. It also provides an important place for a parish to describe themselves and to invite other people in.
It lists all Church of England places of worship, owned by the Archbishops' Council and officially endorsed by the Diocese. Parishes are responsible for identifying an editor, to maintain the parish's profile.
There are four main elements to a successful website. The technical design, graphic design and maintenance are critical; it must be easy to navigate around, clean and attractive and, crucially, kept up to date. Equally important, however, is that the purpose(s) for the website must be identified in advance and must guide the development process.
Many parishes in London are fortunate to have parishioners with the skills to produce a website for them. Where possible this is probably the easiest solution, though it is best if the site is registered in the name of the PCC.
However, new technology allows almost anyone to build a website without the need for specialist training.
There are hundreds of possibilities for commissioning a website for your parish. Three options are:
Moot Enterprises is a venture of the Moot Community, a fresh expression of church in the City of London. It draws together accomplished practitioners from the arts and media world to provide creative solutions to the needs of individuals, organizations and businesses. One of their services is the design of basic websites. They offer competitive rates.
Church Edit is a powerful website management system designed specifically for the needs of churches. It can be used to manage church rotas and membership groups. Prices start from £149 a year.
The address at which your website is registered is very important, and is known as your domain name. This should reflect the real name of your parish. Once you have established a successful website, the last thing that you will wish to do is to change your website address if you change hosting suppliers.
It is a good idea to register the domain with the PCC rather than an individual. Transferring a domain from an individual (whether the name of the previous incumbent or a parishioner) can be problematic, and the regulating bodies can refuse a transfer.
Websites can be as simple or as complicated as time allows. The most important thing is that you are realistic about keeping the website up to date. It is far better to have little, but relevant, information than out of date notice sheets and 'coming soon' sections.
As a minimum your site should include:
