Churches are communities of people...are they not? Sometimes we forget this. Sometimes we think they're more like corporations than like Small Groups. Church leadership starts to become more like a board of directors or employees of a large company and congregation members begin to have a 'customer' mindset. Am I the only one who has seen this?

The Problem...and it's results

The reality is, this isn't how churches should work at all. When we start to operate churches in this mindset, the congregation starts to take a 'consumeristic' approach to their church, do they not? We subconsciously start to think that our offering is a membership fee and our worship and bible classes are services that we pay for. I think this is really dangerous for the long term health of a church.

It seems that we've forgotten that churches are communities of people. Sure, we need leadership to guide this community (the Bible makes that clear) but that doesn't mean there should be a supplier-consumer relationship involved. The congregation at a church is the lifeblood....the pulse that keeps the church alive and growing in the way God intended. As soon as a congregation starts to feel like they attend "the leadership's church" (instead of a church that they're an integral part of) we know something needs fixin'.

So, what the heck does this have to do with web design?

It's not until we realize that a church is a community (who are possibly not acting like one) that we recognize that this is rarely how church websites are setup to operate. Let's think about the typical church website for a minute, shall we?

• Who funds the construction of the website?
• Who keeps the website up to date with the latest information?
• Who moderates the content on the website?
• Who is the 'owner' of the website?

If you answer these questions how I think you might, the answer to all of them is the same: The Church Leadership. So, is that more like a community or a corporation mindset? How would a church community website look different?

On the Mustardseed sponsored podcast, Geeks & God we're currently in the middle of a series of episodes all about this exact topic. It's called Forming Online Community and talks about why a community-driven website is so important in a church these days. I encourage you to pop over there and check out those episodes.

So what is a community website?

Lately, during every new client meeting, I slowly try and introduce the idea of a Community website. A site where content such as events, images, announcements, and other items are posted by congregation memebers easily and safely. We talk about issues such as moderation of content and I share my experience in these areas to take the fear out of "anyone adding content to our church website". There are many methods to make this safe for your church and to give ownership back to the congregation.

When we do this, a community website starts to form. People take ownership and participate instead of sitting back and expecting "The Church" to do everything. People get excited and passionate about being able to join onine discussions and share their experiences and passions of every day life. It's an awesome thing to see and I can assure you: This is the future of church websites.

When the time comes...

So, when the time comes to re-design your church website, remember that a church is a community who should all be able to participate in the work of Christ that your church is doing. Make sure to talk to your web developer about making your ministries interactive online, allowing discussions to flow freely yet safely on your website, and most of all: get your church community involved in the constantly evolving online community that you build.

If you have questions about how these sites work or if you want to find out more about having Mustardseed plan and build you a site like this, you can contact us here.

Want to see a community site in action? Check out this site that we recently completed.