Summer is in full swing, and I hope everyone is staying cool. While you’re trying to beat the heat, here are some starting points you may be interested in to help connect you better with your communities.
Information worth considering: People will visit your website before visiting your church.
It’s 2022, and I think we all know that an online presence is important. However, I visit a lot of church websites looking for information, and even for someone “in the know,” information isn’t always as easy to find as you might think it is. All of us can grow from a quick check to see if we’re covering the basics. Take five minutes to go to your website and ask yourself a few questions:
- when is worship?
- where is the church?
- what should I expect? and
- what should I wear?
I would wager there is at least one of those questions that could benefit from added clarity on your website.
If you’re looking to make some bigger changes on your church website, Mitzie Schafer had a great presentation at Synod Assembly last month. She suggested having three sections on your church homepage:
- A picture that answers the question, “Can I belong there?”
- An entry point (something to show up for or participate in)
- Impact stories from people like the ones you are trying to reach
You can find a sample of this church landing page on Mitzie’s website.
Community resource worth checking out: Able South Carolina
This month marks the 32nd anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As the world has been working to become more welcoming and accessible for all, churches need to be keeping up. In the last few months, I’ve had conversations with multiple congregations about how they can better serve and involve folks with disabilities. Personally, I’ve learned recently about how our settings or practices often unintentionally exclude people. As many congregations are aging, I know more are having conversations about how to best accommodate folks with vision, hearing, and mobility disabilities. Able SC is a statewide non-profit that, from their website, practices “coequality, disability justice and representation, and true inclusion through consumer-driven independence and disability pride.”
Able South Carolina can help you think through all the steps your congregation can take to be more accessible in all aspects of ministry, not just physical spaces. If your congregation is looking for ways to more fully include and welcome folks with disabilities at all ages and stages of life, you can connect with Able SC by reaching out directly to e.k. hoffman at advocay@able-sc.org, or look for more information on their website here.
Thanks for reading!
If you want to have a conversation about how your congregation can best use technology to reach new people, if I can help you or your congregation think through evangelism and outreach, or if you want to talk about the state of the baseball season at the all-star break, just reply to this email and we can set up a time to connect.
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In Christ,
James.
