So we live in a .com era. I mean really, the whole world is at our fingertips.
Just about any question you have can been answered by
Google. And these personal search engines like
myspace,
facebook, and
blogger all seem to be bringing people together all over the world. Personally I think it is great (although, I don’t have a myspace, or facebook).
And have you ever noticed that all you really need anymore to appear legitimate to the world around you is a website??
I can remember awhile back when sky harbor was just getting started people obviously wanted to know the ways in which we were going to live as a community, but the second most asked question was, “what’s your webite?”
It was as if that was sky harbor’s arrival flare.
So I guess my question is…if the church community has but a window for the world (.com) to get an idea for the ways in which as a community they are going to live, what would you want people to see…feel…or know about you?
In answering this question I have become a little sad. Sad in the fact that as I look at church websites it seems as though their main target as a window to the world is for the churched people of the world. In other words I feel like the majority of church websites that I have seen are a great place for a Christian to do some church window-shopping to see if they are interested in changing churches or seeing what the “other guys” are doing.
I think this sheds light on the reason why so many churches are growing deceptively. Churches are indeed getting bigger…but I think this growth is coming from one Christian leaving one church to attend another church (I think it is important to note that I am not saying this is the ONLY reason, but rather from observation I think that this is just one reason for this deceptive growth). And if this church growth were the affect, I think that one cause would be our churches appearance to the world through the art of websites.
Here are a few (key word) observations from various church websites…
1. I noticed that just about every church website had a “What we believe” page. Which is really good, but does a person who is not a Christian really care what your church thinks about the manifestation of God, Inerrancy of Scripture, etc...I would imagine these terms and definitions would be confusing and pointless to a non-Christian.
2. Have you ever been at a church service during the time when they take the offering?? Doesn’t it always go something like…“if you are visiting us for the first time today, we ask that you would not give us your money.” Well, I noticed that on most church websites there was an online giving icon. This leads me to believe that those churches are geared toward Christians, because if they weren’t then they wouldn’t ask for money.
3. Download sermons: I honestly don’t know why any non-Christian would want to listen to a senior pastor before they came to any church. Unless that is you are a Christian looking for another church, or you might not want to leave the church you are going to so you download the sermons of another pastor you like.
4. I also noticed that a lot of church websites love to highlight their senior pastor. Almost as though they are a celebrity and you should get to know them because it is their (possessive adjective) church.
5."Christian Jargon"...church websites often use christian jargon/lingo that when realistically looking at it, christians understand (not unbelievers). For example, the word "disciple"...maybe used in phrases like "we encourage discipleship..." To a non-believer they have no real idea what this may mean....(another word would be "devotionals")
6. also, a "really cool and visually pleasing" website is not a real representation of of the people. I can go to a church website where they have great banners, awesome images, great placement....but, I may go to their actual church and find that their leadership is off....
7. E-mail me some other observations I forgot and I will add them to this list…
These are just a few quick observations that I had…my fear is that I just sounded to harsh or sarcastic. And I want you to know that isn’t my heart at all. I really think that the church has a choice to make though. And I am wondering if we have the ability to have the world at our fingertips (literally)…why not try and intrigue the world?? I think that it is okay if you want to reach Christians. In that case all these observations above (and the ones you added) are great if you are trying to intrigue a church culture.
The people of
sky harbor has made the choice to attempt to intrigue the world with our website…and please know that we have not figured it all out...but you have to start somewhere right?
I look forward to your thoughts.
heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts
