When it comes to technology, I've always thought the Church lags behind . However, when I came across this post - Top 10 Church and Religious Web Sites - from TutorialBlog.org, I was surprised at the innovative designs (I know this is more 'religion online' rather than my usual 'online religion', but I thought I should branch out a little bit).
Although my knowledge of html and css is limited (designed my Dad's company web site when I was 13, that's about it), these sites are impressive. I think my favourites have to be Generation Church and Revolution Church.
It really shows how the Church is willing to spend good money (I doubt members of the clergy are designing these sites themselves!) hiring developers to build flashy web sites in order to attract a younger generation.
Within the comments on the blog post there is some debate as to whether churches should have a flashy web site. Some say that is is a waste of money and that a simpler, more text-based web site would be more appropriate. A flashy web site just means that the Church is trying too hard to look 'cool'. However, others say that money should never be an issue when trying to get the message of the Church across, and relatively speaking, the cost of designing and running a web site is not too dear.
Personally, I like it when the Church embraces new technologies. However, it would be interesting to see the effectiveness of the sites i.e. how many people started attending a particular church because of their web site? Or perhaps that's not the main goal of these sites. Since many offer discussion boards, the sites's purposes may be for current church-goers to have an online 'water-cooler' (as one comment put it).
Whatever the main reason for churches having their own web site, they definitely attract the attention of geeky web designers!
There has been an explosion of social network sites on the Internet in the past 5 years. Facebook and MySpace are now ranked 5th and 7th on the Alexa Top 500 Sites respectively (others such as Friendster and SkyRock also make the top 100).
I'm sure you're wondering how churches are taking advantage of the social network revolution. Let me introduce you to MyChurch.
MyChurch is a networking site for churches aiming to extend their communities between Sundays. After registering, the layout looks very similar to MySpace and has many of the same features: adding photos, a blog, a profile, etc.
However, the difference with MyChurch is that churches can also join. They can add their sermons to the site as video, audio, or as documents (making it a network of sites similar to previously mentioned LifeChurch.tv). Individual members of MyChurch can then become part of the church and receive these sermons and interact with other members of it.
MyChurch is not a small site, with 28,908 churches and 238,989 members already. Although only a fraction of the Facebook and MySpace numbers, this is a niche web site.
I believe the site is a great resource for churches that wish to start using the web but are not web savvy enough to produce their own web site (or perhaps have the financial means. Designing and hosting your own web site can be costly whereas MyChurch is free).
MyChurch also allows churches to reach a greater audience, with most of the churches being U.S. based. Those seeking a new ministry of choice will certainly have a wide range to choose from here.