Church Growth strategies: 'Be IT Savvy: get a website - part three!'

So here we are with the final part of thinking about getting ourselves a web presence. As we do, Hauerwas' strapline reminds us to avoid the desperation that strategies can sometimes become:

Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.

Today was going to be purely about another Content Management System (CMS) approach to creating your own website using a product called Joomla - something I feel sits between the traditional web offering and the simplicity of using Wordpress but brings with it a little more power in the way things appear and the roles that can be passed out to contributors. It was, but I have been encouraged to take a look at something by the name of  WEEBLY, and it looks like something well worth considering because it is as simple a means of getting a web presence with CMS potential added as a bonus.

If you'd like to find out more about using Joomla - take a look at the web site below the video and think about what you might be able to do with Joomla (and the other products here - then either get someone from within your church who is techie to work with you or sign up for a demo site  at Joomlas and have a go at creating a test site yourself (which is a good idea as you'll have some understanding of what is going on.

Now, although I am looking to encourage people to become a little more IT aware, I don't have the time (or the inclination) to reinvent the wheel so instead, here's an outline on Joomla (and a church web site)

Here's a church site using Joomla

And a video (and web site) for Weebly:

and here's a church site built using it

And just to be egalitarian, here's the same agin for Wordpress too:

And a church site using wordpress

So there we go. Hopefully I have convinced some of you out there that being 'IT Savvy' and getting a web site is not the fear-filled task you thought it was.

If I can be of any assistance give me a call.

Thanks go to Catriona Baker, a designer who pointed me to Weebly - It is so very good to have people who will point us to new things and she does that on a regular basis :-)