A current article on Christianpost.com by Rhoda Tse points out the importance of a church having a good and current website. A short excerpt is reproduced here–to read the entire article click here.
A church without a website is a church that’s not on the roadmap, according to the head of a Web development company that specializes in building websites for larger congregations.
Terrell Sanders, president of Main Street Enterprises, said websites are imperative for church growth.
“Your target audience for church growth is Internet-savvy,” he stated in an article for the Purpose Driven ministry. “Most church growth comes from the 18-to-18 range–people from 18 years old to families with 18-year-old children. This also happens to be the group with the highest Internet usage. According to research by the U.S. government, teenagers and families with children at home are the most frequent Internet users of any demographic group. Using the Internet to communicate with families and young adults is a natural fit.”
A whole generation exists that will seek religion online, he continued.
According to the book Boiling Point by George Barna, 10 to 20 percent of the population will rely on the Internet for all of their spiritual input and output by 2010.
“Whether you like it or not, the prediction seems to be right on track,” Sanders commented. “When these people go to the Internet with spiritual questions, who will be providing the answers? What will they be taught?”
In a recent interview, Sanders said he finds plenty of middle-level church leaders who wish for a website but are often blocked by the senior leadership–who are generally older and don’t use the Internet much.
“They’re like, ‘I don’t use the Web. I don’t know if anyone else would.'”
“A lot of the senior ministry leaders are older. They are over 40, and they didn’t grow up with technology,” he explained. “When they’re thinking marketing, they think Yellow Pages.”
But the target audiences for church growth are those who use the Internet often, and don’t even have a Yellow Pages book, added Sanders.
These seekers often search online for a church long before they even get to the city, he said. And those without a website simply don’t exist.