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Ideas For Your Church Web Site This Holiday Season

Ministry On The Web
Thursday, October 31, 2002

The Holiday Web
The holidays are a perfect time to encourage the members of the congregation to regularly use the congregational Web site. We all know that people are busier than normal between Thanksgiving and the end of the year and are looking for quick information that is easy to access. This is your opportunity to steer people to the Web. Some ideas to incorporate this holiday season–

  • Use graphics that make your Web site have a seasonal feel. If you have a digital camera (or a scanner), take a few snap shots of leaves changing colors, harvest time, or the holiday lights. Include photos of last year's fall festival, Christmas cantata, or candlelight service on your homepage – this will encourage people to attend this years events. Coordinate your web graphics with seasonal bulletins and newsletters, and think about whether you want to update your site on a weekly basis to coordinate with the lighting of the advent wreath. 
  • Announce during the worship services and include an announcement in your printed newsletter that the most up to date schedules for programs (and practices), musical events (and special rehearsals), and worship will be on the Web site. Promise to update the online calendar regularly! Post Thanksgiving services, Christmas Services, and New Year's events. No time is too early to have these events on the calendar. Contact your local newspaper Web site to see if they want to link to your activities or calendar page. 
  • Attendance generally rises during the holiday season. Be welcoming to visitors and newcomers by providing clear directions and details on your Web site. It will be very important to describe special services and what a visitor should expect to make them feel comfortable. 
  • Add a new section to your Web site that includes activities for families and children. Include holiday recipes, crafts, service projects, and alternate ideas for gift giving. Check out this link, for example. 
  • This is a perfect time to help your congregational members reach out to those in the community who do not have the financial means to celebrate or even in some cases, eat a special holiday meal. Make sure you list all of the outreach and service projects that are available. You can add links on your site to the various civic organizations that are supporting the poor in the community to encourage members to volunteer. Suppose a local shelter doesn't have a Web site – offer a page within your web site for the shelter. Invite the community to learn more about this organization by linking to your site. Or you could add a more advanced feature to your site, such as creating an online Service Project that allows people to sign up to provide meals, coats, gifts, and money to help this ministry. 
  • Place your printed newsletter on the Web site and ad links from key features in the newsletter to pages on your (or other's) Web sites. For example, you may have a story about the children's Christmas program. Within the body of the story, you could place links to: 
    • The calendar (for updated scheduling); 
    • A page on the Web site that gives all the details of the program including when the kids need to be in their costumes and in the fellowship hall awaiting their grand entrance; 
    • A story on the FaithandValues.com Web site that features the Christmas theme; 
    • The weather bureau so people know how many layers of clothing to pile on before they head to church. 
    • And then of course, place small photos of the program on the site after the gala is complete so all the grandparents can see their cherubs.
  • Add daily or weekly devotional messages during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Publicize that these devotions are placed on the site for the member's spiritual journey through the seasons. Offer email reminders by using an opt-in email tool.
  • Utilize your guest book for members and visitors that will be out of town for the holiday. Incorporate these messages on the site and post them on a bulletin board at the church. 
  • Use your imagination and have some fun! This is one of those times of the year when people think about church on a regular basis. Use this time to further the reach of your ministry.

    Copyright 2002 by FaithandValues.com.