Web Hosting and Web Design Solutions
for Churches and Ministries

Church and Ministry Web Hosting Solutions

Unless your website is hosted by someone already, you're going to need a web hosting package. This is essentially your server space where your website files will reside. It's like a computer that you access remotely to store your website files. Your web hosting will usually offer your email solution and other tools as well. Most of the solutions I suggest using require at least shared hosting, which means that you share server space with other sites, but have an administrative panel all your own.

I offer hosting packages for churches starting at $75 per year, which includes more space and bandwidth than most churches will ever need and unlimited email addresses. So contact me for more information about hosting your church's website.

Below are links to web hosting packages that I recommend. I've used the services of most and am currently hosting some of my own sites with three of them. The thing to remember is that there are a ton of options out there, but not every company offers the same kind of reputation for uptime, service, and support. I'm confident about these three:

Web Design & Development Solutions

After selecting your web hosting package, you're going to need a design. Let me re-state that - you're going to need a good design. I say this because there are a lot of ugly church websites out there and we don't want you having one! It's possible that a template or pre-built theme may be a good fit for your budget, so if you have a decent handle on html or perhaps a language like php, I'd go that route if you're on a limited budget. I'd also encourage you to consider getting a fully custom solution. I've listed some providers of both below.

Before you click through, let me mention that custom church website design is also something I do, with full design packages beginning at $1,200. If you're interested, contact me today!

Custom Web Design Providers

Web Design Templates and CMS Theme Providers

Content Managment Systems for Churches & Ministries

A content management system is basically the engine that runs a web site, allowing dynamic content to be produced without actually creating each and every page. You match a nice-looking theme to the right content management system and you have an easy-to-maintain solution. I'm biased toward Wordpress as one of the best solutions for churches, but there are certainly other options as well, such as Drupal, Joomla, and Expression Engine. There are a multitude of others but if you're not familiar with the concept of CMS's, these may be deep enough waters already. Don't hesitate to reach out for help.

Web Design and Development Software

If you have a good knowledge of software, you may be interested in developing your own site from scratch. You can do this with any image editing program and any text editor, but there are a few software packages designed specifically for web and graphic design. I personally use Adobe's Dreamweaver and Fireworks for most of my development work. I've recommended a couple of packages below...

Enjoy this article by Bishop James Brown...

Internet Ministry - Who is Your Church Website Designed to Reach?

Tony Steward of Life Church TV recently asked the question "Who is your church website for"? The question itself reads as if he has been reading our minds.

The question plays to the first step of our "Four Pillars of Success In Internet Ministry" which we believe is important for fruitful internet ministry. That first step is acquisition of your ministry target. In other words, creating a working definition of who you are trying to reach.

Unfortunately, few church and ministry websites are designed with the perspective of purpose as a overriding consideration. Most church websites are designed for church folks to be comfortable and give little thought to the needs, wants, and desires of those who could be the primary consumers of the church's communications and offers.

The mindset that occurs in most discussions about church website creation revolve around "what do we believe and how can we tell the world?" and it continues with "how can we tell them about our departments so everyone can see what we have". Surely this information should be available on a website, but it is not likely to be the first thing visitors want to know.

The result from this approach will be websites for church folks already at the church. I submit that such a website will not really be productive and may become a web presence but never a web ministry.

When the principal of target acquisition is applied to a church's website, an entirely different discussion should occur. Questions like "who do we want to visit our website and what do we want them to leave with?" or "What can we uniquely supply to our community that will improve the lives of our visitors?" should dominate this type of conversation.

Although there are many thoughts which ministers offer up as what should be considered the primary audiences for a church website, I believe each church and each community will be different and may have totally different objectives and targets.

Evangelistically oriented churches may find that seekers are the primary audiences for their ministry's website. Alternatively, teaching ministries may find that those wanting to learn more about the bible or bible teachers from other ministries may be the primary audience. In bedroom communities where soccer moms coordinate the religious activities of their families, these household managers may be the primary consumers of information from a church website.

Whoever becomes the primary objective, churches need A. C. T. T. to follow the "Four Pillars Of Internet Ministry Success". The must, as we have discussed here, acquire the target. They must communicate with those they have acquired. Once they have established communication, they must allow themselves to be trusted by those they hope to reach. This trust must generate a disire for an exchange or transaction.

Nonetheless, the point is well taken, churches should not allow their website to serve the staff but rather the website should minister to those you are called to serve.

To read more insights using technology in ministry visit http://fromchurch.com/

Article by Bishop James Brown

Bishop James Brown aka "I Feel God" is the founder or the 1000churches.org network and he is called "The Internet's Favorite Pastor". In addition, Bishop is a prolific writer and speaker who is in demand for his insights. You can read his daily Blog at http://www.ifeelgod.org and find information on Christian Writing for the net at ChristianEAuthor.com

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