The Open Source Church

May 12, 2011 in Church Webmaster with 0 Comments

open source logos

What if the Church Modeled the Tech World?

I’ve been working in the web field for three or four years now.  Most of what I know is self-taught through books, a class or two, but mainly from the web community at large – forums, blogs, tutorials, Twitter, etc etc.  As I was contemplating my education track and the rapidly developing world of technology, I started thinking about the mind-blowing speed at which technology is sweeping the planet!  It seems as though it is an unstoppable force which can be used for great good or great evil.

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Introduction to Fellowship One

May 6, 2011 in Fellowship One with 3 Comments

Image of Fellowship One website

Fellowship One - Powerful Church Management Solution

I am primarily a web designer on staff with two local churches but my other main role with these churches is to manage their church database management system.  We use a system called  Fellowship One. I’ve been working with the database for 3 years now and know the ins and outs of it very well. I’ve also worked with the Development side of it which is called the API – short for Application Programming Interface.  The API allows you to securely access your data via a “backdoor” so to speak.  I used the API to allow our website users to login to our website using their Fellowship One username and password.  I will explain more about this in a future blog post!

However, my purpose here is to give an overview of the strengths of Fellowship One for anyone who may be considering a new Church Management System.

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Video Emails via BombBomb

May 3, 2011 in Church Webmaster with 2 Comments

BombBomb - Video Email Marketing with a discount for churches!

The other day I was browsing my twitter feed and I saw a recommendation for a company called BombBomb. BombBomb is a video email marketing company.  At first I thought they probably just had you put an image of your video in an email, and when recipients click on it, it would take them to a video hosting site.  But that’s not what this company does.  They have a system which allows you to embed real videos that stream directly to the client computer.  The videos work consistently across multiple email clients and also on mobile platforms too!

After browsing their site and seeing they had a sweet ministry discount, I sent an email to some of our church staff and said perhaps we should consider sending out video emails.  I received this response from the Senior Pastor:

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Should Web Designers Learn Javascript?

April 27, 2011 in Web Development with 0 Comments

Javascript Books

 

So judging from this picture, javascript is 90% bad, right? :)

I am near completion of a javascript course I took at a local community college.  The class has been interesting.  A number of students dropped out, I heard many saying the projects were causing them a lot of stress, and I saw grown men cry – not really on the last part!

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Should the Church Go Mobile?

April 26, 2011 in Mobile Church with 0 Comments

You bet it should!  Take a look at this:

Mobile Web

The Case for the Mobile Web

Infographic compiled by ShoutEm.

The mobile web is in explosion!  With 5 billion apps downloaded in 2010 and predictions of 21 billion apps to be downloaded by 2013, the church must catch up and move it’s message to this platform or else be left behind.

As I build a new web presence for Lake Center Bible church, one of my primary objectives is going to be mobile compatibility. Continue Reading…

Redesigning a church Website

April 25, 2011 in Church Webmaster with 0 Comments

ford logos over time

How the Ford logo evolved over time

This is a fitting image to set the stage for a series of blog posts I intend to write over the coming weeks and months.  I am embarking on a project to redesign the website of the primary church I work for: Lake Center Bible Church.  Good branding develops over time and so does a good website.  The current website we have isn’t bad, but it could be better!  As I have been researching to prepare for this project, I have discovered a few things:

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Poke the Box

April 21, 2011 in Reviews with 0 Comments

I just finished reading “Poke the Box” by Seth Godin which is a manifesto about starting things.  The book was not deeply profound but the message was simple and clear and it’s one I like -  “Go!” , “Start something”, “Soon is not as good as now.”

It served me as a good little blast of inspiration to get moving and so … I’m starting this blog!

I am a web designer and Fellowship One Champion (database administrator) at two churches – Lake Center Bible Church and the Bridge. I built and maintain their websites along with several others (view my portfolio here).  This blog is primarily for other church webmasters – I will get technical, share code, share what I’m learning, what I’m reading, and how I’m pushing myself to be better at what I do.  But others in ministry or in the web design world may find useful tidbits too!

So today, I encourage you to start something.  It doesn’t have to be something big.  It could be reading a book to make you better at your profession,  sending that email you’ve been putting off,  writing out your personal values or mission statement, starting a new hobby.  Anything!  Just get started.  Ready, set …. GO!

 

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