Church Websites for the UCC (United Church of Christ)
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Not Every Website Will Meet the Needs for Any Kind of Church—Customize!
My parents, in their “snowbird” lives, attend a United Church of Christ congregation down in Florida. (Who can blame them from wanting to get away from the Minnesota cold temperatures in the winter? I digress though.)
The biggest point UCC and congregational churches in general are looking for in a website is whether it serves as an efficacious tool to their outreach. They believe that if their website were somehow hip enough and showed people easy Google Maps directions, that, magically, the people will come.
That’s not the way that it works. The irony is that the website is in fact a wonderful tool to outreach, but you have to use it! That is to say, it’s not a case of “one and you’re done.”
Instead, church websites that feature grace-centered, progressive theology, especially for your United Church of Christ congregation, must reflect the core mission and vision you wish to convey. However, you also need to keep the site up to date and be sure to show plenty of photos.
Specifically, one trend grace-centered faith communities focus on is to show not only heterosexual couples celebrating their marriage together in a church, but also gay couples, if that is the welcoming stance you wish to show in your congregation.
It’s not just about being “PC” either. What your internet presence, and ultimately your UCC church’s website, can show others who you are collectively as a people gathered around the grace of Jesus Christ.
In short, theology matters. So does your website!