You’ve probably asked yourself questions like, how can I grow my church and make it better? How can my church communicate better with the people within it and how can I reach out and bring more people in? The answers to your questions and more and come from one simple answer. Build a website. No matter how big or small you might think your church is, let me tell you why it needs a website. Having a website will improve your reach. Word of mouth is not the only way to spread the word about your church, especially not in the world we live in today that is so driven by the media and the internet. Where’s the first place you or your friends go when you want to know something or find a place? Google. When people hear about your church, they will go and search for it on Google or Facebook. If someone is looking for a new church to attend to, they will also Google churches in their area and you want to make sure you’re on their radar. You create a new avenue to connect people Everyone lives busy lives. There will be times when people miss a Sunday service due to work commitments or because they are sick. You can now reach more people than those who come on a Sunday or during a prayer meeting in the middle of the week. With a website, you can create an online platform where everyone can connect and be inspired no matter where and no matter when. It will allow you to build up an online library of resources Churches these days are utilising their websites to the absolute full. Now you can record and upload your sermons for anyone to access. If you do teaching courses throughout the week, you can provide online booklets for people to follow along at home. You can share original songs with members of your church and other churches too. Widen the type of audience you can reach If you’re not using a church website, you’re greatly undermining your church by limiting your church’s connection to people who communicate through the internet – specifically, young people. Teenagers are glued to their phones. If you want to be able to reach that next generation of believers, you’re going to have to start learning how to communicate with them! You can gain feedback from people and improve the way you run your church Just like any other business – and you should be treating your church as a business in some capacity – you need to know how to make your people happy. With a website, you as a church can give members the ability to give feedback into the church services and you will be able to identify areas of improvement that you and your leadership tea might not have even realised. A website will answer any and all questions about your church Maybe someone comes along and wants to know if your church has a kids’ ministry and what kinds of activities they do in the ministry. With your website, you can avoid the possible “um, I’m not too sure” answers that will leave people feeling unsure. People can feel confident knowing what their church does and the fact that they are confident about what they do. Boosts transparency Being a transparent church is very important. Members and other people outside of your church want to know they can trust you and want to be assured of what they are about to step into. A church website can help build up this trust and unity. A church website will help increase your income as a church There’s so much you can do with your church website. People are willing to pay for songs made by famous churches and do most of their stuff online, including paying for things. You can provide a services for people to give in the offering through their phones. You might want to provide merchandise for people to buy or ask them to subscribe for weekly podcasts. Better advertise your church’s events Just announcing an upcoming event on a Sunday morning or night is not enough. They might forget the moment after you share the news or will eventually forget. Having something like an event’s calendar within your church website allows for easy access into what is happening in the life of your church. Build up the image and brand of your church Having a website creates an air of professionalism. You might think they are only for businesses with the goal to have more money coming in through marketing, but the same works with churches. If the church seems more professional through a good looking website, they will feel like they can trust it much more that they would if the church had a crappy, unresponsive website. The truth of the matter is this – in this internet-driven society, there is no way you and your church can avoid developing and using a website. There are countless benefits that a website can for the appearance of the church, the sustainability and efficiency of the church and the communication between the church leaders and the church members, which is crucial in helping to build trust and unity. If you’re thinking about making a website for your church today, just do it!