Just curious here...what is your opinion/thinking of a congregation without a website?
It seems very odd to me in this day and age...
There's a pretty vibrant Orthodox parish in my metropolitan area (I'm Orthodox). The only "website" for them is the listing on our national church's website parish directory. Whereas most congregations will at least list their service times in their entry on the national parish directory, this parish doesn't. All you get are the clergy, their contact info, and email address/phone number for the church. No clue about office hours. I've got friends who are members of the parish and asked them about the no website thing, and they said they've got more important things to worry about. Phone number in the online national parish directory is incorrect. You get the correct one when you google the church name, but there's not a even an off-hours recording with service times!
My parish has a very basic website, but you can at least get directions/service times without having to make a phone call. This is especially important since we seem to get a lot of visitors who are in town for a brief time, but still want to go to church. They almost always say they got our info off the website and were glad they didn't have to go to great lengths to get the info.
I can maybe understand a parish wanting to have personal contact with people, but if you can't even make the effort to at least make your service times easily accessible.
: I was there for a special regional service last spring, and the sign out front doesn't even list the service times, nothing by the entrance doors, etc. Given that the parish is pretty vibrant from all accounts, it certainly doesn't jive with this presenting a "blank face." Every other church I drive by, if they don't have a large sign out front, visible from the road, with service times and maybe other info, at least will have something you can see if you go up to the doors, even if it's just a neatly typed piece of paper attached to the window next to the door.
I'm not so sure why this irks me so much, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I spent some time as a small town newspaper reporter, plus also handle the website for a local denominational organization I'm president of. I get a good number of requests for information through our website for people from out of town (either going to be visiting or moving here) looking for information about parishes, events, and such, and it's frustrating to have to tell someone, "I'm sorry, I know little info about X church. They don't have a website. You'll have to call for service times."
I know a lot of people have told me that if they can't get even basic congregational info off a website, they won't bother with that congregation (unless that's the only one of the denomination in a given area) and will go elsewhere. Lots of people, especially inquirers and such, want to be able attend, sit in the back, and leave without talking to anyone.
Gee, what a long ramble...Guess it's one of my pet peeves, lol!
It seems very odd to me in this day and age...
There's a pretty vibrant Orthodox parish in my metropolitan area (I'm Orthodox). The only "website" for them is the listing on our national church's website parish directory. Whereas most congregations will at least list their service times in their entry on the national parish directory, this parish doesn't. All you get are the clergy, their contact info, and email address/phone number for the church. No clue about office hours. I've got friends who are members of the parish and asked them about the no website thing, and they said they've got more important things to worry about. Phone number in the online national parish directory is incorrect. You get the correct one when you google the church name, but there's not a even an off-hours recording with service times!
My parish has a very basic website, but you can at least get directions/service times without having to make a phone call. This is especially important since we seem to get a lot of visitors who are in town for a brief time, but still want to go to church. They almost always say they got our info off the website and were glad they didn't have to go to great lengths to get the info.
I can maybe understand a parish wanting to have personal contact with people, but if you can't even make the effort to at least make your service times easily accessible.
: I was there for a special regional service last spring, and the sign out front doesn't even list the service times, nothing by the entrance doors, etc. Given that the parish is pretty vibrant from all accounts, it certainly doesn't jive with this presenting a "blank face." Every other church I drive by, if they don't have a large sign out front, visible from the road, with service times and maybe other info, at least will have something you can see if you go up to the doors, even if it's just a neatly typed piece of paper attached to the window next to the door.I'm not so sure why this irks me so much, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I spent some time as a small town newspaper reporter, plus also handle the website for a local denominational organization I'm president of. I get a good number of requests for information through our website for people from out of town (either going to be visiting or moving here) looking for information about parishes, events, and such, and it's frustrating to have to tell someone, "I'm sorry, I know little info about X church. They don't have a website. You'll have to call for service times."
I know a lot of people have told me that if they can't get even basic congregational info off a website, they won't bother with that congregation (unless that's the only one of the denomination in a given area) and will go elsewhere. Lots of people, especially inquirers and such, want to be able attend, sit in the back, and leave without talking to anyone.
Gee, what a long ramble...Guess it's one of my pet peeves, lol!
