What are the best *parish* websites in the Episcopal/Anglican realm do you think? The more specific you can be about why you like them the more helpful this will be–KSH.
What are the best *parish* websites in the Episcopal/Anglican realm do you think? The more specific you can be about why you like them the more helpful this will be–KSH.
Well, not to toot my own horn, but… well, yeah, to toot my own horn, because I think that my parish’s website is really quite good:
http://www.comforterchurch.org
We had it designed by Mustard Seed Media which does nothing but church sites and we were very pleased. Our approach was to try to create something clean that makes good use of various types of social media (podcasting, social networks, blogging, etc), but that is designed specifically for those looking in from the outside, especially if they come in knowing nothing about Christianity or about Anglicanism. The site has been a great boon for us because almost everyone who has come into the parish in the last two years has found us through the web. I’m sure that there are better parish sites that must exist, but we’re very happy with what we got, which is based in large part off of evangelical church websites in other traditions.
In terms of other places…
I really like the website for Saint Helena’s in the Diocese of SC:
http://www.sthelenas1712.org/
Really great use of photographs, wonderfully clear info about the church, great podcasts, the contact info is right up front, and I especially like the church’s mission statement up at the top of the page.
Another good one is the website of the National Cathedral:
http://www.nationalcathedral.org/
While I’m less than impressed with the theology of the Cathedral, I do think they have a fine website, in terms of having a clean layout that is not overly cluttered and easy to navigate, and fantastic use of pictures.
This one is not a parish website, but it deserves to be recognized for how great it is:
http://www.theamia.org/
The most recent version of the AM’s website is so good I can hardly praise it enough. Great integration of media and pictures. It has a very simple navigation that nevertheless easily gets you to the information you want. It’s totally designed for people who surf in unfamiliar with either Anglicanism or Christianity. The content is very open and very easy to understand. I think that parish websites would do well to mimic what you see here.
Finally, a great place to go to get a feel for good church websites is this site:
http://churchbeauty.com/
We looked at this a good bit when designing our parish website. You find an incredible mix of church websites here, designed in different ways, all of which appeal to the senses. You can rate and rank them too. Most of the websites on here are really top notch. (And you’ll notice, not much of an Anglican presence.)
I like St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee, Florida. The website has a “clean” look, the navigation is easy to follow, and it has a wealth of content for every ministry, which is a plus for me. In addition, it makes great use of multimedia such a audio, video, Facebook, and even a blog (“Tracts for the Times”).
[url=http://www.saint-peters.net]http://www.saint-peters.net[/url]
Here’s another one I came across today. Christ Church Cathedral in Sheffield, in the UK:
http://www.christchurchcentral.co.uk/
Really nice, uncluttered layout, and lots of good stuff for non-Christians or people who are generally struggling with figuring out faith. Kudos.
http://www.faithanglicanchurch.org
Faith Anglican Church
Cordova, Tennessee
One thing that I’ve noticed that is somewhat problematic on even most good parish websites is the lack of a version of the site for those who may be surfing in on mobile devices. I can’t say that my parish has done anything about that either, but I think parishes should be thinking about it. Many people do most of their surfing these days via their phones or ipods, and if you have a site that’s hard for them to use in that format, they’re just going to move along.
thanks Father J – our firm http://www.savannahmarketing.com did the St. Helena’s site – I’d love to one for C of C Bluffton and frankly anyone else who is interested…
King of Glory Anglican Mission, in Miami Springs, FL has just updated their website. What I enjoy about it, as a biased member of King of Glory, is that you e-mail prayer requests, there is a church calendar, and a link to our priests’ blog, Orthoamerica, very thought provoking.
The website is http://www.kingofglorymia.net. Orthoamerica’s website is http://orthamerica.blogspot.com/
One thing which jumped out at me as I looked at the websites mentioned is that on some of them it was hard to find out WHAT KIND of Anglican they were. Especially the AMiA parishes, you often have to click all kinds of crazy places to find that they are AMiA. For example, on the Faith Anglican Church in Tennessee, the only place I was FINALLY able to find out that they were AMiA was under membership, in the second paragraph.
Even the Episcopal Churches, which usually just mention what diocese they are a part of, let you know what kind of church they are.
I just did a random check of many church websites in Tennessee (since that is where Faith Anglican is located. All the REC, CANA, ACNA-Diocese of the South, ACNA-Diocese of Quincy, APA, EMC etc churches all had their affiliation on either the front page or the “about us” page. One even had a tab for “our affiliation”.
When I look for a church, I need to know who they are.