Info to Put on Your Site

The information sheet provides all of the info we need for your site (except for any photos you provide). After receiving your completed information sheet, we'll decide how best to divide the material among the various pages.

The sample sites all use the same six tabs. Here is that structure, along with some of the pages which could go into those tabs.

Home

About Us
What We're Like
FAQ
Beliefs
History
Core Values
Staff

Ministries
Sunday Morning
Children and Youth
Other Ministries

Visitors

Directions

Contact

There may be some variation on this structure, depending on the information you provide. But it'll be real close to this.

Use the tabs at the top of this page to get a more detailed look at the possible information on your site.

The "About Us" heading will probably have more subtopics than any other. A basic set of pages would be these (each blue heading would be a separate page). The information sheet is where you record the information that we'll use. Here's a heads-up about some of the information you'll be asked to provide.

What We're Like

Describe your congregation in general terms (are you informal or more traditional? family-oriented? focused more on learning or doing? involved in the community?). Be accurate in what you say. People will resent it if they come for a visit based on your self-description and find out it's a case of false advertising.

Beliefs

This is a statement of faith. For United Brethren churches, we provide four possible options:

1. The UB Confession of Faith.
2. A summary of the Confession of Faith.
3. The NAE statement of faith.
4. Or, you can provide your own wording.

Our Story

Tell the history of your church. You can also include a brief history of the denomination. A sample denominational history has been written for you.

 

Staff (or "Personnel" or "Leadership")

A page with a photo and biographical information about your pastor and any other staff.

You could also include:

• The UB Core Values
• Any purpose or vision statement for your church.

Directions Tab

This should be a single page which includes a map and written driving directions.

Contact Tab

This page is a form for contacting you by email. The page would also include:

• A photo of your church.
• Church phone number.
• Mailing address.
• Office Hours.

The Ministries tab can lead to just one page on which you list and briefly describe the ministries and programs of your church. Or, the tab can have a drop-down list of several different pages. For instance, you could have these three pages:

Sunday Morning. Describe your service, Sunday school, and anything else that goes on--times, age groups, style, how to dress, etc.

Children and Youth. Describe the various ministries focused on young people (nursery, midweek programs, youth group, Sunday school classes, special outings, etc.).

Other Ministries. Anything else you'd like to talk about. Here are some potential ministries you might want to mention:

• Camping
• Missions
• Choir
• Bible studies
• Midweek services
• Special events
• Outreach
• Missionaries you support
• Cooperative activities with other churches
• Big annual events

Actual photos from your church can be included on these pages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Answer some potential questions people might have of you. Below is a list of possible questions. Some can be answered with a link to another page where you deal with that issue.

• What is your Sunday morning service like?
• What about my children?
• What do you believe? (link to your "Beliefs" page)
• How do I become a member?
• Why is your church called <church name>?
• Where do I take my children?
• How did your church begin?

Here are some questions of interest especially to potential first-time visitors:

• How do I find your church? (link to Directions page)
• Where do I park?
• What entrance do I use? When I enter, which way do I go?
• What should I wear?
• Where do I find the nursery?
• Do you have children's church for kids? If so, for what ages?
• Is there a welcome table? Where can I pick up information about your church?
• Do you have more than one service? How are they different?
• How long do the services last?

You can send photos for possible use on the site. We definitely need a photo of the pastor (or the pastor and wife, or pastor and family). Some other photos that might be useful are:

• The building
• The church sign
• The pastor preaching or teaching.
• Closeups of people in your church, especially in a ministry setting (large group shots don't work well, because you usually can't see faces clearly).

Format. It's most handy to receive digital photos in JPEG format. JPEG is the standard format for the web. Don't send photos in TIF or EPS format (way too big) or in GIF format (GIF isn't meant to be used with photos).

If you send a print photo, we can scan it.

If you want, you can burn a bunch of photos onto a CD and send it, along with some brief descriptions of what the photos show. We can then pick-and-choose when designing the site. That would work real nice.

Send photos to:

Steve Dennie
302 Lake Street
Huntington, Ind. 46750

Or email to: