I often find myself and hear others say, “I go to [name of church]” or “I attend [name of church]”. The problem with that statement is that it perpetuates the misconception that the church is a building or the staff running the church. We even innocently, yet incorrectly teach our children at a young age that the church is a building: See video
However, for those of us who call ourselves Christians, we are called to be the church.
During my high school years, I lived in the small town of Valrico, FL. Next to Valrico was a smaller town called Seffner. Over those 4 years of high school and 4 more years coming home from college, I passed one particular church that made a lasting impression on me: Seffner Church of Christ. The reason that I remember this church so well is the signage on the outside of the building read, “Seffner Church of Christ meets here.”
The church is the people, right? So if that is the case, why do so many church website’s have pictures of their building? Why don’t church websites have more pictures of the actual church, the people? Ironically, the image that Seffner Church of Christ has on their homepage is of their church building, not of the people (sigh).
September is “Website Photography Month” at OurChurch.Com. During September, we will be talking about the area that many church websites have the greatest area of opportunity: Improving the images on their website.
The best place to start for images on your church website is to include pictures of the people of the church. There is nothing wrong with having images of the outside of the church building or inside the sanctuary or auditorium, however, make sure that you have people in those images.
When people are new to an area and looking for a church, seeing images of friendly, smiling people make them feel welcome and increase the likeliness they will visit your church. If you don’t have any friendly, smiling people… well, that’s another issue in itself 😉
The church is not the building but the people. Show them. – Paul Steinbrueck
Check our blog all month long for more tips about how to have the best photos on your church website. Post your comments and questions below.
If you are interested in talking to us about your church website, please contact me here.
