<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1758373551078632&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Resource Center

Discover how to leverage technology in your church

Technology should not transform ministry, but rather do the things that people don’t have to do so they can do what they do best.

6 Ways to Prepare Your Church for Advent

By Katy Crawford | Oct 11, 2016 9:00:00 AM

I have to confess. For a church season that is focused on anticipation and preparation, I don’t have the best track record when it comes to anticipating or preparing for Advent (and Christmas) communication efforts in the months leading up to it. This often results in a bunch of hurrying and scurrying in a time set aside to for reflection, repentance, and preparation to celebrate Jesus’ first coming and wait expectantly for his return. 

Continue Reading

5 Options for Building Forms on Your Church Website

By Seth Hinz | Sep 26, 2016 9:00:00 AM

Whether it’s an event registration, contact information update, photo contest entry, guest feedback, or prayer request, you’ll make your life a lot easier if you deploy a form to collect information.

Continue Reading

6 Ideas for Bringing Your Sermon Home

By Rev. Daniel Ross | Sep 13, 2016 9:00:00 AM

Every pastor has thought about it: How do I take the sermon from Sunday morning to my people during the week? Fortunately, with today’s technology it is easier than ever before to do this—and in a myriad of ways. Many of these ways are low cost to absolutely free. Now there are as many ways as there are imaginations, and some of those ways are even practical. All these methods will involve intentionality (that means time, whether a little or a lot) to implement consistently, effectively, and successfully. 

Continue Reading

6 Uses of Google Calendars for Churches

By Katy Crawford | Jul 26, 2016 9:30:00 AM

A few weeks ago, I began to see a sight that brings joy to some and dread to others: back-to-school supplies. I tend more toward the joy end of that spectrum and have always appreciated the simple beauty of a new planner waiting to be filled with the day-to-day adventures of life. And that’s about where the simplicity ends. Soon I’m wondering if I should use a pen or pencil to write things in, how to manage task lists, along with calendar events and specific meeting times, and how to share what’s going on with my coworkers. Enter Google Calendar.

Continue Reading

jQuery for Interactive Websites

By Rev. Bill Johnson | May 27, 2016 9:00:00 AM

For many web developers who are moving beyond the basic link and page behavior, the next step is to learn JavaScript, a powerful programming language that runs in your user’s browser to enable your website to change its behavior in response to the user. (While some newer frameworks are making use of server side JavaScript, today’s focus will be on the more traditional client side usage.) 

While JavaScript in its original form is pretty powerful, there are some common frameworks that you can add to get yourself up and running with very minimal programming experience. One of the most common of these is jQuery.

Continue Reading

4 Things to Consider When Using Photographs of Children & Youth

By Jenn Eickman | May 19, 2016 9:00:00 AM

In a previous post, I touched on some helpful sites to find stock photos. I believe there are many great opportunities to use stock photos; however, one place where I’d rather see candid pictures is a church’s social media stream and website.

Continue Reading

3 Ideas to Make Your Website More Accessible

By Hannah Hansen | May 17, 2016 9:00:00 AM

Accessibility is a relatively new concept for the ordinary person who casually works with websites. Until recently, with dynamic website builders that allow “the average Joe,” accessibility was a foreign concept for websites. Accessibility used to be reserved for items such as wheelchair ramps, automatic doors, or elevators. When used in terms of websites, however, accessibility refers to a similar function: how accessible your website is to people with disabilities or who use assistive technology.

Continue Reading

6 Free or Cheap Stock Photo Websites for Churches

By Jenn Eickman | May 5, 2016 11:00:00 AM

It can be a challenge to find quality stock photos and graphics for free or on a budget. Today, I’m going to share some of my favorite places to search for artwork to use in ministry.

Continue Reading

8 Easy Blog Post Ideas for Pastors

By Amanda Lansche | May 2, 2016 9:00:00 AM

Pastors have been writing to God’s people for centuries. Remember those letters the apostle Paul wrote to the Early Church? And this one guy, Martin Luther, posted some ideas on a church door about 500 years ago. (Just think how many shares he would have gotten with a blog . . .)

Continue Reading

Using Bootstrap Framework to Make Mobile Web Design Easier

By Rev. Bill Johnson | Apr 25, 2016 9:00:00 AM

One of the hardest things for a web designer to do, especially one who’s just getting started, is to design a website that looks and functions well on a variety of screen sizes. 

Sites today not only have to deal with the old standard 1024x768, but they also need to adapt to resolutions as low as your smaller smartphones (320x480) and as high as your 4k monitors (3840x2160).  Not only do you need to be resolution aware, but you also need to ensure your site functions across a variety of operating systems, browsers and versions. 

Continue Reading