A STUDY OF 205 NEW ENGLAND CHURCH WEBSITES

Transcription

1 A STUDY OF 205 NEW ENGLAND CHURCH WEBSITES A recipe for revival for New England in the 2020s

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS About the author and his objectives 3 Do we really need testimonies? 10 Notes on research 17 List of church websites reviewed 20 Detailed findings and analysis 25 Research analysis 61 Recipe for New England revival in the 2020s 64 2

3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND HIS OBJECTIVES 3

4 BIO SUMMARIZED SUMMARY Name: Charles Wagner Resident: Gloucester, MA Married: Karen Children: Chad and Stephanie, both in their 20s Step-Children: Meredith and Kirsten, both in their 20s Church Denomination: PCA Believer in Jesus Christ: Yes Years in evangelical community: 50+ Graduated from Christian high school: Yes, 1979 Graduated from Christian college: Yes, 1983 Considering seminary: Yes Active in ministry: Yes, juvenile detention ministry Christian book published: Take Every Thought to Prayer Blogger: Yes Year obtained MBA: 1995 Occupation: Web design and web application programming Current Mission: Gramazin Church solution designed: 72Stories Wilderness: Divorce, suicidal ideation, financial crisis, grief, health crisis Deliverance: Christ has authored a transformation of heart and soul through the study of the Word, a committed prayer life, a loving church family, godly mentors, and Biblical counseling. CAREER Web designer and web developer, specializing in unique applications. Marketing wordsmith with skills in electronic and print graphic design. Trained over 8,000 adults how to use database and spreadsheet applications. SKILLSET Innovation Research Strategic thinking Tactical planning Communication design and delivery Data management Programming Writing Teaching Public Speaking PERSONAL GOALS Book promotion. Advancing 72Stories and the Gramazin movement across the U.S. More books to write, including a target release of third book later in Public speaking. Philanthropy. Prayer ministry. Volunteering. Loving God and loving my neighbor. BUCKET LIST Desire to volunteer for a day in a ministry in each of the 48 contiguous states. 4

5 INTRODUCING GRAMAZIN Spiritual revival in America begins when believers in Jesus Christ surrender their lives to Him. It continues as those believers share their faith stories with their brothers and sisters in Christ within their church congregation. It grows as they are willing to share their stories online with their neighbors in crisis. It matures as those believers volunteer in local ministries and direct the people whose lives they touch to the testimonies published on their church website. It flourishes when people in crisis experience the transparency and authenticity of believers who attend the local church. OUR MISSION Encourage and equip believers in Jesus Christ to share their testimonies on the homepage of their church's website Encourage churches across America to feature testimonies prominently on the homepage of their websites Create awareness in the public that inspiring stories of hope can now be found on the homepage of their local church websites OUR VISION Churches will continuously publish testimonies of the transforming work of Christ on the front page of their websites Search engines will index those testimonies resulting in more neighbors in crisis connecting with life-changing content on local church websites The public will expect to find life changing stories on their local church websites when they search on-line for hope The cumulative impact of believers across America sharing their testimonies on church websites will create a conversation in the public about the relevance of Jesus Christ to 21st century life issues 5

6 AUTHOR S THEOLOGY We invite you to review the following sources to vet the theology of the author of this study. THE AUTHOR S TESTIMONY THE AUTHOR S BLOG THE AUTHOR S PUBLISHED BOOKS Wagner/dp/ X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid= &sr= /dp/ /ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid= &sr =8-4&keywords=Take+Every+thought+to+prayer 6

7 THE PASSION FUELING THIS STUDY THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY AND AUTHENTICITY In my darkest days, I longed for inspirational stories of people who had overcome the kinds of struggles I was experiencing. Is there anybody out there who has gone through what I am experiencing? How did they survive? How did they recover? Is there hope for me? At the time I asked these questions, I was feeling very broken. I was emotionally and spiritually weak. I thought I had failed in life and that I was a failure as a person. Life wasn t worth living. Jesus loves you. Trust in Him, people would say to me. Good advice but the people who said these things to me seemed to have great lives. They were successful in their careers, in their relationships, and in their walk with God. They didn t have broken and messy lives. They hadn t made the big mistakes that I had made. I couldn t relate. I longed to hear someone say, Hey, I ve been where you are. I know how you feel. My life was messed up too. Let me tell you about it. However, let me also tell you how Christ rescued me. He loves people like you and I. He will rescue you just like He rescued me. Let me tell you what God taught me during my season of suffering. People in crisis long to connect with people who can relate with their pain and suffering. The only way they will know another person s story relates to their own is if that person shares it. Transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability are essential to outreach, evangelism, ministry, discipleship, mentoring, and revival. WHO SHOULD BE VULNERABLE FIRST? THE SEEKER OR THE BELIEVER? The seeker is unchurched. They are unfamiliar with church culture. Perhaps they were formerly in the church but they ve lost connection with the culture. They have a broken and messy life. They are nervous about how the church will respond to their brokenness and messiness. Will they be rejected, criticized, ostracized, or lectured to by the church? They hesitate to be vulnerable. They visit a church website. There are no testimonies of people in the church who were rescued by God from brokenness and misery. Either the people who attend this church have perfect lives or they have things to hide. The Christians don t seem vulnerable and that seems quite frightening to a seeker who has their own dirty laundry. Believers are ashamed of things they ve done. They d rather forget about them. They are worried that sharing their brokenness may lead to consequences such as rejection, criticism, ostracization, and a loss of their good standing in the community. Both the seeker and the believer are fearful of vulnerability. Who needs to break the ice? Who needs to be courageous and overcome their fears? Was it the seeker or the believer who was instructed by Jesus to love their neighbor and to share their faith without fear? A church with a website that invites the seeker to attend events and services but offers no testimonies of the transforming work of Christ in the messy lives of believers is a church that has decided it is the seeker, and not the believer, who must overcome their fears and reach out. There are unchurched people in our communities who are feeling despair this very day. They are searching on-line for hope. Will they find transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability on New England church websites? 7

8 OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY DEFINITIONS MEASURES Transparency: free from pretense or deceit; easily detected or seen through; readily understood; characterized by visibility or accessibility of information Authenticity: not false or imitation; real; actual; true to one's own personality, spirit, or character; sincere; no pretensions Vulnerability: the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. STUDY OBJECTIVE Our goal is to determine the degree of the transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability of believers on church websites in New England. We use the following measures to make these determinations. 1. Testimonies To what extent do believers share on church websites their stories of brokenness and messy lives and their encounter with the transforming love of Christ? 2. Ministries To what extent do churches emphasize ministries of compassion to people with broken and messy lives? 3. Emphasis To what extent do churches communicate transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability in their slogans, prime space, navigation, and headings 4. SEO To what extent are churches using search engine optimization to connect their websites with people in crisis in their communities 8

9 CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS Assumption 1. We don t expect our church website to be the primary channel by which the unchurched connect with our church. We expect members of our congregation to build relationships with the unchurched in the community. It is through those personal relationships that the unchurched will be invited into our church. The website does not play a major role in outreach. Challenge Are members of your congregation actually building relationships with the unchurched intentionally to invite them to come to church? In the event a member of your congregation invites an unchurched person to come to the church, are you certain the unchurched person will not check the website to feel safe about their visit to the church? In the event the website lacks transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability and the invitee does not fee safe, the invitee may change their mind and decline the personal invitation. Transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability on your church website actually support your objective to encourage members to invite their neighbors and coworkers to come to church with them. There are many unchurched who do not know a believer in Jesus Christ. They will not be invited by a member of the congregation. In their situation, their first encounter with your church may be the website. The transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability on your website may become a critical factor in whether or not they feel safe to read a blog, listen to a sermon, reach out to the church or to attend an event. 2. Our website is exclusively for believers considering changing churches. We have designed our website to answer the questions that believers ask when they are looking for a new church family. Imagine thousands of people in the local community at a festival. Imagine your church having a tent. Imagine your church only inviting members into the tent. You hire a bouncer at the opening to keep away non-members. A strategy to deny the unchurched life-changing content on your website is as outlandish as the metaphor. For many churches, the bouncer at the door is churchy content on the website the unchurched can t relate with. Thousands of your neighbors are on the Internet searching for solutions for their problems. Your church website should avoid prioritizing content on the home page that comes across like a foreign language to seekers. 3. Our search engine optimization is effective. The keywords we believe will generate traffic for our website are words like service times, worship service, sermons, men s ministry, women s ministry, statement of faith, beliefs, etc.,. The unchurched in your neighborhood are searching the Internet for words like addiction, alcoholism, gambling, divorce, bankruptcy, prison, drug addiction, suicide, depression, loneliness, cancer, etc.,. Are the search engines connecting them to your church website? You need to regularly publish quality and timely content about these subjects if you expect search engines to effectively link your church with people in your community in crisis. 9

10 DO WE REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? 10

11 DO OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? Suicides Boston Magazine, February 28, 2017 Concord Monitor, October 9, The Providence Journal, May 10,

12 DO OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? (Continued) Suicides (Continued) Connecticut Magazine, January 11, 2015 Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, May 2015 If a church knew that one suicide could be prevented if one testimony was published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish that testimony? If a church knew that one suicide could be prevented if twenty testimonies were published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish those twenty testimonies? Is one life worth the effort to publish testimonies on the home page of a church website? Is there anyone in your church who the Lord has rescued from a season of depression or despair? Their testimony on the front page of your website may save one life. 12

13 DO OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? (Continued) Drug Overdose Source: Just Believe Recovery Center, Carbondale PA Connecticut Connecticut had 13 overdose deaths per capita in 2015, ranking #28 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). According to the Tribuna, on average two people die of a drug overdose every day in the state. There were about 2,000 drug overdose deaths in the state between 2012 and The 723 deaths in 2015 were over twice the number recorded in Maine According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Maine had a significant increase in drug overdose deaths of 18.8% between 2013 and Maine had 12 deaths per 100,000 capita in 2015, ranking #39 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). There were 272 fatal drug overdoses in the state in 2015, a 31% increase over 2014 (Bangor Daily News). Massachusetts According to the CDC, Massachusetts had a significant increase in drug overdose deaths of 27.3% between 2013 and Massachusetts had nearly 14 deaths per 100,000 capita in 2015, ranking #24 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). 1,379 Massachusetts residents died in fatal opioid overdoses in 2015, an 8% increase from 2014 (Massachusetts Department of Public Health). Fentanyl was involved in 50% of those deaths last year, an opioid drug many times more powerful than heroin. New Hampshire According to the CDC, New Hampshire had an increase in drug overdose deaths of a staggering 73.5% between 2013 and In 2015 New Hampshire had nearly 15 overdose deaths per 100,000 capita. ranking #19 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). According to the SeacoastOnline, there were at least 433 over deaths in 2015, 85% of which were related to opioids. Fentany was responsible for 65% of all deaths. So far in 2015, there have been 48 confirmed opioid-related deaths, two-thirds of which involved Fentanyl. Rhode Island Rhode Island had nearly 20 overdose deaths per 100,000 capita in 2015, ranking #7 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). According to the Providence Journal, there were 138 opioid overdose deaths in According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, through from January 1, 2015-October 1, 2015, there were at least 220 overdose deaths. Numbers for the entire year are incomplete. 13

14 DO OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? (Continued) Drug Overdose (Continued) Source: Just Believe Recovery Center, Carbondale PA Vermont Vermont had 13 overdose deaths per 100,000 capita in ranking #33 among all 50 states (Stastica.com). According to the Vermont Department of Health, the state reported 72 deaths in 2015, 34 of which were heroin, and 29 of which were Fentanyl. Comparatively, in 2013, heroin was involved in 20 overdose deaths, and fentanyl was involved in 12 an increase of 42% and 59%, respectively. New England Collectively, New England averaged 14.5 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. At least 3,100 people in the region died of a drug overdose in According to the Boston Globe, Connecticut, New Hamphsire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont are currently 5 of the 10 worst-hit states in the nation. If a church knew that one life could be rescued from drug addiction if one testimony was published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish that testimony? If a church knew that one life could be rescued from addiction if twenty testimonies were published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish those twenty testimonies? Is one life worth the effort to publish testimonies on the home page of a church website? Is there anyone in your church who the Lord has rescued from addiction? Their testimony on the front page of your website may save one life. 14

15 DO OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY NEED TESTIMONIES? (Continued) Domestic Violence Youth Arrests The Huffington Post, November 19, 2014 An estimated 33,000 youths are arrested each year in New England Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Main If a church knew that one child could be rescued from a dysfunctional home life if one testimony was published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish that testimony? If a church knew that one life could be rescued from a dysfunctional home life if twenty testimonies were published on the home page of the church website, would the church publish those twenty testimonies? Is one life worth the effort to publish testimonies on the home page of a church website? Is there anyone in your church who the Lord has rescued from a dysfunctional home? Their testimony on the front page of your website may save one life. 15

16 TESTIMONIES IN YOUR CHURCH Can you think of one person in your church with a testimony of God s grace associated with any of the following? They may have experienced the adversity themselves or their friend or family member struggled with it. Abortion Accident, car Accident, public transportation ADD Addiction, alcohol Addiction, drugs Addiction, gambling Addiction, pornography Aging AIDS Alzheimer s Anger management Anxiety disorder Arthritis Attempted suicide Autism Birth defects (congenital disorder) Blood pressure disorder Blood sugar disorder (diabetes) Broken heart, breakup Cancer Cardio-pulmonary disorder Chronic pain Civil litigation Conflict, interpersonal Crisis pregnancy Death of child Death of family member Death of friend Death of spouse Demonic possession Depression Developmental disorder Divorce Down Syndrome DUI/DWI Dysfunctional home life Dyslexia Eating disorder Estrangement Fetal alcohol disorder Financial crisis Fire, house or building Gang life Gastro intestinal disorder Hate crimes Hearing disorder Immigrant Incarceration Infertility Injury, serious Isolation Liver disorder Loneliness Juvenile detention Major life change Mental health disorder Migraine disorder Miracle birth Natural disaster Neurological disorders OCD Ophthalmological disorder Osteoporosis Parkinson's Personality disorder Phobias Political unrest Poverty PTSD Rebellion from God Refugee Reproductive disorder Separation Sleep disorder Social anxiety Socio-economic adversity Speech disorder Still birth Stress Sudden infant death syndrome Suicidal ideation Suicide Suicide, attempt Teen pregnancy Termination Thyroid disorder Vertigo Victim, identity theft Victim, abuse Victim, assault Victim, bullying Victim, child abuse Victim, crime Victim, domestic violence Victim, emotional abuse Victim, gang violence Victim, human trafficking Victim, kidnapping, hostage Victim, sexual offense Victim, stalking Victim, terror Victim, white collar crime War 16

17 NOTES ON RESEARCH 17

18 NOTES ON RESEARCH 1. We included in this study churches whose website copy and/or doctrinal statements were in alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The language on each church website in this study affirmed their belief in the divine inspiration and the authority of Scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His perfect life and miracles, His death and resurrection, His name being the only name by which an individual can be saved, His authority over all, and the work of the Holy Spirit He sends into a believer s life. Churches that did not present website copy that their doctrines are in alignment with the above were not included in this study. 2. That being said, we understand there may be churches whose doctrine may be in complete alignment with the beliefs above. However, those churches were not included in our study because their church website did not clearly convey their doctrinal beliefs. 3. Churches from entire denominations were excluded from our study because the individual churches all seemed to use the same doctrinal statements and those statements were not in alignment with the above. After this became evident after visiting a few dozen church websites in such denominations, we stopped reviewing church websites in those denominations any further. However, we understand it is possible that there are individual churches affiliated with more liberal and mainstream denominations that rightfully should have been included in our study but were not. 4. All 205 websites were reviewed January 29-February 1, We acknowledge that any of the 205 churches may make changes to their websites after these dates that may alter the findings and conclusions of this study. 5. We limited our search to the first three search engine result pages for any city. If a church is listed on the fourth or a lower search engine result page, it is not included in this study. For example, the following search engine results pages in red bold were included: We don t believe visitors searching for solutions are likely to visit the fourth page of the search engine results. That being said, there may be fantastic church websites in a city, with testimonies, that we never encountered because of their less than optimum search engine performance. 6. We did NOT read each word published on a church website. With a few exceptions, we did NOT listen to sermons or watch videos. We scanned church websites in a similar manner as a seeker would get my attention in 30 seconds to a minute. We were looking for content on the home page and titles and subtitles and eyecatching graphics on subpages accessible through the menu. It is possible we missed critical content because the churches did not emphasize the content we were looking for on these pages. If that is the case, we believe our findings remain accurate content not emphasized is the same as content not published when a seeker is browsing a church website for less than 60 seconds. 7. We did not credit churches for ministries simply because they said they are compassionate for people in need. We were looking for specific references to ministries where people from the church regularly volunteer in the local community. 8. We gave identical weight to a church that had an inhouse outreach ministry and a church that supported an outreach ministry partner. A church that offers a food pantry was given no additional consideration than a church that states it supports a third-party food ministry. 9. We did not discriminate between a testimony and a testimonial. We consider a testimony the story of how Jesus Christ has transformed a life. A testimonial is the story of how a church has made a difference in a person s life. While Christ works through His church, we prefer testimonies that directly credit Him for an individual s transformation. However, we did not take the time to determine if the testimonies published on a church website were testimonies or testimonials. Therefore, the number of actual testimonies may be actually less than we reported. 10. We were looking specifically for outreach ministries. We did not tabulate internal ministries such as a men s or women s ministries. While we love our brother s and sister s in Christ within the church and trust God is ministering to them by ministries within the church, our heart bleeds in our calling for the unchurched who turn to church websites for help in their time of need. 18

19 NOTES ON RESEARCH (CONTINUED) 11. There was a church who had a section on their home page for testimonies. However, the section was empty. Therefore, their website was not credited as a website with testimonies. 12. We did not attempt to assess the quality or intensity of a prayer or counseling ministry referred to on a church website. If a church made prayer or counseling an emphasis on their website in any fashion, we included these items in our tabulations. 13. Primary space in our study refers to the space on the home page of a website underneath the header and above the fold (the space where the visitor needs to begin scrolling to see additional content). Given the variety of uses of that space by churches, we attempted to categorize the use of this space. We concede such an attempt is subjective. Others performing the same task are likely to create alternative categorizations that are just as valid. 14. We concede that our analysis of church messaging may be the weakest component of our study. Consider that each church may have five (5) key messages on their website, messages that are not clearly identifiable. There would be over 1,000 different messages in our study. We did not have the time to attempt to categorize, analyze, or prioritize all of these messages. On the two pages in our study where we share church messages, we may not have shared the most important messages from the church website. 15. We limited our analysis of sermons and blogs in a church to entries in January In some cases, we simply noted a sermon series that a church announced for the month. In other cases, absent a sermon series, we noted the individual sermon titles. Our listing of church sermon topics has some subjectivity to it as we took liberties to categorize a sermon based on our interpretation of the meaning of the church sermon title. 16. A church website may have emphasized their addiction recovery ministry. Another ministry may have mentioned it in passing in a remote paragraph. Both churches received equal credit for having an addiction ministry. This is true with other ministries as well. 17. With our experience in web design and web development, we have knowledge of how to discover a church website s meta tags, mobile applications, content management systems, and design themes. However, we were not able to identify these things consistently on every website. That being said, we are confident that our findings about church software in this report are in the ballpark, if not in the infield. 18. We did not search Facebook for church Facebook pages. We made the reasonable assumption that a church would promote their Facebook page on their church website if they believed their Facebook page was worth visiting. If they chose not to do so, their Facebook page must not be a significant facet of their ministry and was not included in our study. 19

20 LISTS OF CHURCH WEBSITES REVIEWED 20

21 205 New England church websites studied January 2018 VT, 14, 7% RI, 12, 6% ME, 30, 15% MA, 82, 40% NH, 32, 15% CT, 35, 17% 21

22 LIST OF CHURCH WEBSITES REVIEWED Massachusetts Churches - 82 Abundant Grace Church, Brighton MA Calvary Baptist Church, Dedham MA Calvary Chapel, Rockland MA Cape Ann Bible Church, Gloucester MA Christ Chapel Bible Church, Centerville MA Christ Community Church, East Taunton MA City Church, Boston MA City Life Presbyterian Church, Boston MA Community Church of East Gloucester, Gloucester Ma Community of Grace, Framingham MA Cottage Hill Church, Springfield MA Crossroads Community Church, Framingham MA Discovery Church, Weymouth MA East Baptist Church, Lynn MA Evangelical Covenant Church, Attleboro MA Evangelical Free Church of Pittsfield, Pittsfield MA Excel Church, Leominster MA Faith Community Church, Plymouth MA Faunce Church, Plymouth MA Fellowship Church, Dedham MA First Baptist Church, Rockport MA First Central Bible Church, Chicopee MA First Congregational Church of Hamilton, Hamilton MA First Presbyterian Church, Ipswich MA Garden City Church, Beverly MA Gloucester Assembly of God, Gloucester MA Grace Chapel, Lexington MA Grace Christian Church, Waltham MA Grace United Church, Northampton MA Granite United Church, Haverhill MA Great Rock Church, Danvers MA Greater Framingham Community Church, Framingham MA Harvest Ministries of New England, Weymouth MA Heritage Park Baptist Church, Burlington MA Highrock Quincy, Quincy MA Holland Church, Holland MA Hope Community Church, Newburyport MA Hope International Church, Waltham MA Journey Christian Church, Fall River MA Liberty Christian Center, Tauton MA Lifeline Baptist Church, Haverhill MA LifePoint Church, Chicopee MA Living Hope Church of the Nazarene, Beverly MA Messiah Lutheran Church, Fitchburg MA Mill City Church, Lowell MA Netcast, Beverly MA New Day Church, West Springfield MA New Life Church, Leominster MA New Life Community Fellowship, Pittsfield MA New Life Fall River, Fall River MA North Shore Bible Church, Essex & Danvers MA North Shore Community Baptist Church, Beverly MA Orthodox Congregational Church of Lanesville, Gloucester MA Park Street Church, Boston MA Quaboag Valley Baptist Church, Brookfield MA Redeemer Church, Somerville MA Redemption Fellowship Church, Fall River MA Remix Salem, Salem MA Restoration Community Church, Brockton MA Restore Christian Church, Quincy MA Reunion Christian Church, Boston MA Revive Community Church, Burlington MA Riverside Church, Haverhill MA Seven Mile Road Church, Waltham MA South Chatham Community Church, Chatham MA South Shore Community Church, East Bridgewater MA South Weymouth Church of the Nazarene, Weymouth MA The Calvary Baptist Church, Peabody MA The Church of the Open Bible, Burlington MA The City Church, Springfield MA The Harbor: A Community of Faith, Beverly MA The Link Church, Canton MA The New Testament Church of Cedarville, Plymouth MA Third Baptist Church, Fall River MA Tremont Temple, Boston MA Viewpoint Christian Church, Southbridge MA Vineyard Metro West, Framingham MA Waters Church, North Attleboro & Norwood MA Wellspring Church, Springfield MA West Congregational Church, Haverhill MA Winthrop Street Baptist Church, Taunton MA Word of Life Community Church, Fall River MA 22

23 LIST OF CHURCH WEBSITES REVIEWED (CONTINUED) Maine Churches - 30 Bible Baptist Church, Saco ME Calvary Chapel, Bangor ME Calvary of Sanford, Sanford ME Cape Neddick Baptist Church, Cape Neddick ME Centerpoint Community Church, Waterville ME Christ Fellowship Christian Church, Portland ME Connect Church, Lewiston ME Crosspoint Church, Bangor ME Crossway Christian Church, Saco ME Curtis Lake Church, Sanford ME Eastpoint Christian Church, Portland ME Evergreen Covenant Church, Sanford ME First Baptist Church, Portland ME First Baptist Church, Yarmouth ME Grace Baptist Church, Portland ME Grace Community Church, Auburn ME Grace Point Church, Biddeford ME Journey Church, Hampden ME Kennebec Community Church, Augusta ME New Hope Church, Bangor ME New Life Church, Biddeford ME Pleasant Street FBC, Springvale ME Redemption Hill Community Church, Lewiston ME Sea Road Church, Kennebunkport ME Seacoast Chapel, Saco ME Southwest Harbor Congregational Church, Southwest Harbor ME The Rock Church, Bangor ME Thomaston Baptist Church, Thomaston ME Village Baptist Church, Kennebunkport ME Winslow Baptist Church, Winslow ME New Hampshire Churches - 32 Amoskeag Presbyterian Church, Manchester NH Bethany Church, Raymond NH Center Point Church, Concord NH Christ Church, Pembrooke NH Christian Life Fellowship, Swanzey NH Cornerstone Community Church, Concord NH Crossway Christian Church, Nashua NH Elevate Church, Littleton NH Faith Bible Church, Littleton NH Faith Community Church, Hampton NH FaithBridge Church, Manchester NH First Baptist Church, Hampton Falls NH First Baptist Church, North Conway NH Gate City Church, Nashua NH Grace Capital Church, Manchester NH Grace Community Church, Spofford NH Harbor Church, Portsmouth NH Heritage Baptist Church, Nashua NH Journey Church, Conway NH Keene Crossway Church, Keene NH Living Hope Church, Manchester NH Manchester Christian Church, Manchester NH Nashua Baptist Church, Nashua NH Nashua Christian Bible Church, Nashua NH New Frontier Church, Portsmouth NH Oasis Christian Church, Concord NH Praxis Church, Keene NH Seacoast Community Church, Portsmouth NH Southside Bible Fellowship, Manchester NH State Street Church, Portsmouth NH United Baptist Church, Concord NH Word of Life Christian Fellowship, Concord NH Vermont Churches 14 Agape Christian Fellowship, Brattleboro VT Calvary Bible Church, Rutland VT Church at the Well, Burlington VT Church of the Rock, St. Albans VT First Baptist Church, St. Albans VT First Congregation Church, Burlington VT Hope Community Fellowship, Bridport VT New Haven United Reformed Church, New Haven VT North Avenue Alliance Church, Burlington VT Redeemer Burlington, Burlington VT Rivertown Church, Brattleboro VT Roadside Chapel, Rutland VT South Burlington Church of Christ, South Burlington VT Vibrant Church, Burlington VT 23

24 LIST OF CHURCH WEBSITES REVIEWED (CONTINUED) Rhode Island Churches 12 Calvary Baptist Church, Middletown RI Central Congregational Church, Providence RI Christ Our Hope Church, Charlestown RI Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church, East Providence RI Crosspoint Church, Newport RI Down City Church, Providence RI EFC Newport, Newport RI First Baptist Church, Narragansett RI New Hope Chapel, Carolina RI Oceanpointe Christian Church, Middletown RI Renaissance Church, Providence RI Trinity Presbyterian Church, Providence RI Connecticut Churches 35 Bethany Church, Stamford CT Black Rock Church, Fairfield CT Christ Community Church, Stamford CT Church of the City, New London CT Church of the Living God, Manchester CT Church on the Rock, New Haven CT City Church, New Haven CT Community Baptist Church, Groton CT Evangelical Christian Church, Waterbury CT Faith Church, New Milford CT Fellowship Church, Middletown CT Grace Church, Stamford CT Grace Church, West Hartford CT Grace Evangelical Free Church, Stamford CT Grace Fellowship Evangelical Free, North Stonington CT Grace Point, New Milford CT Groton Heights Baptist Church, Groton CT Harvest Time Church, Greenwich CT Higher Ground Christian Church, Bristol CT Huntington Street Baptist Church, New London CT Lighthouse Community Baptist Church, Pawcatuck CT Living Stones Community Church, New Milford CT New River Church, Manchester CT North Park Baptist Church, Bridgeport CT Northeast Baptist Church, Danbury CT Northeast Community Church, Norwalk CT Presbyterian Church of Manchester, Manchester CT Seaport Community Church, Groton CT Shore Line Community Bible Church, New London CT South Church, Hartford CT Trinity Baptist Church, New Haven CT Trinity Covenant Church, Manchester CT Valley Shore, Old Saybrook CT Vertical Church, West Haven CT Walnut Hill Community Church, Danbury CT 24

25 DETAILED FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 25

26 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES Only 7 out of 100 churches in New England publish testimonies on their websites. This communicates a lack of transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability to the unchurched who visit the websites. As a result, the unchurched may feel unsafe approaching a church to seek assistance or to get involved in the community. 14 out of the 205 churches in the study published stories/testimonies on their website 6.8% For the majority of seekers searching the Internet for solutions, they will give a church website less than 15 seconds to make an impression on them. In most cases, the 15 seconds are spent almost entirely on the home page. If testimonies are not published on the home page, it is irrelevant if they are published anywhere else on the website. 0 out of the 205 churches in the study published stories/testimonies on their home page 0% 26

27 LOCATIONS OF CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES With the exception of Vermont, churches that publish testimonies on their websites are spread throughout New England. As a next step, we would like to see churches in Hartford CT, Providence RI, Portland ME, Augusta ME, and Burlington VT publish testimonies on their websites. We would also like to see churches from population centers along the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut share more testimonies. 27

28 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES Abundant Grace Church, Brighton, MA Black Rock Church, Fairfield, CT 28

29 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) Elevate Church, Littleton, NH Excel Church, Leominster, MA 29

30 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) Fellowship Church, Middletown, CT Grace Capital Church, Manchester, NH 30

31 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) Journey Church, Hampden, ME Netcast, Beverly, MA 31

32 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) New Day Church, West Springfield, MA New Life Church, Biddeford, ME 32

33 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) Praxis Church, Keene, NH South Shore Community Church, East Bridgewater, MA 33

34 14 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES (CONTINUED) The Rock Church, Bangor, ME Valley Shore, Old Saybrook, CT 34

35 STATEMENTS ON WEBSITES WITH TESTIMONIES We are a group of ordinary people with an extraordinary God Every person has value because they are made in the image of God. There is a place for you. You have a purpose and a role to play. You will be cared for and supported. We see individuals, marriages, and families being healed and strengthened. We see the miraculous power of God saving and healing the lost and broken hearted. We dream of a place where the hurting, the depressed, the frustrated, and the confused can find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness, guidance and encouragement. We believe people matter to God.. actively partnering with Jesus to see lives transformed through the power of the gospel in our context. They are committed to building loving relationships with lost people, praying for them, and seeking an opportunity to share Christ with them. We as a church want to be a conduit for the blessings of God which include personal transformation through relationship with Christ, wholeness in marriages and families, financial prosperity through biblical stewardship, physical healing, as well as inner healing and freedom from all weights and bondages, fellowship within the body of Christ, influence in our community, our state, our country, and ultimately the nations of the world. Testimonies are of ordinary people who encounter the work of an extraordinary God. Their lives matter to God. They were hurting, depressed, frustrated, and confused. The volume of diverse testimonies in a church communicate that each person has value. A person whose personal life story resonates with a shared testimony is a person who may feel the church understands them. They may feel they have a place. Testimonies demonstrate that Jesus is transforming lives and giving people freedom from all weights and bondages. Testimonies prove that the church is building loving relationships with lost people. The testimonies shared on these church websites affirm that their messaging is not mere words. 35

36 STATEMENTS ON WEBSITES WITHOUT TESTIMONIES We are purposeful in our attempt to be a place where you can find help for today and hope for tomorrow. is all about helping people who are far from God find life in Jesus. We are a church of individuals who have been restored and transformed to serve. We will regularly and unashamedly sacrifice the comfort of our members for the opportunity to reach those far from God. a community of ordinary people who are being renewed daily by the extraordinary grace of God We also know that it is worth wrestling with the questions, doubts, and objections as well as the skepticism around the Christian faith. None of us is perfect, but in Christ, we have found forgiveness, love and courage to face life s challenges. In a culture that s jaded and cynical, we humbly seek to live a genuine faith before people who think that the word Christian is synonymous with the word hypocrite As a result, you won t find perfect people here. You will find real people with real struggles whom Christ is transforming by the power of the Gospel. Today, we are a community of people from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and life stories is a gathering of forgiven people who trust in Jesus, and who still need God s grace and power daily. We re a place for real people, where meaningful relationships can start, grow, and flourish. It doesn t matter what your baggage is we ve all got it. Whatever you re thinking or feeling about being in church is ok. We re just glad you re here. We seek to provide a clear and compelling witness to the real Jesus. We are a broken-but-beloved family where we share life together, celebrating triumphs and mourning tragedies. Know that whether you are hungry or hurt, lonely or lost, full of questions, or looking for community, there s a place for you at our church. We aim to be authentic in our faith and life. We desire to love God and love our neighbor. We aim to reach those in need and make a positive impact in our community. A testimony shows the reader how they can find help for today and hope for tomorrow. A testimony shows how people far from God found life in Jesus. Testimonies published on a website shows that multiple individuals have been restored and transformed in the church. Testimony sharing is about members of a church sacrificing their comfort and risking transparency and authenticity to reach those far from God. Testimonies can demonstrate what it is like to have questions, doubts, and objections but still come to a deeper faith in Christ. Testimonies show that imperfect people have found forgiveness, love, and courage. Testimonies are the antidote to accusations of hypocrisy by sharing our weaknesses to God's glory. Testimonies show that a church has people from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and life stories. Testimonies show that a church is full of forgiven people who still need God's grace and power daily. Testimonies are a way to show that real people attend a church who have all kinds of baggage. Testimonies celebrate triumphs and mourn tragedies and bear witness to the real Jesus. Testimony sharing is an opportunity to be authentic in our faith and life. Testimony sharing is an opportunity to reach others in need. 36

37 WHAT IS PROMOTED ON PRIMARY SPACE ON WEBSITE Next to the amount of testimonies shared on a church website, this is arguably the most important statistic in this report. What does the church do with the most important area on their website? This area is immediately below the logo and menu but it is above the bottom of the screen. It is the area that does not require scrolling to view. Many visitors will decide whether or not their eyes will browse anywhere else on a website simply by what they see in this position. Credit for graphic goes to Promotion Type # Welcome / About Church 101 Worship service 28 Sermon Series 27 Video 13 Bible verses 9 Event 8 Community Groups 4 Adult Sunday School 2 Contact Information 2 Mobile App 2 Outreach Ministries 1 Journey through Bible 1 Under Construction 1 Ask questions 1 Tithing 1 News 1 Social Media 1 Ministry Opportunities (Griefshare) 1 Prayer 1 Testimonies 0 Video, 13, 6% All others, 15, 7% Sermon Series, 27, 13% Community Groups, 4, 2% Event, 8, Bible 4% verses, 9, 5% Worship service, 28, 14% Welcome / About Church, 101, 49% 37

38 CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRIES ON WEBSITES Approximately 4 out of 5 churches do not share information about outreach ministries on their websites. In other words, 77.1% of churches convey to the unchurched that they are not concerned about helping people in need in the local community. The unchurched pick up this message and the noise drowns out the other invitations by a church. 47 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about outreach ministries on their website 22.9% The vast majority of information about outreach ministries is available only through the menus of church websites. However, most people will not take the time to look beyond the home page. Therefore, less than 2 out of 100 churches can expect to connect their message of compassion for neighbors in crisis with the browsing public. 3 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about outreach ministries on their home page 1.5% 38

39 3 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH OUTREACH MINISTRIES ON HOME PAGE Higher Ground Christian Church, Bristol, CT Highrock Quincy, Quincy, MA 39

40 3 CHURCH WEBSITES WITH OUTREACH MINISTRIES ON HOME PAGE (CONTINUED) Living Hope Church of the Nazarene, Beverly, MA Highrock Quincy, Quincy, MA 40

41 MINISTRIES OFFERED ON CHURCH WEBSITES Note: These numbers reflect outreach ministries found on the church websites within a one to two minute search. We acknowledge we may have missed outreach ministries mentioned on remote places on the websites, perhaps buried in text copy. However, we are confident adjustments to these numbers will not alter the overall story these numbers tell churches can substantially improve their outreach efforts to a variety of social concerns in their community. Please keep in mind the 80/20 rule - many of these outreach ministries may be offered by a relatively few churches. Outreach Ministry # Percent Food Service % Housing/Homeless/Rescue % Addiction/Recovery/Alcohol % Prison 8 3.9% Crisis Pregnancy 7 3.4% Senior Care/Nursing Home 7 3.4% Refugee/Immigrant 6 2.9% Troubled Youth 6 2.9% Clean Up/Helping Hands/Habitat for Humanity 5 2.4% Divorce 5 2.4% Grief 5 2.4% Stephen Ministry 5 2.4% ESL/Tutoring 4 2.0% Health Care / Visitation 4 2.0% Adoption 3 1.5% Disabilities / Special Needs 3 1.5% Foster Care/Orphans 3 1.5% AIDS 2 1.0% Sexual Struggles 2 1.0% Animal Shelter 1 0.5% Big Brother/Sister 1 0.5% Facials 1 0.5% Fire Chaplain 1 0.5% Firewood 1 0.5% Furniture 1 0.5% Healing 1 0.5% Human Trafficking 1 0.5% Infertility 1 0.5% Job Search 1 0.5% Neighborhood Revitalization 1 0.5% Shawl 1 0.5% Toys for Children 1 0.5% Transportation 1 0.5% Veterans 1 0.5% 41

42 MINISTRIES OFFERED ON CHURCH WEBSITES (CONTINUED) Note: These numbers reflect outreach ministries found on the church websites within a one to two minute search. We acknowledge we may have missed outreach ministries mentioned on remote places on the websites, perhaps buried in text copy. However, we are confident adjustments to these numbers will not alter the overall story these numbers tell churches can substantially improve their outreach efforts to a variety of social concerns in their community. Please keep in mind the 80/20 rule - many of these outreach ministries may be offered by a relatively few churches. Refugee/Immigrant, 6, 4% Senior Care/Nursing Home, 7, 5% Troubled Youth, 6, 4% Crisis Pregnancy, 7, 4% Prison, 8, 5% All others, 56, 37% Addiction/Recovery/Alcohol, 17, 11% Housing/Homeless/Rescue, 20, 13% Food Service, 26, 17% We need testimonies of how Jesus Christ has rescued people from poverty, homelessness, addiction, prison, crisis pregnancy, and the many other adversities people experience. We also need the stories of how volunteers are blessed when they serve Jesus Christ in each of these ministries. 42

43 CHURCHES WITH COUNSELING MINISTRIES A counseling ministry communicates we will listen to your story. A counseling ministry is an invitation for people in crisis to talk and share about the concerns on their heart. If a church cannot offer a counseling ministry, for any number of reasons, they can communicate they will listen by showing they care about the stories of people inside their church (testimonies). 16 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about counseling ministries on their website 7.8% A home page is a great place for church counselors to share helpful tips on a variety of topics that the unchurched deal with in their lives. Zero churches offer such tips on their home page. Only 1 in 100 churches mention counseling ministries at all on their home page. 2 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about counseling ministries on their home page.01% 43

44 2 CHURCHES WITH COUNSELING MINISTRIES ON HOME PAGE Seacoast Community Church, Portsmouth, NH Third Baptist Church, Fall River, MA 44

45 CHURCHES WITH PRAYER MINISTRIES ON WEBSITE Only 1 in 5 churches make reference to a prayer ministry on their church websites. The hidden message for the unchurched visitor to the websites? We are not interested in your life or your pain. If we were, we d invite you to ask us to pray. 37 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about prayer ministries on their website 18% 1 in 25 churches make any reference to a prayer ministry on their website home page, the only page unchurched visitors are likely to visit. 8 out of the 205 churches in the study provided information about prayer ministries on their home page 3.9% 45

46 CHURCHES WITH LINKS TO BLOG ON WEBSITE Blogging is one of the most effective ways for a website to attract readers. A good blog gives helpful easy-to-read information that solves the reader s problems. They want to share the information with others in their network. A good blog is search engine optimized. Search engines reward websites with this kind of content with a better score. 1 in 14 churches in New England offer a blog on their website. However, the blog articles tend to be about sermons and church calendar announcements. 15 out of the 205 churches in the study provided links to blogs on their website 7.3% Approximately 1 blog article was published for every 6 New England churches in January If every church published one article a week, there should be 820 articles per month, 23 times more articles than are actually published. This statistic suggests churches are not taking advantage of the power of blogging to reach their neighbors in need. 35 Blog articles were published by churches in New England in January Average number of blog articles published by a church in January 46

47 CHURCH BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE Pastor Wayne Sawyer of Thomaston Baptist Church of Thomaston, ME is in a league of his own with respect to the consistent publishing of a blog. No other church website in the 205 studied offered anywhere near the number of articles published by Mr. Sawyer. A review of his blog archives reveals Wayne has published an article for his sermon every week from March 2015 to the present. Other pastors may have published articles on blogs as consistently. However, their church website did not link to such blogs. Thomaston Baptist Church, Thomaston, ME 47

48 CHURCHES AND WEBSITE COPYRIGHT A copyright year demonstrates to the reader that the website is current and the content is fresh. 53.2% of church websites do not include a copyright year in their website footer. In short, these churches are communicating that the reader should not bother to return to the website. The church does not refresh the website consistently. 52% of the church copyright years are not A few date back to The readers of the websites are being told the church has no intention to update their website frequently. 96 out of the 205 churches in the study had a year associated with a copyright on their website 46.8% 2010, 2, 2% 2011, 2, 2% 2012, 1, 1% 2013, 3, 3% 2014, 6, 6% 2015, 6, 6% 2018, 46, 48% 2016, 9, 10% 2017, 21, 22% 48

49 CHURCHES WITH LINKS TO FACEBOOK PAGES 7 out of 10 churches have links from their website to Facebook pages. They ve heard how popular Facebook is. However, 31.2% of churches do not offer a link to a Facebook page. Given that Facebook has almost 2 billion users, we would think the percentage of churches with Facebook pages should be approaching 90%. 141 out of the 205 churches in the study had a link to a Facebook page 68.8% In late January 2018, there were 118,465 followers of New England church Facebook pages. This averages 840 per church. However, the top 25 churches have 71,000 of those followers. A more accurate number is the median of 419 Facebook followers. 50% of churches have more than 419 Facebook followers and 50% of churches have less. 840 average number of Facebook followers for church Facebook pages 419 median number of Facebook followers for church Facebook pages 49

50 NUMBER OF FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS 5,000+, 2, 1% 4,000-4,999, 1, 1% 3,000-3,999, 5, 4% 2,000-2,999, 10, 7% 0-250, 40, 28% 1,000-1,999, 14, 10% , 10, 7% , 14, 10% , 45, 32% 60% of the 205 New England churches have less than 500 Facebook followers. 23% of churches have more than 1,000 Facebook followers. 50

51 TOP 32 FACEBOOK PAGES BY NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS Church Facebook Followers Manchester Christian Church, Manchester, NH 6327 Waters Church, North Attleboro & Norwood, MA 6294 Vertical Church, West Haven, CT 4294 Granite United Church, Haverhill, MA 3896 Grace Chapel, Lexington, MA 3783 Harvest Time Church, Greenwich, CT 3309 Calvary Chapel, Bangor, ME 3203 Black Rock Church, Fairfield, CT Eastpoint Christian Church, Portland, ME 2839 City Church, New Haven, CT 2823 Grace Capital Church, Manchester, NH 2562 Curtis Lake Church, Sanford, ME 2537 Kennebec Community Church, Augusta, ME 2517 Excel Church, Leominster, MA 2508 Netcast, Beverly, MA 2313 Walnut Hill Community Church, Danbury, CT 2299 Park Street Church, Boston, MA 2235 Oceanpointe Christian Church, Middletown, RI 2061 Christ Community Church, East Taunton, MA 1978 Vibrant Church, Burlington, VT 1920 Bethany Church, Raymond, NH 1916 Faith Church, New Milford, CT 1776 New Day Church, West Springfield, MA 1657 LifePoint Church, Chicopee, MA 1516 Crossway Christian Church, Nashua, NH 1346 Renaissance Church, Providence, RI 1175 Crosspoint Church, Bangor, ME 1163 The Link Church, Canton, MA 1158 Fellowship Church, Middletown, CT 1144 New Life Fall River, Fall River, MA 1112 Remix Salem, Salem, MA 1043 Oasis Christian Church, Concord, NH 1007 The size of a church Facebook page following is a function of the following factors. How large is the church congregation? How committed is the church to publishing valued content on their Facebook page? How effectively does the church promote their Facebook page? The primary value of this list is to explore these church Facebook pages and learn what they are doing to generate followers. 51

52 NUMBER OF CHURCHES WITH META DESCRIPTIONS A meta tag is a hidden code inserted into a website page that the search engines use to index a website. Meta tags include a description of the page, keywords, the author of the page, and other information. Search engine experts recommend that each page on a website has a carefully crafted meta description that the search engines can index. 118 of the 205 church websites in this study, 57.6%, had no meta description on their home page. This means that over one half of the churches in this study do not have a serious intention for their website to be found through the use of search engines like Google 87 out of the 205 churches in the study had utilized meta descriptions in code on home page 42.4% With respect to the 87 churches that did use a meta description, we did not see one meta description with a reference to an outreach ministry. For example, let s compare these two meta descriptions for a church: The First Presbyterian Church of Oldtown, PA desires to give glory to Jesus Christ. Versus The First Presbyterian Church of Oldtown, PA gives glory to Jesus Christ through our food pantry, counseling, prayer, prison, and nursing home visitation ministries. Which of these two meta descriptions do you believe is more likely to drive quality traffic to your church website? 52

53 CHURCHES USING WORDPRESS FOR WEBSITE PLATFORM 3 out of every 10 churches use WordPress, the most popular content management system on the Internet. An additional 23 churches (11.2%) used Squarespace, Joomla, Sharepoint, or Wix. 62 churches are using WordPress for their website platform 30.2% 100% of the most used WordPress themes were purchased by churches. They were not free themes. An additional 44 themes were used by only one church. Top WordPress Themes Used by Churches Theme Number Divi 5 Churchope 3 Maranatha 3 Forgiven 2 Incarnation 2 betheme 2 53

54 MOST POPULAR WORDPRESS THEMES IN 205 CHURCH WEBSITES Divi Builder by Elegant Themes Churchope by Themolics 54

55 MOST POPULAR WORDPRESS THEMES IN 205 CHURCH WEBSITES (CONT D) Forgiven by Envato Incarnation by Envato 55

56 MOST POPULAR WORDPRESS THEMES IN 205 CHURCH WEBSITES (CONT D) Maranatha by Church Themes BeTheme by Envato Market 56

57 CHURCHES WITH WEB OR MOBILE APPLICATIONS REFERENCED ON WEBSITE 15 out of every 100 churches in our study offered a web or mobile application along with their website. These applications are offered for the following reasons: A church directory names, faces, contact information Sermon podcasting Event registration Attendance tracking Online giving and donor management Messaging between members and groups Not one of the 31 churches promoted their web or mobile application as a tool to encourage members to share their testimonies or faith stories. 31 churches with web or mobile applications 15.1% 84.9% of the churches in our study did not offer an easy-to-find direct connection between their church website and a member-only area. 57

58 CHURCHES WITH SERMONS POSTED ON WEBSITE IN JANUARY out of 10 churches published sermons on their website in January There were a number of additional churches that published sermons but the most recent sermon published was before Those churches were not included in this study. This statistic, in the context of our finding that 47% of the churches offer outreach ministries on their website, suggest that churches are prioritizing what they have to preach over what they can do for people in need. 148 churches with sermons posted in January % 58

59 SERMON TOPICS We attempted to categorize the variety of sermon titles published on the 148 church websites that posted sermons in January Some churches advertised the name of a particular sermon series. Other churches advertised the name of the sermon series plus the individual sermon titles. Still other churches did not mention a sermon series but posted individual sermon titles. We recorded whatever titles we could get our hands on. Therefore, a sermon series on faith in one church may have only on entry in our database. However, a sermon series on faith in another church may be listed four times, with mentions of Hebrews, Romans, Jeremiah, and Philippians. It is for this reason that we did not publish the totals for the sermon topics (though we have that information available). We are confident this list is a good representation of what pastors are preaching about in New England in January However, by no means should the reader consider this list 100% accurate. We did guess here and there at the topic of a sermon based on the clever but not entirely clear sermon title names. When a category could not be guessed at all, we assigned the sermon to the Godly Living category. We advise readers of this report to not use this list for analysis or decision making. 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 2018 Acts Affliction Agnosticism Amos Anxiety Basics of faith Blessing Brokenness Comfort Community Compassion Counter Culture Covenant Daniel Disappointment Discipleship Disciplined by God Encouragement Entertainment Ephesians Exodus Ezekiel Faithful Living Finding Purpose / Goals Forgiveness Freedom Galatians Genesis Giving / Money Godly Living God's Character Grace Habakkuk Hannah Healing Hearing God's Voice Heaven Hebrews Hosea Islam James Jesus John Jonah King David Loving Others Luke Making Changes and Transformation Mark Martyr Nehemiah New Life Ordinary People Parables Peace Prayer Priorities Pro-Life Psalms Racism Revelations Revival / Revolution Romans Ruth Sacrifice Sermon on Mount Shame Sharing gospel Sovereignty Stress Studying Bible Success Suffering Taking Risk Temptation Testimonies The church Tragedy Triune God Trust Women in Bible Work Worship Zechariah 59

60 CHURCHES THAT REPORTED ON CHURCH EVENTS Imagine. For two weeks prior to the Super Bowl, we are inundated with articles and reports about the big game. However, all reporting about the game stops the moment the game begins. There are no reports about what happened in the game. There are no reports from the locker room after the game. There are no reports from the city of the winning team about how the fans reacted. We simply talked about the event and then didn t bother to follow up after the event. Sound crazy? This is exactly what churches do with their websites. 0 churches with reports on church events in January % Attend our upcoming event! Register for our special conference! The event comes and goes and there is no reporting on the church website. The conference comes and goes and we never know what difference it made in anyone s life. Zero churches in our study, as in none, nada, zip, published any information on their websites AFTER an event to let the reader know that church events are meaningful and they do change lives. This statistic sends a message to the unchurched visitor to a website events are meaningless and they don t change lives. 60

61 RESEARCH ANALYSIS 61

62 RESEARCH ANALYSIS The Problems With the 205 Church Websites in New England 1. Scarcity of Published Testimonies Churches believe that Jesus Christ is the total solution for whatever problems a person faces. However, they offer little evidence of lives that have been changed by Christ. It suggests to the unchurched who are browsing the website that Christ does not make a difference. 2. Wonderful Slogans That Are Not Backed by Evidence Many churches claim that their members are ordinary people who Christ has rescued from hurt and brokenness. However, the churches present few examples to support such statements. 3. Home Page Misalignment With the Needs of the Unchurched Church home pages are clearly targeted to a church audience. The content on these pages are meant for people who attend the church and for believers who are seeking to change churches. In most cases, the home page has no content clearly targeted for the hurting unchurched other than slogans and obscure mentions of outreach ministries. Given that few people will browse beyond the home page, church websites are ignoring the unchurched. 4. Superficiality and Generalities of Outreach Ministry Descriptions Outreach ministries are often mentioned but they are rarely detailed. We have a prison ministry. Now, about our church service times The prison ministry needs to be detailed. What services do you offer people in prison? What services do you offer their families? What services do you offer paroled felons? How has your ministry changed lives? How did the ministry get started? What motivates your prison ministry team? What has your ministry discovered is the greatest challenge facing the incarcerated? What s it like volunteering in a prison ministry? What stories do you have of lives changed because of your prison ministry? This kind of detail should be associated with every outreach ministry your church offers. Food and furniture banks. Refugee. Foster child. The church cares enough to give people in need more detail. The church cares enough to give the search engines more to index to connect with local people in crisis. 5. Low-Intensity Prayer Ministry Thinking We d love to pray for you. Please submit a prayer request. The visitor to the website is asked to place their faith that the church will pray, is truly passionate about praying, or even knows how to pray. What a difference it would make if churches published video or written prayers for the local community on their home page! A prayer for the family in town that lost their house in a fire. A prayer for a local politician diagnosed with cancer. A prayer about the owners of a local restaurant who lost their son in a car accident. A prayer for the local high school football team before the big game. The unchurched in pain would know this is a praying church. The unchurched would know how the church prays. The unchurched would have confidence their prayer request will be addressed privately. Not one church in New England demonstrated their commitment to prayer other than to display a form for prayer requests. 62

63 RESEARCH ANALYSIS (CON T) The Problems With the 205 Church Websites in New England (Cont d) 6. Weak Content Publishing Part 1 - Churches do not publish content that the unchurched in crisis want to read. They are not publishing keyword rich content that people are searching for on search engines. There are no how to articles for people going through separation, divorce, estrangement, financial crisis, health crisis, depression, family dysfunction, addiction, bullying, etc.,. Christ has made experts of believers in the congregation who have personally experienced issues like these. 7. Weak Content Publishing Part 2 A typical church congregation has architects, lawyers, bankers, financial advisors, teachers, tutors, coaches, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, salespeople, human resource managers, executives, managers, supervisors, entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, auto mechanics, artists, musicians, and many more professionals. Imagine all the expertise in the church. Imagine if churches features a member s tip-of-the-day, along with a micro-testimony of what Jesus Christ has done for them. We did find a church that offered a business directory, a listing of businesses run by members of the congregation. 8. Weak Content Publishing Part 3 The majority of the church websites we visited announced upcoming church events. Many of these events were considered so important that they were announced in slides on the home page banner. However, we did not find one church that shared any information about a previous event in the church. How was the Christmas Eve service? Was it well attended? How did the message speak to a member of the congregation? How was it a blessing to a family in the church? Because of the reports from previous events, the visitor reading about an upcoming church event can anticipate that not only will there be a forthcoming report but the event will touch lives. Maybe, just perhaps, they might want to attend an event at this church and experience what so many others are talking about. 9. Inattention to Technical Details Many of the church websites have overlooked basics of website design such as meta descriptions. Imagine spending a fortune on a new sign in front of the church but neglecting to hook up the electricity. The sign cannot be seen at night. Similarly, many of the churches in New England have published a website without a meta description. This basically tells search engines don t bother to include the church website when someone churches for a church online. What other standard website practices are churches not doing? 63

64 RECIPE FOR NEW ENGLAND REVIVAL IN THE 2020s 64

65 RECIPE FOR NEW ENGLAND REVIVAL IN THE 2020s A New Home Page Model for Church Websites in 2020s Header: Logo, contact information, and church menu Featured Testimonies Click to read testimonies The typical church menu The visitor first encounters testimonies of the transforming love of Jesus Christ in all kinds of adversities Featured Outreach Ministry Featured Community Prayer Outreach ministries are featured. Prison ministry. Divorce care. Grief care. Counseling. Etc.,. Image Image The church prays for people, events, news, and organizations in the local community. Featured Event Reports Featured How-To Blog Members of the congregation who attended events in the church share their experience Image Image Professionals in the congregation share their how-to tips related to their occupations Learn About Our Church What about the typical church website content? Sermons? Events? Statements of belief? Staff? Click on the button to access that content. 65

66 RECIPE FOR NEW ENGLAND REVIVAL IN THE 2020s (CONT D) People in Crisis are Connected to Local Church Websites 1 Churches publish testimonies about divorce, financial crisis, drug addiction, loneliness, suicidal ideation, depression, alcoholism, and more. Churches publish articles about their ministries for the homeless, cancer patients, foster children, and prison ministry. Churches publish articles about conferences, guest speakers, and artists associated with church events. Churches publish how-to tips from members of the congregation who are carpenters, plumbers, real estate professionals, financial advisors, and other occupations. Churches publish prayers about the people and organizations that are making news in their local community. Church websites become rich goldmines of search engine friendly content. 2 Churches properly submit their websites to search engines for indexing. The search engines reward the churches for their continuous publishing of relevant quality content people are looking for. The church rises in the organic search engine result pages. 3 People in the local community search the Internet for topics such as divorce, financial crisis, drug addiction, loneliness, suicidal ideation, depression, cancer, incarceration, home remodeling, and financial advice. They encounter local church websites that appear to have a treasure chest of valuable life-enriching content, not the least of which are testimonies of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. 4 The online searchers visit the church websites, extending their visit with the depth and breadth of quality content on the church website. They also encounter typical information about worship services, belief statements, ministries, and sermons. 5 Overwhelmed by the transparency, authenticity, vulnerability, and compassion of the publications of the church, the online searcher considers contacting the church or attending one of the services. 6 Members of the church tell their friends, family members, and neighbors about the life-changing content available on their church s website. 66

67 RECIPE FOR NEW ENGLAND REVIVAL IN THE 2020s (CONT D) How Can This Be Accomplished? 1. Church leaders decide they are not satisfied with the impact their church website is having on their congregation and on the local community. 2. A web ministry team is created. The team consists of members of the congregation who are passionate about prayer, evangelism, outreach ministry, testimony sharing, and the spiritual growth and bonding of the congregation. The team also should include individuals who are skilled in communication and Internet marketing. A large team is suggested to reduce the workload on any one person. Consider having teams in place in quarterly schedules. The team is charged with the gathering of quality content for publication on the website. The team is also charged for engineering any changes required to the design of the website. Gramazin offers our consulting services, including in person or webinar training, to assist in this effort. It is our passion. 3. A web technology support team is identified. The web ministry team needs to partner with web designers and developers who understand the new focus of the church website. Out-dated church website themes are abandoned in favor of an entirely new website design in alignment with the new purpose of a church website. Gramazin can assist making such websites or identifying web designers that are a good match. 4. The church is groomed for increased transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability inside the congregation. Pastors and teachers incorporate these themes into their weekly messaging. Events are created with these themes in mind. The church communicates to the congregation a vision for a new kind of church website that connects with their neighbors in crisis. Gramazin offers services to help churches communicate the new vision for the church website to the congregation. Gramazin offers 72Stories to churches as a tool to foster a culture of testimony sharing within the congregation. 5. Gramazin also offers Take Every Thought to Prayer, a two-volume book containing 757 prayers that encourage believers to surrender their lives to Christ, a vitally important step from which amazing testimonies can blossom. 67