… when the web was young, it was okay for a mom-n-pop operation to plug their stuff on a page that would contain any mutant combination of gizmos and gimmicks like spinning gifs, multi-colored/multi-sized fonts, outrageously impossible to read backgrounds all accompanied by cheesy soundy MIDI files. Sure the pages were a bit hard to read and took forever to download, but they were fun.

Guess what kiddies? It’s 2002 and in case you haven’t noticed, the web has been industrialized! Don’t believe me? Read chapter 14 of Son of Web Pages That Suck (yes, I know, and unfortunate title). In fact, read the entire book and see how your site compares … I did, and it, along with the original book, are one of the many reasons I’ve created “Heal Your Church Website.”

I’ve been to too many church and or para-church websites only to see my DSL clogged with a bunch-o-junk … and worse, to see sights that do more to damage to the Great Commission than good. Yes, I know most church sites are developed and maintained by volunteers. However, this doesn’t mean they have to look or feel cheap, cheezy and/or down right stupid.

This website is here to “preach good design … to correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction” on how to design church and para-church websites that are effective, fast-loading, informative, edifying and hopefully a bit fun. To do this will mean critiquing various sites in hopes of removing the splinters so we can view our sites in a new, more “prophet-able” way.

Now before some of you hate-mail me tirades about tearing-down the body, I want you to look at the church sites out there today and ask yourself this question … are we giving God our best, are we influencing the culture, is the message of the Gospel clear, do people want to visit our churches and hear our sermons ?

And for those of you who can get past all this, we’ll also offer links and articles and other resources you will find helpful as we transform our minds to think about our sites in a way that glorifies God, and stop looking like jokes to the unbelievers out there in need of His Grace.