Web Design for me has dual theological points. The first is a theological understanding of myself as a web designer and the second is a theological understanding of web design in relation to the Church.
For myself I have been given abilities, opportunities, and resources from The Lord to use for the benefit of his Kingdom. I picture myself as one of the servants in Jesus' parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30). One of my abilities, or talents if you like, is a comprehension of computers to make web sites. As of writing this post it maybe isn't my most developed or invested talent but it is one that I am developing and will continue to develop over time so that I will have something to show for the talent the master has given me by hopefully bringing him double like one of the good servants. (I imagine myself as being the servant that started with 2).
What this means in plain practical speech is that I have an obligation to serve the Church to the best of my ability by offering my services as a web designer either at a sizeable discount or as a volunteer according to what the church can reasonably afford. On this point I believe that the worker is worth his wages (1 Tim 5:18) but also that I am to do all things as unto the Lord (Col 3:23). So I am willing to work for a discount rate of $20 per hour (instead of $42 per hour) if a church or Christian nonprofit organization is large enough to field the wages while also being open to creating a website for free if the church is unable to pay me. ( I have already redone two church websites free of charge.) I seek to bolster the Kingdom where it needs to be bolstered according to my talents.
For the Church I believe it is imperative that she leverage all of the media resources at her disposal in her mission to build the Kingdom in the name of Jesus for the glory of the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit. A good website is the base of an online presence in an online world and these days the local church cannot afford to overlook their online presence. I am thinking specifically of Paul's ministry of becoming all things to all people in order to win some (1 Cor 9:19-23) and how an entire generation practically lives and breathes the online world. Nearly every young person surfs the internet and most look up information with a simple Google search on their phone. If a church doesn't have a website then they're invisible to this entire demographic. If a church has a bad or out of date website then they are presenting themselves poorly to a large demographic.
What I see is a disconnect between a lot of churches and their websites. They want young people to feel welcome and hopefully join their congregation but they have no presence where the young people are. These people don't just wander into churches, they look them up online before going in. The website is just the beginning though. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr are primary communication nodes for many young people. If the Church wants to reach these people then they need to meet them where they are and they are online via social media. This has become normal for young people but it is increasingly becoming normal for all people as fingertip online technology is continually growing, becoming more accessible, and integrating with North American culture.
What I offer to hopefully update churches is the creation of mobile friendly, social media integrated and easy to maintain websites that extend the missions of local churches to the online world and look good in the process. In this way I seek to use my talents in the service of the Lord.
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