Having a great website is now a must-have for churches today. Our church website provides a wealth of information for members and guests alike. River Road Church’s upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, sermon recordings, Sunday School classes, and so much more can found online. Cassandra Ducca, our communications specialist, does a stellar job in keeping that information fresh and current.

Despite Cassandra’s excellent skill in this area, the layout and design are no longer functional for our needs going forward, and the current site is unable to take advantage of new web technologies. We’d like to address this in the very near future because an attractive and functional website serves two important (yet very different) purposes for a church.

First, our website must provide a good communication platform for church members to interact with ministry staff, receive calendar information, give online, etc. Our website can and should be a place for us to interact with our church on a weekly basis.

Second, data indicates that guests considering visiting a church will learn of the church first through their website and, from that experience, decide whether to visit. Having an attractive web presence is a must for these virtual visitors. Moreover, providing guests with the information they desire (times, location, parking, etc.) quickly and efficiently is imperative.

To this end, through the generosity of the RRCB Endowment Board, we have hired Faithlab, a church communications firm, to overhaul our web presence. They are experts in churches’ very particular needs in digital communication. They have become the “go to” folks to help moderate/progressive churches and interfaith organizations tell their story in unique and compelling ways. I’m glad we were able to secure their services.

To be sure, visiting a church online and physically visiting a church are two very different things. We cannot deny the power of a personal invitation in bringing visitors to River Road Church. Even still, our hope and prayer is that this new website will allow us to reach more of our neighbors with the good news of how we as River Road Church, Baptist seek to serve God, love one another, and change our world.