This month, Lightbulb First opened Welcoming Websites, a new division that provides website development services to religious organizations.

Shai and I have been interested in working with religious organizations since 2006, when he served as a volunteer on the web development committee of my home congregation, the First Parish in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist. We have also developed sites for religious organizations, including the Unitarian Universalist Service Commitee, the Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network, and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers' Association, through Lightbulb First Consulting.

As we have worked on these projects, I have become more and more convinced of the crucial role that internet technology can play in helping religious organizations thrive.

As I see it, religious organizations can use website development services to achieve at least three goals:

1. To introduce new people to the organization, and to get current members more involved.
2. To help their staff be more productive and effective.
3. To minister to people through the internet.

Let me explain these in more detail.

To introduce new people to the organization, and to get current members more involved: This is the baseline for what any high-quality website for a religious organization should accomplish. When new people visit a religious organization's website, they should feel welcomed. The look of the website should be organized and appealing. Information for visitors should be prominently displayed, so that visitors can find it easily. Visitors to the site should be encouraged to take the next step in becoming more involved, and be provided with the resources to do so.

When current members visit a religious organization's website, they too should feel welcomed. They may already know what information they are looking for, and the site should help them find this information quickly. Current members may also want to read news about recent events in the organization, so that they can feel more on top of what is happening in the community. And a calendar or events listing should remind current members about events of interest that are happening today, and in the near future.

To help staff be more productive and effective. With the content management systems available today, religious organizations can have websites that are easy to update, with no special programming skills required. And because websites with content management systems are easier to use, staff at religious organizations will use the website more often to share information with visitors, members, and other staff members.

To minister to people through the internet. Some religious organizations -- especially congregations -- have decided to not only offer information about the organization on their website, but to actually provide pastoral care and resources over the internet. Religious organizations can use blogs, feeds, audiocasting, videocasting and other technologies to minister through their websites. These technologies allow leaders at religious organizations and congregations to develop relationships with seekers on the internet.

Our intention for Welcoming Websites is to help religious organizations explore these possibilities in more depth, and come up with a website solution that is right for them.

P.S. For news about Welcoming Websites and tips on religious website development, please visit my blog at Welcoming Websites.