St Andrew’s Church in Abu Dhabi in the UAE has had a website for several years and this year (2012) they decided that

• they wanted to redesign the website from top to bottom
• they wanted to move the hosting account and domains from a personal account held by a volunteer into a ‘church owned’ account
• they needed to move their email accounts from something controlled by a volunteer into something controlled by the church, and
• they wanted church staff to be trained how to edit, update and administer the website.

These are very common issues faced by a lot of churches all over the world.  And (and I am ready to be attacked LOL) overcoming some of these can generate some strong emotions and cause surprising amounts of conflict that can take up a lot of time for pastors and lay members of the church.

The site has been built using the Xi theme from the Themeloom and utilises some great pictures taken in 2011 by a visitor to St Andrew’s, Andrea Cho.

Now the site has been launched, like many churches St Andrew’s is still working out how to use the website.  They have made a switch from using email based lists for congregation emails to an e-newsletter (we are using MailChimp) but – they still have to remember to post information to the website, and to remind their congregation that the website is there, and that information is now available on the website.

These are teething problems, and I will be working with the ministry team leaders and administrators in the months ahead to (hopefully) help them see an additional (or alternative) way to communicate with the congregation with and through the website.

So, if you are ever in Abu Dhabi, come and visit St Andrew’s.