Website redesign

After my initial rant about the state of this website, I've done something about it. I've changed it. I've put the weblog on the home page, and moved the happy talk links from the header onto the details page.

I've made it look cleaner, and although it could still be better, I'm much happier with it. When Robert and I have concurrent spare time, I'll show him how to blog, and he can entertain you with his words too.

Under ones

Our baby group had 29 babies (each with a parent) this week. This group started only four months ago, and is proving really popular.

Great churches remove barriers

I've just read an interesting post about dealing with the issues people have about going to church. Some good points made. It's important to "be church" outside of the meetings too; as William Temple noted, the church is the only organisation to exist for the benefit of its non-members.

Clearly we're a much smaller church, but I hope we get some of it right!

Youth band singing lesson

Last night, the youth band (we really need a better name than "youth band") had a guest singing teacher come and give us a few pointers. It was great fun. Daphne, by her own admission, is a bit mad. She generated a great atmosphere, and managed to be lively as well as instructional.

She's coming back to visit the adult band next week (we really need a better name ...), which I'm looking forward to.

Simon Pettit 1954 - 2005

Simon Pettit died this weekend, which is a big shock. He was our pastor for years, before moving out to South Africa. Many people who are still in our church have been close friends of Simon and his family. He's done some great things with his 50 years of life, and he ran his race well.

Tsunami lunch

On Sunday, we held a "meagre" lunch in aid of the Tsunami victims. The lunch comprised soup and bread, donated by Luxford restaurant and Tesco respectively, and was yummy, but meagre. Over 200 people came along, with around £2,300 raised.

Website changes

As a member of the King's Church, I'm not happy with our church website. And I wrote it.

True, I was given the words to put on, and they are correct. The problem is, is that the words don't sound like the church. Church is lively, fun, generous, always doing new things, welcoming, friendly, and looking for ways of helping out in Uckfield.

The website, as it stands, hasn't changed in a couple of years, and sounds all corporate. There's a lot of marketing blah blah blah, and nothing different to many other church websites. This sort of thing might be of interest to people going to similar churches elsewhere in the country, who are looking to move to Uckfield, and want to know our theological values. There are couple of people who've joined us recently; I'll have to ask them what they thought of it.

I doubt it is much interest to people in general. I want the site to be interesting to people in town. When we deliver our newsletter around town, our website address is on it. If someone has heard of us, from the carnival, the face-painting or whatever, and decides to look at the website, I'd like them to see what we're really like.

So. I'm going to change it. Although the site looks old-fashioned, prettying it up can wait. I'm adding a weblog* so that news, comments, events and stuff can be quickly added to the site. I'll set about the static words at some point. I want to put interviews or details about some of the people in the church on the site, as church is people, not the building they meet in.

Anyway, enough new year manifesto. Let's what happens.

* If you're not sure what a weblog is, you're reading one now.