All posts tagged web

We Recycled Our Old Website

by Tim Schraeder on 09/09/2010 in Church Communications, Park with 15 Comments

Last fall, in partnership with MonkDev/Ekkelsia360, Park Community Church donated our old website design to a church plant that needed a solid web presence.

Our old site design was great but we had outgrown it. You can read more about the backstory here.


Instead of letting our old site go, we wanted to do something with it that could help build another church’s web presence and that’s where the idea for giving it away was born. After talking with Drew Goodmanson and his team at MonkDev we agreed to find a church plant that was in its final stages of being launched and bless them with the gift of a website. Park donated our old site design and MonkDev donated their time to help make the site customized to the church as well as donating a free year of service on CMS.

Over 30 different churches applied and in the end we selected 2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, to receive our website. They had been using WordPress very effectively, but definitely needed to get a solid web presence as they began to spread the word to their community about their church.

2 Pillars will be holding their first public service this weekend and with it have officially launched their new website!

Huge thanks to MonkDev/Ekklesia360 for making this possible! To 2 Pillars, we pray for God to continue to bless your ministry and hope this website helps you effectively communicate and spread the word about what God is doing in Lincoln.

In all of this, let me say this: sometimes it’s OK to recycle. Recycling is different than copying. Recycling maintains some original properties but recycled material can take on new forms. In this case, you can see echoes of Park’s old site, but it’s now something completely different that better suits the needs of 2 Pillars Church.

If you’ve seen something work somewhere else or are inspired by something you’ve seen… don’t copy, recycle. Reshape and reform what you see to fit the needs of your unique context.

Park Launches a New Media Player

by Tim Schraeder on 07/28/2010 in Church Communications, Park with 7 Comments

Park has launched a new media player with AspireOne Media! It’s about 95% there but I wanted to give you a sneak peek!

Having great content is half the battle, but presentation is everything. We love what ApsireOne has done in creating a fantastic customized platform for sharing our audio and video content.

The player integrates with multiple formats… vimeo, FLV, 316 Networks, Lightcast, etc and is updated seamlessly with an easy-to-use web based administration panel. Simple. Easy. Seamless. Always a good way to go.

We’re still uploading our content and getting it all organized but I wanted you to be the first to see!

Huge thanks to the team at AspireOne!

Why You & Your Church Need to Engage Social Media

by Tim Schraeder on 09/01/2009 in Church Communications, Principles with 5 Comments

This video has been making rounds on the interweb the past few days…

And if you ask me, I think in under 4 minutes it presents a rather compelling reason why you, as a church leader, and your church MUST engage with social media.

The revolution is coming.

It’s already here.

September is the New January

by Tim Schraeder on 09/01/2009 in Just For Fun, Personal with 1 Comment

Where did the summer go?

I Tweeted about a week ago that I think September is the new January, especially in the church world… how do you all feel about that?

I don’t know about your churches, but at Park, September is when we officially kick off the ministry year. Summer is a major down time for us in the city… people are on vacation or just outside enjoying the three reasons why most people live in Chicago: June, July, and August.

So, September, rather than January has become our natural “reset” for the ministry year.

For me, it’s shaping up to be a wild month for a few reasons…

1 – I’m moving.
I’m moving from Lincoln Park to Wicker Park. From the land of the preppy “Chads” and “Trixies” to Hipsterville, I’m moving across town and I’m really excited. Wicker Park is an awesome neighborhood that has a lot of diversity and it’s literally like moving to a whole new city. So much to explore and experience, and I’m confident there’s new opportunities to minister. Catch is: I don’t move in my new place until September 15 and I have to be out of my place today… so today commences 15 days of couch surfing at some different places. Should be exciting!

2 – Park’s new website + Social Networking site launch.

It’s true.  A year after a major website overhaul we are going to launch Park 2.0 in late September. We had a winning team working on the redesign… CHANGEffect on the design and Ekklesia360 on the implementation and CMS. We’re also excited to be one of the first churches to implement the Cobblestone Community Network, a resource I really is going to help the church be the church in MASSIVE ways! More on blog entries on why the change, the process and design coming soon! (And, bonus… we’ll be launching a mobile site, too!)

3 – My first speaking gig.

I posted about this last week but my first speaking gig on the topic of church communications is right around the corner. I’ll be presenting a workshop called Do-it-Yourself Church Communications at MinistryCOM. Super excited. REGISTER! BE THERE!!!

4 – Innovate

So excited for Innovate at Granger Community Church. It’s seriously one of the best experiences for your team. Hear from some of the best and see a church that’s doing some incredible things that are making a huge impact for Christ. The thing I love about Innovate is that you don’t just hear ideas, you see them in action and get a hear the heart behind it all.
And if all that weren’t enough don’t get me started on October… Catalyst, Cultivate, and Story.

(By the way… what’s with all the cool kid conferences being one word?)

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