On-Line Presence for the Glen Waverley Uniting Church

Introduction

The Glen Waverley Uniting Church currently has web-site (https://gwuc.org.au) and Facebook presence (https://www.facebook.com/glenwaverleyunitingchurch) on the internet to inform the community within and beyond the congregation of activities and to encourage new-comers. It currently contains a lot of static content concerning who we are, where we are, and our activities. It also includes regularly updated information in the form of video podcasts of worship, links to access livestream worship, and information bulletins and newsletters. (The Church also has a wiki that is used for record-keeping and to a much lesser extent for discussion within the congregation. However, the wiki and the functions it supports are outside the scope of this document.)

The existing web-site is built using WordPress, the Divi Theme and a number of plug ins. However, it is difficult to maintain because the original designer is no longer available and integration between content on the web-site and material posted on Facebook is manual and ad-hoc. This document seeks proposals to create a new on-line presence for the Church.

Purpose

Web-site

The Glen Waverley Uniting Church website lets the wider community know about our church. The predominant purpose is outreach.

It is like an electronic brochure with content that is of interest to people beyond the congregation.
Contains a link to the congregational wiki.

Social Media

The Glen Waverley Uniting Church aims to use social media form to engage with our community through healthy faith-based discussion, event promotion and church updates. To date, the main social media channel has been Facebook, but recommendations on other options are welcome.

People both within our congregation and beyond are expected to follow the Glen Waverley Uniting Church on Facebook.
Facebook can be used by people who might otherwise be isolated; for example, stay at home mothers with young children.
Facebook can be used to support existing groups within the Congregation, especially those with members who already use Facebook.
Facebook can be used as a faith development tool, for example Facebook groups may be established in association study groups held from time to time (e.g. Advent studies, Lenten studies). It is also possible that some of the missional groups may wish to have a Facebook group.
Facebook offers an additional channel for advertising events such as the Easter and Advent programmes as well as fundraising events like the book sale and fete. While Facebook can be used for interactive conversations, implementation to date has been as a channel to publish factual information about events in the life of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church. Posts containing graphics are encouraged. There should be a post at least once a week.
Facebook is not used for discussions or expressing opinions. This is a possible future option, although we are concerned about the operational challenges of moderation to prevent abuse.

Required Features of Website

The web site should contain all the key features of the existing web site:

Contact information
Information about worship including live streamed activities
Information about activities
Video Podcasts of worship
Bulletins and Newsletters
Links to our Facebook site as well as internal systems including the church database and wiki.
Information about hiring out facilities
A way to contact us.

It could also contain information about how we see our mission (e.g. https://gwuc.org.au/vision/ ).

New features will now doubt be possible. These should include an easy way to make donations using a credit card. Credit card payments must meet the security and privacy requirements of the major credit card companies e.g. compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Design

The design should be contemporary and interesting and entice visitors to explore the web-site.

A style-guide should accompany the design to facilitate consistent revisions and extensions over time.

The design should facilitate rendering on traditional personal computers, tablets, and mobile phones. The web site should operate correctly with versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari Browsers five-years old or less. Greater compatibility should be provided if possible

The design should be documented so that subsequent implementation can be understood and maintained by IT-competent members of the congregation.

More to be added.

Social Media Integration