Digital church - United Reformed Church

iChurch boosts online presence

Ann-Marie Nye — Mon, 16 May 2022 07:00:32 +0000

Since 2008, the United Reformed Church (91��) has been resourcing churches by helping them to establish their online presence.

This has been achieved through iChurch, which helps churches to build and maintain an attractive and fully featured website as part of their mission and outreach.

iChurch is an out-of-the-box, one-stop shop that’s fully supported and cost-effective. It’s ideal for churches; whether they’re starting out with no experience, have expertise, or are wanting to take their existing website to the next level.

The Revd Dr Sarah Hall, Group Minister for the South-West Hants Group of 91�� Churches and Minister of in Southampton, said: “iChurch has enabled us to include more people in the mission of our church.”

Churches are encouraged to build teams of members to contribute to the site. These members will be trained and supported by iChurch, reducing the burden of responsibility falling on just one person. This ensures sustainability, as well as a regular flow of up-to-date information and news.

Churches supported by iChurch include local ecumenical partnerships, area groups, Synods, and churches within other denominations. The resource enables churches to upload news content and photos, advertise room lettings and more recently upload their services for people to watch and listen to later.

Dr Hall continued: “iChurch has been very helpful for us to use our church website to host audio services for those who cannot attend worship in-person, as well as scans of material from our church archives, housed in an upstairs room, for others beyond the church to be able to view.”

Church websites do not only serve as an internal noticeboard for church members to keep up-to-date with, they are also used for community outreach.

In Halifax, Heath Church has had an increase in traffic and interest in their due to the presence of this information on their websites.

“It is so simple to make changes and add new content to an iChurch website,” said Reuben Watt, an iChurch team member. “This is achieved by using some open-source software called WordPress. This, alongside the 20 plus tutorial videos and the training sessions that iChurch regularly hold, has meant that it has never been easier to bring your church into the 21st century through a website.”

Lawrence Heath-Moore, creator of iChurch, who also serves as North Western Synod’s Central Area Mission Mentor, said: “Back in 2008, I was shocked at how invisible churches were on the web. I understood the reasons: websites were hugely costly in terms of software, expertise and maintenance, out of reach of the average local church.

The gamechanger was the very first website designed on WordPress, which I used as a blogger. The adage is, ‘If you can use Word, you can use WordPress!’ That was when the iChurch vision was born: a template with all the heavy lifting of design and function done that could be used out-of-the-box, or fully customised and developed as users became familiar with the software. I wanted it to include and keep pace with all the cutting-edge developments in website technology, as well as encourage churches to get stuck into developing their mission and outreach online.

So, the Windermere Centre ran the first ‘Website in a Weekend’ course in April 2008. iChurch has grown to reflect the huge changes in the world of websites, and churches. That original vision still lies at the heart of iChurch, and hopefully, at the heart of your own church’s vision for its discipleship and mission in the digital age!”

If you would like to learn more about iChurch, you can do so .

The team would love to have a chat with you to see how they can be of help. Get in touch .

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iChurch: church website support

Catherine Kelliher — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 13:24:04 +0000

iChurch: church website support

iChurch is a service from the 91�� that will help you build and manage your church or community group website.

Being online gives the message that you have something you think is worth sharing and that you want to make contact with people. Having an attractive, state-of-the-art website will convince people that it’s worth coming to look at.

But that same website doesn’t mean you have to spend hours and hours updating it. Some websites need as little as a few minutes each month.

How we can help you get online

Tell us what you need and we’ll work with you to try to make it happen. It doesn’t have to be a website for a church – we work with individuals and groups too.

A website is an opportunity to engage in conversation with your own communities, both online and offline. When you join the iChurch network, you also join a community of site managers who share tips, ideas and inspiration together. You’re never alone.

Find out more about iChurch

To find out more about how iChurch can help you get online visit the or email iChurch@urc.org.uk.

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Social Media Guidelines and Digital Charter

Catherine Kelliher — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 13:11:52 +0000

United Reformed Church Social Media Guidelines and Digital Charter

Welcome to the United Reformed Church’s Social Media Guidelines and Digital Charter. These resources are freely available to all who produce and manage websites and social media channels for the life and work of the 91��.

Social media guidelines and digital charter

Our guidelines for social media have been written to provide encouragement and guidance for the appropriate use of social media.

Its aim is to encourage online conversations that reflect the values of the United Reformed Church (91��).

When used well, social media is an effective tool in communicating the Gospel, our work as Christians, and the life of the 91��. Its interactive, immediate and offers the opportunity for forming and deepening relationships locally and globally.

The 91�� has national social media accounts on ,��,��Ի��.

These guidelines are written specifically for all users who engage with the 91��’s national social media channels, those run by its 13 Synods (Northern, North Western, Mersey, Yorkshire, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, South Western, Wessex, Thames North, Southern, the National Synods of Wales and Scotland), those managed by our local congregations, those that use the 91�� name, logo and brand, and those that purport to portray, represent or advance the purposes of the 91��.

By engaging with 91�� national social media accounts, you agree to:

Be safe. The safety of children, young people and adults at risk must be maintained. The 91�� has an online safety policy. If you have any concerns, ask your local church safeguarding coordinator, or your Synod safeguarding officer

Be respectful. Never make any comments, create or share posts, that could be considered discriminatory in any way, defamatory or amount to harassment

Be kind. As said in Mark 12:31, treat people how you would wish to be treated. If making a criticism or critique, consider your words, tone, and how you would speak in person. If receiving criticism or critique, make a judgement call between an expressed view and an abusive comment

Be honest. Be credible, fair and honest

Take responsibility. You are accountable for the things you say, do and write. If you’re not sure, don’t post it

Be a good ambassador. Personal and professional life can easily become blurred online. You are a representative of the 91��, and for Christ. Think before you post. If managing an account that includes the 91�� name or logo, eg a church, think about appointing at least two people to monitor and manage your social media account

Credit others. Acknowledge the work of others by giving credit where it is due. Many things, like pictures, are subject to copyright and permission to use needs to be sought. The (CCLI) website is an excellent source of information on copyright law. Take care in what you publish and question the source of any content you are considering posting

Follow the rules. Social media platforms have their own terms and conditions. Abide by them and report anything you believe breaks the polices of the respective company by using the method it has outlined.

How will we respond to people who breach our social media community guidelines?

In relation to the national social media accounts, the 91�� communications team, may take action towards any post deemed unsuitable, offensive or inflammatory. This may include deleting comments, blocking users, or reporting comments as inappropriate.

Who do I speak to for further advice?

If you have a safeguarding concern, please follow these policies and procedures, or contact our Safeguarding team.

Digital Charter

The conversations we have on our social media accounts can positively help change someone’s newsfeed.

This is a voluntary pledge that we’re encouraging people and churches to sign to help make the United Reformed Church’s national social media channels, and the web in general, a safer and positive place for conversations to happen.

We all have different views and areas of interests that affect what we find interesting and engage with online. This will be true whether you’re a member of clergy, a paid member of staff, a volunteer or a churchgoer. Comments made and posts shared online have the potential to go viral both in this country and around the world very quickly.

We want people to enjoy online conversations and be safe respectful and respected.

There are a number of ways the digital world can be fruitful and enhance our lives and that of others:

Safeguarding – social media and the internet needs to be as safe a place as possible for everyone. If you have any concerns about the wellbeing of children, young people or adults at risk, contact your local church safeguarding coordinator, or you Synod safeguarding officer and ensure you follow 91�� guidance related to online communication and social media use
Honesty and truth – check what you post is fair and factual
Considerate – the world and its diversity can be both interesting and challenging. We are not going to agree with everyone, nor will everyone agree us. But let’s be constructive in how we engage online
Welcome – let’s be welcoming in the language we use and not use words that exclude others or use those that people outside the Church might not relate to
Inspiration – use social media in way that engages and attracts others to our faith. After all, we represent Christ
Celebrate – Let’s celebrate all that we do
Community – as one Church, we have many brothers and sisters. Let’s treat those around us as such
Role model – be a good witness to how the love of Christ has enriched our lives and how this is reflected in how we treat others
Agree to the United Reformed Church’s Social Media Guidelines

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Tips for online worship

Catherine Kelliher — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 09:34:56 +0000

Tips for improving your online worship

Coronavirus and lockdown has made lots of our churches take the plunge and start worshipping together online. This guide offers tips and ideas to help you engage with people and make your online worship more intergenerational.

The church is already looking very different. Let’s make sure we can look back on this time in years to come, as a time when we made real progress in all ages worshipping together.

Make it interactive

Encourage and enable those joining online worship to get involved before,��during and after the service. You might need to give them ideas or directions for how to do this.

Before

ask people to send in prayer requests and thanks to use during the service
suggest something they can prepare beforehand to use during the service (eg: palm branches for Palm Sunday)

During

Opportunities for people to interact during the service will depend on the system you are using.

Videoconferencing systems such as ‘Zoom’, allow everyone in the service to see each other. You can also put them into smaller groups for a while to pray or discuss a question together (please DO NOT just send all the children off into a group together). Zoom also allows you to run quizzes using Kahoot (another app) and have a screen that everyone can write on.
If you are using a livestream such as ‘Facebook Live’ or ‘Youtube’, your congregation can’t see each other but you can still give them something to do together (if household groups are joining in), and you can invite them to interact with you by texting or messaging you. Invite as many different age groups to get involved in leading specific aspects of the service eg: leading prayers; telling the Bible story; leading a song. This can be recorded beforehand or be provided live. Don’t resort to previous assumptions – ask an older person to do the interactive storytelling and ask a child to preach.

After

Give people a ‘take home’ – something to do after the service. This might be something for the household to do together or a way to link them up with others in the congregation (eg: younger members phoning or messaging older members to talk about what they enjoyed in the service or how God spoke to them). Or you could invite them to leave their responses to a question on the church website or facebook page.

Be creative

Not being in the church building can be an opportunity rather than a problem. If you are live-streaming or video-conferencing, try doing it in different places – you could do it outside, or even go on a journey around different rooms or use different backgrounds through the service. What else might you have the freedom to do now that you don’t in church?

Reaching different groups

Under 5s

Singing, actions in songs, storytelling help this age group to join in. Try ��Ի��.

Teenagers

It might be helpful to offer teenagers some space to engage apart from their family. This could be a challenge to do during the week eg: or a video or photo collage to prepare for the following week’s worship; you could also offer them to stay online after the service has ended to share what they were thinking.

Parents

Please remember pastoral care and support for parents and carers. Many are feeling overwhelmed with the pressure to hold the family together, home-school and now engage with countless online programmes. Be supportive and caring and try not to add to their burdens – especially if they don’t make it to your specially prepared worship.

Inclusivity

People who are not online. You can deliver copies of the service (on CD or DVD, with activity packs too) to people’s homes. Church members can pre-record parts to be used in worship.

Tips if you are joining in worship online

Try to be ready at the normal time you would be for church and come together as a family to worship, rather than in separate rooms on separate devices/screens.

make a ‘sacred space’ in your home where you can worship (online or as a family). You could include objects or images to help you all to focus eg: a candle or things made during previous services.
get the pots and pans ready to join in with a ‘joyful noise’ during the music or singing. Resources and Support

Useful resources

Here are just a few of the free resources you can use during your worship together or as follow up opportunities during the week:

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