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	<title>Five More Talents</title>
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		<title>Review: Ministry in the Digital Age</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/04/review-ministry-in-the-digital-age/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/04/review-ministry-in-the-digital-age/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:24:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Ministry in the Digital Age: Strategies and Best Practices for a Post-Website World by David T. Bourgeois. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2013. Paperback, 144 pages, list price $15.00. As a &#8220;Millennial&#8221; who builds church websites and studies Reformed theology, &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/04/review-ministry-in-the-digital-age/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://ministryinthedigitalage.com/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-840 alignright" alt="Ministry-in-Digital-Age-cover" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Ministry-in-Digital-Age-cover-200x300.jpg" width="200" height="300" /></a><a href="http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=5661" target="_blank"><em>Ministry in the Digital Age: Strategies and Best Practices for a Post-Website World</em></a> by David T. Bourgeois. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2013. Paperback, 144 pages, list price $15.00.</p>
<p>As a &#8220;Millennial&#8221; who builds church websites and studies Reformed theology, I&#8217;ve often felt a tension between my theology and my occupation. Let me try to explain.</p>
<p>Reformed theology teaches me to base my life on the Bible, God&#8217;s Word. And the more I read the Bible, the more I find it pushes me to pursue relationships &#8212; personal, face-to-face relationships. Unlike every other book I&#8217;ve ever read, as the Bible <em>draws me into</em> its God-breathed story, it <em>pushes me back out</em> into God&#8217;s world, where I am called to the glorious duties and delights of loving my wife, shepherding our children, and worshiping the Triune God &#8212; whom to know is eternal life (John 17:3).</p>
<p>In other words, the more I study Reformed theology, the more I sense the need to limit the time I spend <em>reading </em><em></em><em>theology books</em> so that I can enjoy the adventure of <em>loving my neighbor unto God&#8217;s glory</em> in the here and now. The deeper I get into God&#8217;s Word, the more I love being in God&#8217;s world with God&#8217;s people. The more I get to know my Creator, the more I love the sheer physicality and concreteness and contingency of being a creature in God&#8217;s creation.</p>
<p>To summarize: Reformed theology assumes <a href="http://www.opc.org/os.html?article_id=340" target="_blank">the importance of <em>personal, face-to-face presence</em> in ministry and life</a> (thank you, Greg Reynolds) and <a href="http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&amp;var1=ArtRead&amp;var2=1428&amp;var3=authorbio&amp;var4=AutRes&amp;var5=314" target="_blank">cautions us against the quest for <em>the Next Big Thing</em></a> (thank you, Carl Trueman).</p>
<h2>Personal presence, the quest for the Next Big Thing, and the gnostic bias of the World Wide Web</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, the economic realities of the website development business tug me in almost a completely opposite direction. Web developers make money by doing the things Trueman and Reynolds warn us about.</p>
<p>First, web developers seek the Next Big Thing. To compete in the web development marketplace, finding the Next Big Thing isn&#8217;t always just a pleasurable diversion: It is an economic necessity. Competitive advantage as a web developer is driven by whether or not I can adapt to new technology and changing consumer habits. This proves Carl Trueman&#8217;s point about the allure of the quest for the Next Big Thing.</p>
<div id="attachment_859" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Spiderweb.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-859" alt="Photo of bedewed spiderweb" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Spiderweb-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Spiderweb photo by Josef F. Stuefer</p></div>
<p>Second, web developers help people and organizations transcend the need for personal presence. The impulse which led <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/" target="_blank">Tim Berners-Lee</a> to invent the World Wide Web was a desire to minimize the need for personal, face-to-face presence among academic researchers. I don&#8217;t think it is an overstatement to propose that the Web taps into a gnostic impulse to shun the material world and embrace the immaterial. Thus the Web pulls us toward fragmentation and dislocation even as it promises to draw us together.</p>
<p>Insofar as the Web has a gnostic tendency, our relationship to the Web is like the relationship of insects to a spiderweb: The primary purpose of a spiderweb is to catch and ensnare the insect, so that the spider can consume it. And the Web can consume us, too, if it becomes an idol of our hearts. (By the way, did I mention that <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/UU.html" target="_blank">Tim Berners-Lee is a Unitarian Universalist and has publicly commented on the similarities between UUism and the Web</a>?)</p>
<p>All this means that Greg Reynolds has a good point as well about the inherent liabilities of Web-based communication: These liabilities are baked into the system. &#8220;Disembodied life online [<a href="http://www.opc.org/os.html?article_id=340" target="_blank">Reynolds wrote in <em>Ordained Servant</em></a>] can promote the tendency to avoid the messy business of life in a fallen world—of sinners, saved by grace, but with many remaining imperfections, learning to live together in truth, forgiveness, and love. This is why we have been careful as a denomination [the <a href="http://www.opc.org/" target="_blank">OPC</a>] to not unwittingly draw people away from local face to face existence by centralizing church interaction, especially through the use of social media.&#8221;</p>
<p>To summarize, orthodox Christianity prioritizes the &#8220;personal&#8221; and the &#8220;old&#8221;; the spirit of the Web values the &#8220;new&#8221; and the &#8220;impersonal.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Sorting out the difficulties and on to the book review</h2>
<p>All of the above is background to the main topic: a new book called <a href="http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=5661" target="_blank"><em>Ministry in the Digital Age</em> by David T. Bourgeois</a>.<em> </em>Bourgeois is Associate Professor of Information Systems at <a href="http://faculty.biola.edu/david_bourgeois/" target="_blank">Biola University</a>. I first learned about <em>Ministry in the Digital Age</em> from an ad in <a href="http://byfaithonline.com/" target="_blank">byFaith Magazine</a> about forthcoming books from <a href="http://www.ivpress.com/praxis/" target="_blank">IVP Praxis</a>. Instantly, I knew I had to learn more: &#8220;Can this book help me sort out the philosophical tensions and practical difficulties of using the Web in ministry?&#8221;</p>
<h2>Ministry in the Digital Age, Part 1: Theory</h2>
<p><em></em>The contents of <em>Ministry in the Digital Age</em> can be grouped into two parts:</p>
<ul>
<li>Theory (Chapters 1 &#8211; 3)</li>
<li>Practice (Chapter 4 &#8211; 7)</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">In Chapter 1 (&#8220;What Hath God Wrought?&#8221;), Bourgeois provides a brief history of communication technologies from Roman roads of the 1st century AD to Gutenberg’s movable-type printing press of 1440 to the “digital era” which began in the 1960s with the invention of ARPAnet and email. He shows that the tension between the importance of face-to-face communication and the power of media is an old one. This chapter raised a question: &#8220;How do we balance the power of media to transcend time and space with the Biblical doctrine of the sacred concreteness of face-to-face, personal presence?&#8221; The church has faced this issue throughout her history. Bourgeois doesn&#8217;t provide a definitive answer to this question, but he at least helps us to see that we the church of the 21st century are not alone. Church history provides abundant resources for reflection on the use and abuse of technology in ministry.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Next, in Chapter 2 (&#8220;Getting in the Stream&#8221;), Bourgeois focuses on the continuing development of digital media. The rise of sites such as <a href="http://facebook.com/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and <a href="http://youtube.com/" target="_blank">YouTube</a> show that the emphasis of the web has shifted from information to relationships. Bourgeois exhorts his readers &#8220;to go where the people are&#8221; (pg. 25). He introduces the concept of &#8220;information streams.&#8221; Information streams are &#8220;the flow of digital content that our potential audience puts in front of themselves every day&#8221; (pg. 26). Effective communication in the digital age means going where the people are by identifying and entering the information streams they use. This is common sense, but it was a lightbulb moment for me. You cannot communicate with your audience online unless you know their online habits. By doing research to understand how people in your church like to get information, you can improve communication. Still, going back to Greg Reynolds&#8217; insights about the priority of face-to-face personal presence, we must be careful to recognize the limitations of online relationships.</p>
<p>The disruptive innovations of the moment are mobile devices and social media. But if the history of communication technology teaches us anything, it teaches us that communication technology continues to change. In Chapter 3 (&#8220;Creating Change&#8221;), Bourgeois  summarizes and extends the &#8220;theology of change&#8221; set forth by father-son team Aubrey and Michael Malphurs in <em><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Church_Next_Using_the_Internet_to_Maximi.html?id=oq50QRWcefkC" target="_blank">Church Next: Using the Internet to Maximize Your Ministry.</a> </em>Malphurs&#8217; theology of change consists of three components: function, form, and freedom.</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"><em>Functions</em> are </span></span>“timeless, unchanging, nonnegotiable precepts based in scripture” (pg. 41).</li>
<li><em></em><em>Forms</em> are “temporal, changing, negotiable practices, based on an organization’s culture and methods, that we are free to choose in order to accomplish our functions” (pg. 43).</li>
<li><em>Freedom</em> is the freedom (and responsibility) to choose the forms which are best suited to perform the functions of Scripture.</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_861" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 194px"><a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/London_Westminster_Abbey_2011.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-861" alt="Photo of Westminster Abbey" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/London_Westminster_Abbey_2011-184x300.jpg" width="184" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Westminster Abbey 2011 by Marcin Bialek</p></div>
<p>This distinction between form and function was another eye-opener to me. It is a useful distinction. It also reminds me of the way the <em>Westminster Confession of Faith </em>explains the relationship between Scriptural precepts and Christian prudence:</p>
<blockquote><p>The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man&#8217;s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture&#8230; Nevertheless,&#8230; <em>there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence</em>, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed (<em>WCF </em>1.6, emphasis mine).</p></blockquote>
<p>Nevertheless, Malphurs&#8217; theology of change is undoubtedly something to which most Reformed churchmen would want to provide additional qualifications and boundaries. For example, the worship of God is the primary <em>function</em> of the local church. But this does not mean we are free to use whatever <em>forms</em> we like to perform this function. The <em>Westminster Confession of Faith</em> describes a regulative principle of worship which provides additional boundaries around the freedom we have to choose forms to accomplish the function of worship:</p>
<blockquote><p>The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or <em>any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture</em> (<em>WCF </em>21.1, emphasis mine).<i><br />
</i></p></blockquote>
<p>But Bourgeois&#8217; avoidance or ignorance of Reformed confessional standards is just a quibble. I don&#8217;t at all get the impression that Bourgeois wants to dilute the authority of Scripture in liturgy or church polity. He is not a radical revisionist emerging church partisan. He limits his comments to the use of technology in communication, and his comments demonstrate an admirable attitude of caution and self-restraint:</p>
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Just because we can do something does not mean we should do something&#8221; (pg. 46).</li>
<li>&#8220;The forms we choose must help us accomplish our biblical functions&#8221; (pg. 46).</li>
<li>We should avoid adopting a technology if it is poor stewardship of time, money, and people (pg. 47).</li>
<li>To the extent that &#8220;the medium is the message,&#8221; we should consider the effect the technology we select will have on the perception of our organization (pgs. 47-50).</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ministry in the Digital Age, Part 2: Practice</h2>
<p>Chapters 4-7 of <em>Ministry in the Digital Age </em>provide practical application. In these chapters, Bourgeois guides church leaders through the process of developing a communications strategy. His advice is based on primary research he has been conducting since 2008, and buttressed throughout by statistics.</p>
<p>In Chapter 4, Bourgeois introduces the &#8220;Digital Ministry Framework.&#8221; The digital ministry framework is a conceptual model consisting of three parts:</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;">People</span></li>
<li>Processes</li>
<li>Technology</li>
</ol>
<p>&#8220;Technology is not the hard part&#8221; of developing a digital communications strategy, Bourgeois writes (pg. 51). &#8220;For most ministries, spending less time on technology and more on people and process will bring a better chance of success&#8221; (pg. 53). Making decisions about what technologies to use is important, but not nearly as important as considering the people and processes involved.</p>
<p>Chapters 5 and 6 provide a 13-step process for planning, implementing, and running your digital ministry:</p>
<ol>
<li>Define the purpose and objectives for the use of the digital tools by your ministry.</li>
<li>Describe the target group(s) for your digital presence.</li>
<li>Research your target group(s)’ use of digital technologies.</li>
<li>Determine the resources available.</li>
<li>Analyze possible digital technologies for use.</li>
<li>Select the tools you will use.</li>
<li>Plan for the implementation and operation of your digital ministry.</li>
<li>Forecast results.</li>
<li>Assign roles and responsibilities.</li>
<li>Write it up!</li>
<li>Carry out the plan.</li>
<li>Evaluate results.</li>
<li>Do it again!</li>
</ol>
<p>This section of the book alone is worth the price of the book. It takes the mystery out of developing a digital communication strategy, providing a practical roadmap.</p>
<p>Finally, in Chapter 7, Bourgeois provides &#8220;some basic guidelines for developing a digital ministry that respects the privacy of its constituents and protects its information&#8221; (pg. 114). Due to the subject matter, this is a rather dull chapter, but it is an important one. I have dealt firsthand with two of the common privacy concerns he mentions: Photographs and news about missionaries.</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"><em>On photographs:</em> &#8220;</span></span>Provide a method for those who do not want their images posted online to let you know. You should also provide a way for people to easily notify you if you posted something that they want taken down&#8221; (pg. 106).</li>
<li><em>On news about missionaries:</em> &#8220;I would suggest getting specific permission from each missionary before posting their information digitally. Missionaries frequently have specific policies about what information can be made public and what information cannot&#8221; (pg. 106).</li>
</ul>
<h2>Conclusions and Next Steps</h2>
<div id="attachment_864" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skitopokis072.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-864 " alt="Photo of Roman road in Israel, by Ori" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Skitopokis072-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Photo of Roman road in Israel, by Ori</p></div>
<p dir="ltr">Look at church history. Look at the God-breathed Scriptures themselves. There has <em>always</em> been a need for the people of God to strike a balance between the sacredness of physical presence and the transcending power of communications media — be they Roman roads, printing presses, or social media. Communications media can never fully capture or fulfill the mission of Christ’s church. But neither can Christ’s church fulfill her mission <em>without</em> availing herself of the media technologies of the day. A substantial part of the apostle Paul’s ministry was carried out through the written word. Likewise, the printing press was helpful in spreading the ideas of the Protestant Reformation.</p>
<p><em>Ministry in the Digital Age</em> fills an important gap by providing church leaders with level-headed counsel and a practical road-map for developing a communication strategy for their church. As noted above, I have reservations about some aspects of the &#8220;theology of change&#8221; &#8212; more what it doesn&#8217;t say than what it does say. Nor did this book resolve the philosophical angst I mentioned at the beginning of this review. But overall, I highly recommend this book to church leaders. Every church which is serious about using the Web as part of its outreach should get this book and read it. Go listen to <a href="http://reformedcast.com/2013/02/18/episode-122-ministry-in-the-digital-age-22513/">the interview with David Bourgeois at ReformedCast</a> if you haven&#8217;t done so already.<i><br />
</i></p>
<p>What are the next steps? I have already begun to revise our church website design process here at <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/" target="_blank">Five More Talents</a> based on the Digital Ministry Framework set forth in <em>Ministry in the Digital Age</em>. This framework (people, processes, technology) provides a helpful model for understanding your church website, email newsletter, or Facebook page in the context of your local church as an organization. It is helping me to serve local churches as they think through the purpose and function of their church websites.</p>
<p>My goal is to see more and more churches using communication technology <em>efficiently,</em> <em>effectively</em> &#8212; and with notable self-restraint &#8211; rather than simply &#8220;freaking out&#8221; at the breakneck pace of technological and societal change and grabbing for the nearest shiny object. In <i>Ministry in the Digital Age, </i>David Bourgeois provides the context and &#8220;big picture&#8221; churches need to be good stewards of emerging communications media.</p>
<p><em>Update: You can also visit David Bourgeois&#8217; <a href="http://ministryinthedigitalage.com/the-book/" target="_blank">Ministry in the Digital Age</a> website to learn more about the book, including three free preview chapters. And if you are really an over-achiever, you can check out the <a href="http://events.biola.edu/bioladigital/" target="_blank">biola.digital conference</a> website for extra credit.</em></p>
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		<title>Praise the Lord and Change Your Password</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/praise-the-lord-and-change-your-password/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/praise-the-lord-and-change-your-password/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>5mtadmin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a huge cyber-war happening on the Internet.  You may not see it, but the battles are very real. Last September, Bank of America was hit by a massive cyber attack, which Fox News described as originating from a radical &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/praise-the-lord-and-change-your-password/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There&#8217;s a huge cyber-war happening on the Internet.  You may not see it, but the battles are very real.</p>
<p>Last September, Bank of America was hit by a massive cyber attack, which <a title="Bank of America Hit By Cyber Attack" href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/09/18/bank-america-website-experiencing-sporadic-outages/" target="_blank">Fox News described as originating from a radical  Islamic group</a>.</p>
<h2>Largest Battle in Internet History?</h2>
<p>Last week, <a title="Fighting Jams the Internet - N.Y Times story" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/technology/internet/online-dispute-becomes-internet-snarling-attack.html" target="_blank">one of the largest attacks in Internet history</a> erupted into all out war &#8211; &#8220;causing widespread congestion and jamming crucial infrastructure around the world&#8221;.</p>
<p>Several church websites, hosted by <a title="Five More Talents" href="http://fivemoretalents.com/" target="_blank">Five More Talents</a> were caught in the cross-fire last Thursday &#8211; after <a title="BIGGEST DDoS in history FAILS to slash interweb arteries" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/28/spamhaus_mega_ddos_little_collateral_damage/" target="_blank">a huge DDoS battle  erupted on March 18</a>.</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">Patrick Gilmore, chief architect at <a title="Akamai Networks" href="http://www.akamai.com/" target="_blank">Akamai Networks</a>, said the attacks, which are generated by swarms of computers called bot-nets,  concentrate data streams that are larger than the Internet connections of entire countries. He likened the technique, to using a machine gun to spray an entire crowd when the intent is to kill one person.</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">&#8220;It was the largest publicly announced DDoS attack in the history of the Internet,” according to Gilmore.</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">“These things are like nuclear bombs,” said Matthew Prince, chief executive of <a title="Cloudflare" href="http://www.cloudflare.com/" target="_blank">CloudFlare</a>.</p>
<p>The so-called distributed <a title="Denial of Service Attacks - describe in Wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack" target="_blank">denial of service</a>, or DDoS, attacks have reached previously unknown magnitudes, growing to a data stream of 300 billion bits per second,  according to the New York Times.</p>
<h2><strong>It Gets</strong> Worse</h2>
<p>A cyber attack yesterday (March 29) &#8211; disrupted service for American Express customers for several hours. According to blogger J. G. Sandom, the <a title="404 — Cyberattacks Seem Meant to Destroy, Not Just Disrupt" href="http://welsh.typepad.com/jgsandom/2013/03/404-cyberattacks-seem-meant-to-destroy-not-just-disrupt.html" target="_blank">attacks have changed from espionage to destruction</a>.   &#8220;We are engaged in a cyber war with Iran &#8211; and their programmers are getting better and better every day.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;With their campaign against American financial institutions, the Iranian hackers  have taken these attacks to the next level.  Instead of using individual personal computers to fire Web traffic at each bank, they infected powerful, commercial data centers with sophisticated malware and directed them to simultaneously fire at each bank, giving them the horsepower to inflict a huge attack.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<h2>David&#8217;s Slingshot</h2>
<p>With all these Philistine cyber threats sounding more scary than <a title="This Present Darkness" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=eFBOvBvKqE4C&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank">a Frank Peretti novel</a>, what&#8217;s a little church to do? With hackers from China, North Korea, and Iran taking down mega-corporations, how is your little church website going to withstand the onslaught if attacked (or caught in the cross-fire)?  When sophisticated hackers utilizing the best resources of rogue nations have moved from controlling PC bot-nets to commandeering whole data centers, how will anyone survive?</p>
<p>This is the part of the movie where the scary music starts &#8230; very softly at first &#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-873 aligncenter" alt="Darkness" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/darkness-600px.jpg" width="600" height="465" /></p>
<p>When a pastor from one of the churches we support emailed to say he could not access his website last week &#8211; we knew something was up.  <strong>Down</strong> might be a better way of saying it.  Then one of our technicians called to report a similar incident.  It turns out that three of the church websites we support were not accessible via the AT&amp;T network. People could access these websites via Comcast, Cox, and other <a title="Internet Service Providers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider" target="_blank">internet service providers</a> (ISPs) &#8211; but people using AT&amp;T complained that the &#8220;website was down&#8221; for several days.  We could access the website (and we tested it &#8211; using diagnostic tools &#8211;  from 50 cities around the globe). But a few people (including the pastor) said the website was still &#8230; wait for it &#8230; inaccessible.  What was going on?</p>
<p>This was all happening during the largest DDoS attacks in the history of the internet.</p>
<p>Some tenacious technicians at the AT&amp;T Network Operations Center (NOC) were working night and day &#8211; fighting unseen but powerful spirits &#8211; changing <a title="Routing Table" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_table" target="_blank">routes</a>, chasing <a title="Demons vs. Daemons" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(computing)" target="_blank">daemons</a>, running from <a title="Zombies" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_(computer_science)" target="_blank">zombies</a>, battling <a title="Botnet" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botnet" target="_blank">botnets</a>,  slamming doors, and ultimately stopping intruders with <a title="Mysterious Black Hole." href=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_(networking)" target="_blank">a black hole</a>.</p>
<p>When David faced Goliath, he chose <a title="Story of David and Goliath - ESV " href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+17&amp;version=ESV" target="_blank">five smooth stones</a> (sound familiar?) and put them in his shepherd&#8217;s pouch.  Scripture records <a title="And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead." href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+17:49&amp;version=ESV" target="_blank">he only used one</a>.  Yet he <strong>prepared</strong> for battle knowing &#8220;the battle is the Lord&#8217;s&#8221;.</p>
<p><strong>Five More Talents</strong> uses  <strong>five</strong> (no kidding) different data centers and a variety of web servers.  Does that surprise you? Since many church websites are &#8220;low traffic&#8221; &#8211; some people people have suggested that it would simplify our operation (and save money) if we combined all the websites on to one big shared server. But what if that big server went down? What if the whole data center was infected, black-holed, or destroyed?</p>
<ul>
<li>That&#8217;s why our web servers are scattered across five different data centers.</li>
<li>That&#8217;s why we keep your website <strong>security patches and plugins</strong> updated to the latest version.</li>
<li>That&#8217;s why we scan and monitor your website with <a title="Sucuri" href="http://sucuri.net/" target="_blank">Sucuri</a>  &#8211; looking for malware and vulnerabilities.</li>
<li>That&#8217;s why we keep <strong>full offsite backups</strong>  (secure copies) &#8211; in a totally different data center.</li>
<li>That&#8217;s also why we <strong>don&#8217;t offer</strong> the cheapest web hosting plan on the planet.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Praise the Lord and Change Your Password</h2>
<p>You know what you need to do.  Make sure it&#8217;s <a title="Password Strength" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength" target="_blank">a strong one</a>.  This <a title="Strong Password Generator" href="http://strongpasswordgenerator.com/" target="_blank">might help</a>.</p>
<h2>Related Notes</h2>
<p>&#8230;  and <a title="Sheet music for Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" href="http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0086661&amp;ref=google" target="_blank">sheet music</a> &#8211; in case you want to sing along:</p>
<p><a title="Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise_the_Lord_and_Pass_the_Ammunition" target="_blank">Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition</a> is a song written by <a title="Frank Loesser" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Loesser">Frank Loesser</a> in response to the <a title="Attack on Pearl Harbor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor">attack on Pearl Harbor</a> that marked United States involvement in <a title="World War II" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II">World War II</a>.  The song describes a chaplain and soldiers who are under attack from an enemy.  The chaplain (&#8220;sky pilot&#8221;) is asked to say a prayer for the men who were engaged in firing at the oncoming planes.  In the song, the chaplain puts down his Bible,  grabs one of the ship&#8217;s gun turrets and begins firing back, saying, &#8220;Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition&#8221;.</p>
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		<title>Boardwalk Chapel (OPC)</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/boardwalk-chapel-opc/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/boardwalk-chapel-opc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:34:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Portfolio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=786</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, NJ is an evangelistic ministry of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Every summer since 1945, the Boardwalk Chapel has proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ to people vacationing on the New Jersey boardwalk. It was a &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/boardwalk-chapel-opc/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://boardwalkchapel.org/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-787" alt="boardwalk-chapel-homepage-600px" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/boardwalk-chapel-homepage-600px.jpg" width="600" height="327" /></a></p>
<p>The <a href="http://boardwalkchapel.org/" target="_blank">Boardwalk Chapel</a> in Wildwood, NJ is an evangelistic ministry of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Every summer since 1945, the Boardwalk Chapel has proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ to people vacationing on the New Jersey boardwalk.</p>
<p>It was a privilege to be part of the website redesign project for such a unique ministry, as innovative today as it was in 1945. Features of Boardwalk Chapel&#8217;s new website include:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;">Responsive design for smartphone and tablet users</span></li>
<li>Homepage Slideshow</li>
<li>Photo Galleries</li>
<li>Events Calendar</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://boardwalkchapel.org/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-788" alt="boardwalk-chapel-multi-device-500px" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/boardwalk-chapel-multi-device-500px.png" width="500" height="208" /></a></p>
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		<title>Harvestwood Covenant PCA</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/harvestwood-covenant-pca/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/harvestwood-covenant-pca/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:49:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Portfolio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our recent project for Harvestwood Covenant Presbyterian Church in America in Floyd County, VA was somewhat unique. Harvestwood Covenant already had a static HTML website designed by graphic designer Tara Rimondi. The logo and color scheme of the website reflects &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/harvestwood-covenant-pca/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://harvestwoodcovenantpca.org/sermons/"><img class="size-full wp-image-778 aligncenter" alt="harvestwood-sermons" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/harvestwood-sermons.jpg" width="600" height="325" /></a></p>
<p>Our recent project for <a href="http://harvestwoodcovenantpca.org/" target="_blank">Harvestwood Covenant Presbyterian Church in America</a> in Floyd County, VA was somewhat unique. Harvestwood Covenant already had a static HTML website designed by graphic designer <a href="http://www.tararimondi.com/" target="_blank">Tara Rimondi</a>. The logo and color scheme of the website reflects the rural, agricultural setting of Floyd County, so we decided that there was no need to reinvent the wheel.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s where <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/" target="_blank">Five More Talents</a> came in. Harvestwood Covenant recognized a need to be able to update their website easily by themselves, without having to fuss with the technical details of HTML. So we converted Harvestwood&#8217;s static HTML website into a WordPress website, using their existing design as the template.</p>
<p>Now Harvestwood Covenant can upload sermons to their online sermon library, add upcoming events, and edit pages using the convenient WordPress administrative interface.</p>
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		<title>Are we living in a &#8220;post-website world&#8221;?</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/are-we-living-in-a-post-website-world/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/are-we-living-in-a-post-website-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:41:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=764</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Technology is not the hard part,&#8221; said Dr. David Bourgeois in a recent interview on ReformedCast. &#8220;People and processes are the hard part.&#8221; Dr. Bourgeois is Associate Professor of Information Systems at BIOLA University and author of a forthcoming book &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/03/are-we-living-in-a-post-website-world/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Technology is not the hard part,&#8221; said <a href="http://reformedcast.com/2013/02/18/episode-122-ministry-in-the-digital-age-22513/" target="_blank">Dr. David Bourgeois in a recent interview on ReformedCast</a>. &#8220;People and processes are the hard part.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dr. Bourgeois is Associate Professor of Information Systems at BIOLA University and author of a forthcoming book entitled <a href="http://ministryinthedigitalage.com/" target="_blank"><em>Ministry in the Digital Age: Strategies and Best Practices for a Post-Website World.</em></a> <em><br />
</em></p>
<p>In his interview with <a href="http://reformedcast.com/" target="_blank">ReformedCast</a>, Dr. Bourgeois summarized his 144-page book. <em>Ministry in the Digital Age,</em> he said, grew out of his professional experience and academic training in information systems, and his deep love for the Church. This episode of ReformedCast should be required listening for every church leader who cares about the flourishing and outreach of his local church or ministry.</p>
<p>One of Dr. Bourgeois&#8217; disruptive insights is that the Internet is now &#8220;post-website world.&#8221; It is important for us as church website developers and church leaders to understand that people are not so much &#8220;surfing the web&#8221; as accessing &#8220;digital streams of information.&#8221; These &#8220;digital streams of information&#8221; include Facebook, email, YouTube, Google Search, text messages, and Twitter.</p>
<p>As creatures of habit, our experience of the web is largely focused on our &#8220;digital information streams&#8221; of choice. Some people prefer email, Google Search, and Twitter. Other people prefer Facebook and text messaging.</p>
<p>The point is that you must understand your target audience. You must know the information streams your people prefer to use. Do they prefer Facebook? Do they prefer email? Do they prefer Twitter? You will have to do some research to answer this question definitively. And the answers may surprise you.</p>
<p>Understanding the communication and media consumption habits of your target audience is a key part of developing an effective communications strategy. The better you understand your target audience, the better you will be able to put in place the technology, people, and processes to open lines of communication with them.</p>
<p>These are the kinds of issues and questions we are always exploring here at Five More Talents. Technology changes. But the need for effective communication remains constant. Our goal is to equip you for effective ministry in our connected age. The needs and the opportunities are tremendous.</p>
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		<title>20 photo ideas for your church website</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/20-photo-ideas-for-your-church-website/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/20-photo-ideas-for-your-church-website/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=713</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Photography is a key component of every website we do. Over the years, we&#8217;ve combed through thousands &#8212; probably tens of thousands &#8212; of photos for church websites. In this post, we share some things we&#8217;ve learned along the way. &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/20-photo-ideas-for-your-church-website/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-731 aligncenter" alt="" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Tree-600px.jpg" width="600" height="231" /></p>
<p>Photography is a key component of every website we do. Over the years, we&#8217;ve combed through thousands &#8212; probably tens of thousands &#8212; of photos for church websites.</p>
<p>In this post, we share some things we&#8217;ve learned along the way. These 20 photo ideas are divided into three categories:</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;">People</span></li>
<li>Close Ups</li>
<li>Abstract Imagery</li>
</ol>
<h2>People</h2>
<p>A church is not a building. Rather, it is a group of people &#8220;called out&#8221; and &#8220;set apart&#8221; by God for his purposes.</p>
<p>By using photos of real people on your church website, you communicate sound theology, make an emotional connection with website visitors,  and dispel superficial understandings of what the church is.</p>
<p>Here are 10 different kinds of &#8220;people photos&#8221; you could consider using on your church website:</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;">Members of congregation singing</span></li>
<li>Worship leaders singing</li>
<li>People singing with hymnals</li>
<li>People talking and smiling before or after the worship service</li>
<li>The pastor</li>
<li>Church officers: elders and deacons</li>
<li>Sunday School or Christian Education class</li>
<li>People helping out with building maintenance at the church building or in the community</li>
<li>People at special events such as Vacation Bible Schools, Missions Conferences, etc.</li>
<li>People on mission trips</li>
</ol>
<h2>Close Ups</h2>
<p>Each church meeting place has its own unique character. Close ups of distinctive elements of the church building and the surrounding community help prospective visitors feel more comfortable with what they can expect when they visit your church for the first time.</p>
<p>Here are some ideas for photographic close ups:</p>
<ol>
<li>Pews</li>
<li>Bibles and hymnals</li>
<li>Communion elements</li>
<li>Details of interior architecture (pews, windows, chandeliers, etc.)</li>
<li>Details of exterior architecture (steeple, steps, etc.)</li>
<li>Text of a key verse in an open Bible</li>
<li>Familiar outdoor landmark near church meeting place</li>
</ol>
<h2>Abstract Imagery</h2>
<p>Sometimes creating non-photographic images is the best way to get your point across. Here are some quick and simple ways to create distinctive graphics to announce sermon series, new classes, or an upcoming special event.</p>
<ol>
<li>Use <a href="http://pixlr.com/express/" target="_blank">Pixlr Express</a> to add abstract special effects and textures to a photo</li>
<li>Use part of a <a href="http://www.creationism.org/images/DoreBibleIllus/" target="_blank">Gustave Dore Bible illustration</a></li>
<li>Create a <a href="http://www.wordle.net/" target="_blank">Wordle</a> from a key Scripture passage</li>
</ol>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Finally, use common sense by remembering that photographers and the people they photograph have rights protected by law:</p>
<ol>
<li>Respect people&#8217;s rights to privacy by getting their permission before using their photos on your website.</li>
<li>Respect photographer&#8217;s rights by getting their permission to use photos on your website.</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Disclaimer: We&#8217;re web developers and digital media experts &#8212; not lawyers &#8212; and we are not giving professional legal advice here. Please consult with a lawyer if you have more detailed questions about laws as they apply to photography on websites.</em></p>
<p><i>Photo by Talitha Belokonny. Used by permission.</i></p>
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		<title>Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA)</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/westminster-presbyterian-church-pca/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/westminster-presbyterian-church-pca/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:32:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Portfolio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=721</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Johnson City, TN celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. A lively congregation, WPC has a large and active ministry in the mountainous &#8220;Tri-Cities&#8221; area of eastern Tennessee. Some notable features of WPC&#8217;s new website include: &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/02/westminster-presbyterian-church-pca/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://westminjc.org/"><img class="size-full wp-image-722  aligncenter" alt="Screenshot of Westminster Presbyterian Church homepage" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WJC-Homepage-600px.jpg" width="600" height="324" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://westminjc.org/" target="_blank">Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Johnson City, TN</a> celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. A lively congregation, WPC has a large and active ministry in the mountainous &#8220;Tri-Cities&#8221; area of eastern Tennessee.</p>
<p>Some notable features of WPC&#8217;s new website include:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 13px;">Mobile-friendly, responsive design &#8212; easy to use on a wide range of devices from computers to iPads to smartphones</span></li>
<li>Bold, distinctive typography</li>
<li>Fresh color scheme</li>
<li>Password-protected members area</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-752" alt="wjc-multi-device-500px" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/wjc-multi-device-500px.png" width="500" height="175" /></p>
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		<title>Do you need a mobile-friendly church website?</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/do-you-need-a-mobile-friendly-church-website/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/do-you-need-a-mobile-friendly-church-website/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=675</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The short answer is a resounding &#8220;Yes!&#8221; You need a mobile-friendly website because a greater and greater percentage of web traffic is mobile traffic. According to StatCounter Global Stats, 14 percent of all web traffic now comes from smartphones such as &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/do-you-need-a-mobile-friendly-church-website/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The short answer is a resounding &#8220;Yes!&#8221;</p>
<p>You need a mobile-friendly website because a greater and greater percentage of web traffic is <em>mobile</em> traffic. According to <a href="http://gs.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">StatCounter Global Stats</a>, 14 percent of all web traffic now comes from smartphones such as iPhones and Androids. That&#8217;s about <em>20 times</em> as much mobile traffic as there was back in 2008 when we first began developing websites for churches.</p>
<p>If the present trend contiques, you can expect that  <em>by the end of 2013, over 20% of all web traffic will be mobile traffic</em>: People looking at your website on their smartphones.</p>
<div id="attachment_677" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><a href="http://gs.statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-677 " alt="Data from StatCounter GlobalStats" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/StatCounter-mobile_vs_desktop-US-monthly-201001-201301.jpg" width="600" height="352" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Desktop Traffic vs. Mobile Traffic from Jan 2010 to Jan 2013</p></div>
<p>At this point, you may object: &#8220;But the graph above shows that over 85% of traffic is still desktop traffic. I don&#8217;t need to worry too much about being mobile-friendly yet.&#8221;</p>
<p>To this, I offer a number of responses:</p>
<p>First,<em> mobile traffic is only one facet of the increasing diversity of web traffic.</em> The web is now a <em>multi-device</em> environment. In addition to smartphones, people are also using tablet devices such as iPads, Amazon Kindle Fires, and the like. Some people are even using the web on television screens.</p>
<p>Second, <em>mobile traffic is steadily increasing relative to desktop traffic.</em> Over the course of three years, this has been a steady trend except for a plateau in the second half of 2011. There is no good reason to believe that mobile traffic will not continue to increase over the course of 2013 and on into the future.</p>
<p>Finally, <em>remember that nearly 50 percent of North American adults have smartphones now (source: <a href="http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/" target="_blank">Our Mobile Planet</a>).</em> You may not use your smartphone to surf the web as much as your computer. But the potential is there. And chances are good that you would surf the web on your smartphone more often if more websites were mobile-friendly.<i><br />
</i></p>
<div id="attachment_684" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 487px"><a href="http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-684 " alt="Based on data from Our Mobile Planet by ThinkInsights with Google" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/smartphone-usage-2013-01-10.jpg" width="477" height="285" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Based on data from <a href="http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/" target="_blank">Our Mobile Planet</a></p></div>
<p>As mentioned above, the web is now a multi-device environment. How is your church website doing in this changing environment? Is your website helping you communicate effectively and efficiently with your members and visitors?</p>
<p>We&#8217;re helping churches such as <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (OPC)</a> in Wilmington, DE and Christian blogs such the <a href="http://theaquilareport.com/" target="_blank">Aquila Report</a> adapt to the multi-device web. And we can help your church, non-profit, or publication do the same.</p>
<p><strong><a class="more-link" title="Contact" href="http://fivemoretalents.com/contact-us/">Contact Us Today »</a></strong></p>
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		<title>How well does your website work on a smartphone?</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/how-well-does-your-website-work-on-a-smartphone/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/how-well-does-your-website-work-on-a-smartphone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:32:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Do you have a smartphone? Or a tablet? If not, I bet someone you know has one. And I bet they use it all the time to visit their favorite websites. What does this mean for your church website? It &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/how-well-does-your-website-work-on-a-smartphone/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Do you have a smartphone? Or a tablet? If not, I bet someone you know has one. And I bet they use it all the time to visit their favorite websites.</p>
<p>What does this mean for your church website? It means that your church website needs to work well on smartphones and tablets, not just desktops and laptops.</p>
<p>What do you think of our latest church website, for <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE</a>? Take a look at it now, if you haven&#8217;t already. Look at it on your laptop/desktop. Then look at it on your iPhone or Android smartphone. (Or ask your wife or daughter if you can borrow hers for a couple minutes.)</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s what you&#8217;ll see on your desktop/laptop computer:</p>
<div id="attachment_631" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><a href="http://eopc.org/"><img class="size-full wp-image-631" alt="Screenshot of homepage of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE " src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/eopc-homepage-600px.jpg" width="600" height="342" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Screenshot of homepage of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE &#8211; click to visit the church website</p></div>
<p>Go ahead, take a few minutes to explore the <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">EOPC website</a> on your computer. What do you think? Is the design appealing? Does the navigation system make it easy for you to get around the site and find what you need?</p>
<p>Now, take a look at the website on your smartphone or tablet device. If you&#8217;re using a smartphone (iPhone or Android), you should see something like this:</p>
<a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/how-well-does-your-website-work-on-a-smartphone/#gallery-643-1-slideshow">Click to view slideshow.</a>
<p>Now, in case you are still feeling under-whelmed, take a look at this &#8220;before&#8221; and &#8220;after&#8221; slideshow. The &#8220;before&#8221; slides are from the previous design which was &#8220;one size fits all.&#8221; The &#8220;after&#8221; slides are from the new design by <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/" target="_blank">5MT</a>. Which one of the following websites would you prefer to use on a smartphone?</p>
<a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/how-well-does-your-website-work-on-a-smartphone/#gallery-643-2-slideshow">Click to view slideshow.</a>
<p>So&#8230; You&#8217;ve seen how we helped <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">Emmanuel Presbyterian Church</a> with their website. Before their website made you squint when you used it on your iPhone or Android device. Now it responds to whatever device you prefer to use: smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. We even tested the website on older versions of Internet Explorer to make folks with old PCs have a good user experience too.</p>
<p>Good websites don&#8217;t leave anyone out. They put your content and your users <em>first.</em></p>
<p>That&#8217;s key to our mission here at 5MT: To test your website so thoroughly that everyone who visits your church website has a pleasant, friendly experience. We are here to help you highlight your message so that (Lord willing) your church can be more effective in its God-given mission of gathering and perfecting the saints.</p>
<p><em>Do you want to learn more about how we can help you make your church website more effective in 2013?</em> Click the button below to visit our Contact page.</p>
<p><strong><a class="more-link" title="Contact" href="http://fivemoretalents.com/contact-us/">Contact Us Today »</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (OPC)</title>
		<link>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/emmanuel-presbyterian-church-opc/</link>
		<comments>http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/emmanuel-presbyterian-church-opc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:21:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>daniel.vos</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Portfolio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fivemoretalents.com/?p=637</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE has been around since the 1890s. In 1936, it became one of the original congregations of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Today, Emmanuel Presbyterian Church is a vibrant and growing congregation committed to the &#8230; <a href="http://fivemoretalents.com/2013/01/emmanuel-presbyterian-church-opc/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://eopc.org/"><img class="size-full wp-image-631 aligncenter" alt="Screenshot of homepage of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/eopc-homepage-600px.jpg" width="600" height="342" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE</a> has been around since the 1890s. In 1936, it became one of the original congregations of the <a href="http://opc.org/" target="_blank">Orthodox Presbyterian Church</a>. Today, Emmanuel Presbyterian Church is a vibrant and growing congregation committed to the worship of God, connecting people with the church, helping believers grow in grace, and living out the gospel through practical deeds of service.</p>
<p>We were delighted to work with <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">Emmanuel Presbyterian Church</a> on their website redesign project from October to December 2012. We are happy now to present to the world their new website, which you can find at <a href="http://eopc.org/" target="_blank">eopc.org</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-754" alt="eopc-multi-device-500px" src="http://fivemoretalents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/eopc-multi-device-500px.png" width="500" height="175" /></p>
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