During this Lenten season I’ve noticed quite a few interesting things that parishes using OSV’s websites have done to keep everyone up-to-speed on church activities. After seeing all of these great ideas I thought I would take a moment to share a few tips with you in order to keep your parishioners in-the-know.
Tip 1. Start with adding a special tab or section specifically for Lent which leads to a page that has information about activities that will be going on for the next 40 days.
Tip 2. Include a page on Ash Wednesday, what it means, how we should reflect, and the special mass times to receive ashes. Some parishes are creating pages with special slideshows with the Stations of the Cross on them.
Tip 3. Create pages on your Eucharistic Adoration events and times. Don’t forget to include the actual meaning of these events, giving your parishioners knowledge about the Catholic faith and what we believe in this time of year.
Tip 4. Consider starting a blog on your site specifically for the season. Ask the parishioners how they are sacrificing. How are the children in the parish being asked to participate? Ask the children what they are giving up or doing for others during Lent.
Tip 5. Finally, consider sending or posting daily spiritual meditations, prayers, and reflections.
Once you have implemented your Lenten section on your website make sure you promote it. Parishes are doing this by mentioning it in their bulletin with references to the information found exclusively on the website. They’ve also made announcements at the end of mass informing the parish about the Lenten and reflection sections on their website.
Your parish website is a window to your community. It’s that location that your parishioners can turn to for their spiritual knowledge and growth. Why not make the most of it during this special time of year.
What kinds of things are you doing with your parish website during Lent? Go ahead and leave a comment on the blog so that we can continue to share ideas.
1 comment:
This may seem like a gimmie but adding Lent to the site calendar can help some of the younger parishioners with dates.
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