Are you using your website the same way you use the bulletin board in your church lobby? Download these five tips on how to use Church360° Unite to most effectively share information and engage members online.

1. 5 Ways to Make
Your Church Website
More than an
OnlineBulletinBoard
Enhance your web presence
and build community online
with Church360° Unite

2.  Introduction
Every church has one. Many churches have more than
one. And more and more, most people simply walk right
past them.
The church bulletin board.
It’s hard to miss and not always the easiest to read. And it
has become a somewhat outdated and overlooked means
of communication.
Websites have replaced the bulletin board, giving
churches a more effective means of communication—one
that can be used to target individuals and communicate
en masse.
However, many churches are using their websites in the
same way they use their bulletin boards—to share all
information with everyone, even when it’s not necessary
or intended.
At Concordia Technology Solutions, we created easy-to-
use website builder software that helps churches build
not only beautiful websites, but also interactive online
communication for their members.
Here are five ways Church360° Unite helps churches
engage their members online.
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3.  unique usernames and passwords
Move your church website away from the online version
of your lobby bulletin board by making it interactive and
secure.
Church360° Unite allows individuals to create their own
user accounts, through which they have access to more
information than what’s made available to the general
public.
Individual Profiles
Individual profiles can easily be populated with contact
information, with photos to help others place faces with
names, and with notes about what activities individuals
are involved with at church. Rather than relying on the
church office to provide all this information, members
can log in and view it online.
Member Directory
Withthesystem-generatedMemberspageofChurch360°
Unite, anyone logged in to the church website has access
to a full list of contact information and photos for every
member. Plus, if your Church360° Unite account is linked
with either one of our two church management software
solutions (Church360° Members or Shepherd’s Staff),
that information is automatically synced.
Private Pages
With Church360° Unite, creating private pages is simple.
Private pages prevent those without log in information
from seeing sensitive information and allow church
members to see information intended for their eyes only.
Examples of members-only information could include
the church directory, meeting notes, and prayer requests.
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4.  relevant and timely content
A feature of Church360° Unite called Feeds allows users
to add posts (including photo, audio, and video) and
comment on others’ posts.
Feeds can be used in endless ways to engage members,
but here are a few examples of how our Church360°
Unite customers are using them:
Blogs
One of the most common uses of Feeds is blogging.
When church workers blog, it not only gives them the
opportunity to share their insights, but also allows
church members to benefit from that content in a casual
and accessible way.
Sermons
Many pastors like to share their sermons online. Doing so
allows their congregation to easily access sermons they
missed or want to listen to again, and allows potential
visitors to preview the preaching prior to their visit.
Sermons can be uploaded as text, audio, video, or all
three.
News and Announcements
One of the main reasons for church members to visit the
website regularly is to get the latest information. Posting
announcements through Feeds gives church members a
single location to view all the latest news, with the most
recent information at the top of the feed.
Prayer Requests
Most churches publish prayer requests in the bulletin,
but do not include the context of the request. If the
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5.  relevant and timely content (...Continued)
church office uses a feed to post prayer requests, there
is space to explain the circumstances (if appropriate) and
provide updates using the comments feature. It’s also
easy to make this type of feed a private page.
Community Care Requests
Church offices often receive requests for help—such as
meals for families in need, furniture movers, handyman
repairs, general yard work—and sending an email is a
great way to get the information out to the congregation.
Another option is using a feed to share this information,
which allows everyone to review the needs and comment
on the posts if they are able to help, creating a flow of
conversation, with the latest post always at the top.
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6.  Groups
One of the most unique features of Church360° Unite
is the Groups feature, which can act like a mini-website
within the church website. Each group is allowed a home
page, subpages, a calendar, message boards, and even
their own list of members.
Developed to allow groups of people in the church to
interact around a certain topic, like a community group
or a specific ministry team, the Groups feature allows
leaders to control the security of their groups so they
can invite group members to join and keep the pages
updated with the latest information.
Groups can be as unique as the types of groups within
your church. Here are a just some of the ways churches
have used the Groups feature:
Small Groups & Bible Studies
While every Small Group and Bible study is a little
different, each can use Church360° Unite Groups to
enhance communication among its members. Members
can share prayer requests, make announcements, post
schedule changes, and create pages related specifically
to their small group.
While most meetings are held in person, the Groups
feature can be used to extend the group’s impact beyond
a weekly meeting. Create a page to post study questions
for each session, and use the discussion board to continue
the discussion throughout the week.
Ministry Teams
Allow the team leaders to create groups so they can add
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7.  Groups (...Continued)
events to their own Group’s calendar, which can then
be merged with the master church calendar if desired.
Create separate pages for photo albums and volunteer
schedules, and quickly email the group from the Members
page.
Music Ministries
Use Groups to increase communication and help your
musicians prepare for upcoming services and events.
Share lyrics and embed audio files to help the team
prepare songs. Post practices and performances on the
group’s calendar, and post announcements to easily
communicate changes to the schedule.
Church Boards
Whether it is the Board of Finance or the Church Council,
church boards need to keep their members informed
and maintain solid records. Within your group, create a
separate page for posting minutes after each meeting,
and use the discussion board to discuss issues outside
the monthly meeting.
School
If your church is connected to a school, the Groups
feature can be used to set up individual pages for each
grade level. Teachers can post homework assignments
on the calendar or in the discussion board and share
photos of completed projects using pages. With all the
permissions options, it’s easy to customize who has
access to information. For example, make the front
page public for prospective students while keeping any
sensitive information private for school families.
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8.  Church Calendar
The church calendar is one of the most difficult things for
a church office to maintain, due to how many activities
go on during a given week. Simplify things by using
Church360° Unite for all your church calendars.
Separate Calendars
Create separate calendars for each type of all-church
event. Have one calendar for worship services, one for
fellowship activities, and another for outreach events. If
linked with Church360° Members, these will be the same
events used to take attendance.
Group Calendars
The Groups feature provides tremendous flexibility in
tracking activities within the church. Each group has its
own calendar, so administrators can choose which ones
to display on the master calendar and which ones to keep
private.
Google Calendar
If you already utilize Google calendar to keep track of
your events, easily import those for display on your
church website. These read-only events will allow you to
keep your normal method of calendar maintenance while
still being able to properly communicate them to your
church members.
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9.  email
One of the most recent additions to Church360° Unite is
a feature called Mailing Lists. This powerful tool makes
it easy to email any number of recipients right from
your church website. While it is only accessible to site
administrators, it does includes some functionality in
groups.
The Mailing Lists feature uses technology called “email
relay,” which means users simply send an email to a single
address, and Church360° Unite forwards that email to
all the intended recipients. This feature allows you to
send emails from your preferred email client without
having to worry about any restrictions on the number
of recipients, and the recipients see that the email came
from you.
Mailing lists can be created from a list of users, groups,
other mailing lists, or any combination of the three.
Adding people to a mailing list is as simple as adding
addresses to an email.
Sending emails from your default email client means that
you use the software that is most familiar to you. You
may even save money by using this feature, as you’ll no
longer need to pay for a third-party email service; it is
included with Church360° Unite at no additional charge.
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10.  At the end of the day . . .
There are many ways to communicate with the members
ofyourchurch:announcementsinchurch,thenewsletter,
bulletins, and, yes, the bulletin board. But using your
church website to its fullest potential is one way you
can always communicate the latest, greatest, and most
relevant information in the fastest way.
The five ways to engage your members online that are
mentioned in this download are just a few of the many
great ways to engage your church members outside the
four walls of your church building. You’re limited only
by your imagination and the technology on which your
website is built. With Church360° Unite, the possibilities
are endless.
Your church website should be a reflection of your
church, so take the time to determine what works
best for your congregation. Every church has a unique
combination of pages, feeds, groups, and calendars, and
those will change on a regular basis.
While a church website will never replace face-to-
face interactions (nor should it!), it does enhance
communication during the times your members are away
from the church building.
To get started with Church360° Unite and see what this
software can do for your church, sign up for your free
trial at 360Unite.com/Engage.
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