Are web sites obsolete?

As I have been working on a web site for my church, I have started to wonder if the whole idea of having an all-encompassing web site is becoming obsolete. It seems that all the effort going into designing, developing, and maintaining a web site is a tremendous amount of work that must be re-done every two or three years. And now, with the advent of XML, where the form and content have been separated (see this video for a good explanation of what I am talking about), it seems that we should instead separate content creation from web site design.

What I mean is this: for each type of content we want to make available, we should find the appropriate tool and use it. Then we should allow those who are consuming our content to view it in any way that they would like. For example, for a church calendar, use Google calendar (my personal favorite) to manage the calendar and then make it “public”, which allows someone to integrate it into their personal calendar, bring it in to their “home page” via an RSS reader, or just view it directly.

Or take another example: each ministry wants the ability to communicate with their members. A youth pastor could use a blog as a way to keep his youth group up to date on what is going on in the ministry, complete with photos (linked from Flickr) and videos (from YouTube). The members of his group could keep up to date by subscribing to the blog via email, importing it into their Facebook profile, or just viewing the blog directly.

OK, you say, this is all fine and good, but we still need a web site! Well, yes, you do need something that is a place with your basic information and a place to direct search engines, but it should really be an aggregation of all these other tools.

One key to successful web ministry is a distributed model of updating. By allowing each ministry to update their own information, you will get the most dynamic web site possible. But the challenge to this then becomes: how do you change the culture within your organization so that each ministry is willing to do this kind of updating?

So do you agree or disagree? Could a church (or other parachurch or nonprofit) have a successful web ministry without a full-fledged web site? Or am I going out of my mind?

The Lord giveth…

Many of you know that I was in a bad car accident about 18 months ago. I survived what looked to be an unsurvivable accident, but my classic 1968 Mustang did not. For the past few months I have been looking for a “new” classic Mustang to replace it. I monitored several Craigslist listings using a custom Yahoo pipes feed that I created and finally, a few weeks ago, found the exact car I wanted. For those who want details: “A” code 289, pony interior, a/c, power steering. I really feel that the Lord led me to this car and its seller, a young man working in youth ministry at a nearby church. We made the deal a few days ago and I now have my new car. While nothing can ever replace my old car with all its memories, this car is a new adventure that I plan to keep and drive as long as I am able.

I just want to use this post to publicly thank the Lord for this blessing. And to thank my wife as well for supporting me in getting this car. And yes, I will let her drive it.

Survey closed

The Internet Ministry Survey is now officially closed. I will now begin using my trained monkeys to analyze the results!

Warning: survey closing

Oh my it’s been a long time since I’ve posted! Got sidetracked during spring break and busy with other projects. Well I’m back and will get posting again.

Warning: If you kept meaning to take my survey on Internet ministry but have not yet, take note:  I will be closing the survey tomorrow! Go to the survey here. I am going to begin working over the data starting next week.

And if you haven’t registered for the Internet Ministry Conference yet, get busy.