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Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881 St Andrew's Church, Taunton |
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“Stylish, informative and easy to navigate”St. Andrew’s reaches out through the web
The picture above shows (left to right): Adrian Smith (Communications Officer), Katharine Smith (Reader), Stephen Grimshaw (Church Warden), Jonathan Morris (Curate), Jean Hole (Church Warden), and Julian Smith (Vicar) at the launch of the new site on 26 November 2005.
“It’s your door to St. Andrew’s - open 24 hours a day”
Visitors probably expect to find details of services on a church website, but standrewstaunton also includes a family album with photos and profiles of church members, a Prayer Calendar, weekly Bible readings, and information about church activities. There is a News area, featuring the people who make St. Andrew’s what it is, and a bang up to date Hot Topics section with a discussion board. One recent visitor commented “it's incredibly refreshing to discover current faith-related news on a church's website”.
The site has been built by St. Andrew’s Communications Officer, Adrian Smith: “I’ve never built a website before – I’m not so much a webmaster as a web-novice. I’ve found it’s a bit like compiling a giant jigsaw – a piece of technical know how here, a fragment of information there, a photo from this source… and so on. I’m immensely grateful to those in the church and elsewhere who have provided me with all the pieces, and I hope that I have put them together in such a way that the site is an accurate and pleasing picture of St. Andrew’s.”
“We are here for you”
Parish Priest Revd Julian Smith said: “St. Andrew’s has been serving God in the heart of our community since 1881. The launch of this website is a promise to our community that we intend to continue serving it long into the future. Christianity has always been about meeting people where they are, and in the 21st century many begin their search for the important things in life on the web. The site’s message to our community is simple: you are our neighbours and St. Andrew’s is here for you.”
“It’s different because it’s up to date”
The site is updated several times a week to reflect what is happening in worship, in the church family, and in the news. “It won’t be allowed to stagnate” said Adrian. “I hope that people will visit the site time and again, and the only way to encourage that is to ensure there is always something new and fresh.”
Even before its official launch the site has received over 500 hits and a multitude of compliments. Rosemary Lain-Priestley, frequently heard presenting Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s Today programme, commented “It's really clear, engaging and focussed. And it's a church I'd want to go to! Congratulations!”
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Page updated 29/09/2007
