Unity Baptist Church has faithfully served their community in midwest Georgia since 1959, but they had a problem.
Before switching to Ministry Brands, their church website was little more than a placeholder. It didn’t effectively communicate who they were as a church and didn’t serve either guests or members well.
Jerry Allen, Deacon and Webmaster, knew change was needed as their current web “solution” wasn’t serving the church.
Outdated Software
Before switching platforms, Unity Baptist Church had a homemade, text-based website. Challenges included:
- Limited graphics – images were pixelated or outdated and uploading new content was a challenge.
- Inability to expand – they had a select few pages and couldn’t add more.
- Outdated – graphics, layout, text, and functionality all needed an upgrade.
- Didn’t communicate their mission or ministry – how they showed up online didn’t match who they were in person.
- Served only as a “placeholder” – Yes, they had a website, but ultimately, it wasn’t serving the church.
They knew change was needed. In August 2019, conversations started circling around the question, “What do we need to do to make a new website?”
It didn’t take long for them to realize that solutions to their problems were out there. Jerry discovered Ministry Brands and knew it was exactly what Unity Baptist Church needed. They had a new website up and running by January 2020.
Making the Change
When asked what factors were important in their decision to make a change, Jerry shared this:
“Because I’m not a web developer or real graphics guy, we were looking for something that was already put together, something that made sense, something that had pages that a church would need.”
He knew he shouldn’t have to be an expert to have a visually appealing, effective website.
Jerry loved how easy it was to input information and upload media. Not only that, but he appreciated the minimal learning curve.
Everything was cohesive and worked together; just like a website should.
Easy Maintenance
Not only was the website simple to create, but it has been easy to maintain, too.
Jerry explained that they often use the pre-existing templates within the software to create the pages they need.
From there, it’s just a matter of changing the text to reflect their mission and adding photos that give a small glimpse into what life is like at Unity Baptist Church.
Focused on the Mission
When asked what he would tell other churches considering a software change for their website, Jerry started by saying, “I think that one of the things you really need to do is look closely at the value of your product. What you really want is a tool that is branded for churches and Christian organizations.”
Once he found Ministry Brands, he knew he had found the right solution.
For Unity Baptist Church, having a platform created specifically for churches means they can easily share their mission online.
Jerry continued, “[This software] makes it simple to get your message out there, to be able to share the gospel with the people in your community and I think that’s what’s important…it makes it easy for people like me who aren’t graphics guys to go ahead and do this and deliver the message that needs to be delivered.”
Now, Unity Baptist Church is confident that when people visit their website, the mission of their church is evident and people know who they are as a church before ever stepping foot in the building.
Next Steps
Does your church website accurately portray who you are as a church? Is it easy to maintain and update? Does it have the tools you need to reach people in your community?
If not, like Unity Baptist Church, you might be ready to make a change.
Sign up for your free demo of Ministry Brands Amplify here. Not only is it a website tool with an easy drag-and-drop builder, but it’s also also a one-platform solution.
This means you can keep your giving, ChMS, service planning, and more all in one place so you can spend more time focusing on what matters.