Redemptive Arts

If your ministry is in the market for a new website you have many good options available. The key to discovering the right solution is in knowing exactly what you want. If you are looking for a simple, cost-effective website with easy-to-run software so you can do it yourself, we would be happy to point you in the right direction. If, on the other hand, you want a website of extraordinary capacity and the ongoing support necessary to maintain exceptional graphics and content design, we're here for you.

We suggest you look at websites from churches with dedicated web and graphics departments, like Fellowship, Mars Hill, Willow Creek and Hillsong. If that's the kind of dynamic activity and graphic proficiency you are looking for, that's exactly what we achieve (and surpass), at a small fraction of the cost. If your website is a lower priority for your ministry, you don't see the benefit of custom graphics for sermon series, events, etc., and you have the time to manage it yourself, other options might make more sense.

In the mid-1990’s Content Management Systems (CMS) provided a first step toward active and dynamic site possibility for ministries. Wikipedia defines CMS as "A web content management system is a CMS designed to simplify the publication of web content to web sites and mobile devices, in particular, allowing content creators to submit content without requiring technical knowledge of HTML or the uploading of files."

In the early days of CMS, we advocated heavily for this solution. CMS allowed ministry leaders to take full control of their sites; we simply provided the tools to “do it yourself”.

Our clients quickly discovered the benefits of using their website as a communications hub, but just as quickly they became overwhelmed with the amount of time and expertise it took to maintain such sites at a high standard. eVo provides the solution. Even if you enjoy fiddling around with your website, it is difficult to match our speed and efficiency (we do this every day, for many clients, so we’re not only good at it, we’re fast at it, which ultimately saves you money).

There are definitely instances where we design and build websites that do not fall under eVo. Generally this happens in circumstances where the ministry is extremely large or very complex, and they have their own in house teams of designers, editors and programmers. To give you an example, we have designed and built websites for multinational non-profits like The Salvation Army and Intervarsity, but as you can understand they have full-time dedicated staff who are solely responsible for maintaining their sites. Websites of this nature will cost anywhere from $6,000 to $40,000 or more, depending on each unique set of needs and the complexity of the job. Call us if you would like to discuss options that fall outside our eVo parameters.

We have in the past designed some excellent websites in Flash, and we are quite sure we will do so again. We do not, however, advocate Flash sites for active ministries. Flash can create a wonderful first impression, but has some limitations that we want to avoid when considering clients that would be interested in maintaining very active online expressions, have a high percentage of repeat users, and who want dynamic content.

But, don’t just take our word for it. Please, please, do the research for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Click around a Flash site, then click around a Web Standards site like our Design Canvases. You will notice a significant difference in the user experience. Steve Jobs of Apple has some interesting things to say about Flash here:

Steve Jobs of Apple, on FLASH

And here are some industry reviews of the limitations of Flash for websites:

Jakob Nielsen on FLASH

If you don't know who Jakob Nielsen is, you might want to go here.

Smashing Magazine on FLASH

You also might want to consider a general review of Flash on Wikipedia
Wikipedia on FLASH

Of course you can. This is natural; as your communications needs expand, we expand the services provided to meet these needs. Our pricing structure is based on a “fee-for-service” model, so you won't get caught in a trap of increased rates where there is no additional measurable value. Take a look at out pricing page to see examples of some of the things, like Google Adwords or e-Newsletters, that we can add to your program.

We customize each and every site in the eVo program according to your unique content and the unique personality of your church. Our design philosophy embraces tight front page design with a large area reserved for a primary graphic. You will see this as a common theme in most of our designs. Such similarities are natural and necessary given that most churches are involved in the same sort of business, but we treat each client as a unique entity and attempt to capture their special personality with each design.

You don’t have to do anything, but you might choose to make calendar entries, or if you are blogging you probably want to handle that on your own. Some churches even like to supply the graphics themselves. We are here for you, to support your ministry by doing what we do best, enabling you to do what you do best.

There is no easy answer to this question. It really depends on a few things: 1. How well organized you are with content 2. How many people are on your decision making team (usually the more people chime in, the longer it takes). 3. If you have a well-defined vision for your digital ministry 4. If you have samples of sites that you like to provide a foundation 5. Our ability to extract points 1-4 from you 6. Our current workload It's best to give us a call and we can tell you exactly where we are from a scheduling perspective. At various points in the year we are overwhelmed with requests and our lead times are 3 months. At other times, our designers are practising by creating sites that we give away for free. It really depends on the time. We promise to be open and honest, and if we can't deliver in a time-frame that meets your approval, we will suggest you move on.

Before eVo, churches had to hire a web designer or ad agency to produce a website, and they would be married to that design until they had the budget to go through the process again. Design standards and technological function advance so fast that this cycle could be as short as 12 months in many cases - 36 months on the outside. We've squashed that idea with our philosophy of ongoing design. Websites today are never finished - they are a work in progress.

Yes. As your needs change you will find that you want to change your design to meet evolving needs. This is a natural part of the eVo process. This industry is moving far too fast to simply sell you a design and leave you stranded to do things on your own. It's amazing to realize just how far we have come in less than a decade and a half of internet evolution. You should expect the same advancing speed in the next decade, and if you don't prepare for it you could find yourself buried in a perpetual and costly game of catch-up.

One of the fundamental advantages of eVo is, both technological and aesthetic upgrades can be managed in the plan by requesting WebActions. You concentrate on the ministry to which you were called... we'll keep pace with supportive technologies for you.