Maranatha Fellowship Church

Hello, world!  This is the first blog post for our brand new church website.  We tried to design it in such a way that would be simple and user-friendly.  Special thanks goes to our friend Chris Hill for his creative genius! 

Here are some explanations for a few of our website features:

• Home.  Sometimes you may feel that you’re lost inside a menu or link on our website.  And just like Dorothy clicked her heels and said, “there’s no place like home” you can simply click on the home button and be back on the main “home” page once again, from wherever you happen to find yourself. 
• About us.  This is where you would start if you wanted to learn more about our church.  It provides a menu to several other pages that give more specific information about something in particular.  You could click onto the “history” page to learn about when and how our church was formed, and who all the pastors were.  You could click the “beliefs” page to read about our affiliation with the C&MA and review our doctrinal beliefs.  The “values” page tells you a little about what you can expect from our church practices, etc.  If you want to know when our services are scheduled, just click on the “services” page.  And finally, click the “staff” page to find out who the leaders of the church are.
• Ministries.  This is the place you would go if you want to learn a few more details about the various ministries that our church is actively involved in.  Just by clicking on each of the particular church ministries, you’ll find another page of relevant information at your fingertips. 
• Calendar.  Clicking on this page provides you, the user, with an up-to-date church activity calendar.  First, it pulls up the current month with the current date highlighted.  It reveals the activities that we have scheduled along with an opportunity to click on the activity link to find out more detailed information.  We’re still loading this last bit of information.
• Pastor’s Blog.  This is the Pastor’s Blog.  “Blog” is short for “Weblog” and it’s like our website’s equivalent to the editorial column in a newspaper or newlsetter.  I’ll be adding another entry a few times per week to offer my opinion on something or update you on important information.  As Pastor, I’ll probably use it mostly to open a discussion about Biblical subjects, maybe even those that come up in preaching. 
• Sermons.  Instead of ordering a cassette tape or CD version of the sermons preached at Maranatha, perhaps you would enjoy this simple alternative.  Just click on the “sermons” menu tab and you’ll be able to access sermons which have been uploaded in mp3 format.  There’s no cost for downloading, and you don’t have to wait on the mail!
• Good News.  This is where someone could click if interested in learning about how to come to know the Lord.  The “Good News” is the Gospel, which is articulated in the pages of Scripture.  Here, we simply have the Gospel message summarized in small, digestible bites for those trying to understand. 
• Links.  The links menu gives you several options to click, and it takes you directly to that particular website!  Obviously, we have a link to the C&MA website, the denomination with whom we’re affiliated.  We also have a link to the Southeastern District website (of the C&MA), the district that we belong to.  And we also have a link to the Alliance Life website, for your convenience. 
• Contact Us.  Not only does this menu have our church address, phone number, and other information.  We also have a Google map that comes up to show where we’re located.  In addition to this, if you would like to contact us, you can e-mail us directly from this page. 

So, we encourage you to browse through the website and learn more about our church.  We’re excited about being better able to serve you this way. 

I expect that my future posts will be less informational and more editorial in nature.  Please check it out once in a while and offer your own comments.