Find a church

If you’ve surfed in looking to find a church I’d recommend A Church Near You which allows you to look at churches on maps and things. This is assuming you are looking for an Anglican church (other denominations are available). Oh, and I think it is only for England. I love looking at the deaneries on maps to see which churches have added their information – take this random sample, the Maidenhead and Windsor Deanery. Unfortunately the information provided can be a bit patchy – if you go to an Anglican Church in England why not add the info for your church?

One of the other church directory sites is Find a Church (here) which in my opinion isn’t anywhere near as good for lots of reasons. I attempted to update our church information as I am now the church webperson (currently without a website). I received this letter:

I thought the final paragraph rather remarkable:

The original vision for the directory was to provide enough in a consise overview so that anyone looking for a church can get a good feel for churches in their area. Because we cover our costs by charging £18 per year, it’s your choice whether you want your church to be seen as welcoming of newcomers.

Good heavens. No pressure then.

We chose to be unwelcoming.

Questions for study groups:
1) How easily can people find your church on the internet?
2) It costs £18 to be seen as welcoming. What would be the best ways to spend £18 on welcoming people?
3) People in the Bible were often welcoming, or not. What does this teach us about things and, to a lesser extent, the internet?

[My previous post on both these websites is here: Find your local parish church]