What planning and data management systems are you using?
We use Planning Center for all our service planning, programing and for all our scheduling.  There is really not a system out there like it.  It’s perfect for service planning.  Once you get the initial setup, making a flow from week to week and scheduling is so simple.  It even sends out reminder emails to everyone scheduled.  If you look at their pricing page (https://www.planningcenteronline.com/signup), I would recommend the Basic plan.  The Lite plan won’t get you very far.  You’ll plug in 35 people and be out of space for mp3s and charts before you know it.  We use the Basic plan and I have YET to run out of space and I have ALOT of songs and charts on there.  However, I would NOT recommend uploading videos under the media section though.  They clog your memory space up really fast.  But for $29 a month…you for sure can’t beat it!

How far in advance do you plan for services?
We plan really far out in advance.  As far as the basic ideas, graphics, and purpose of a series, we do those in 6 month increments.  We already know every series we have planned through July next year.  But as far as the service flows, we go by the series and we are typically anywhere from 1-2 series out at a time.  For example, in 2 weeks we are starting our Christmas series.  Last week we planned out our flow, which songs, which transitions, and what lasting impact people will leave with for our January series.  Sometimes we’re as far out as our February series with this.  2 important things to remember when planning tho: 1) God honors preparation!  We take what we do very seriously because we are called by God to reach people so they may know Him and called to lead His church.  We spend a lot of time in prayer and seeking God’s direction.  We don’t want to do certain series or certain songs because they are cool.  We seek God to lead every aspect of our church and ask Him to show us where He is taking the church.  2) Always be willing to make a change! God always knows what is best.  Even if you planned something 3-6 months ago, if God is telling you to do something different…and it’s the week before…or the night before, DO IT!  The key thing is to always follow God’s direction no matter what.  Let His Spirit guide your every move and ask Him to help you lead His church where He wants His church to be and go.

What do you wish you would have done different starting out?
This is the 3rd church plant I’ve helped start so I’ve been fortunate enough to make PLENTY of mistakes.  The important thing to remember is never be afraid of making mistakes.  If you try something and fail, oh well.  You tried!  If you hadn’t had tried it, you wouldn’t have ever know what NOT to do. If it works, it works.  But always evaluate and re-evaluate to always be getting better.  Never be stuck on “your” way of doing things.  Like I said before, always be listening to God and seeking Him for direction!

Every church website should:

1. Have an easy to remember domain name. Your church website’s domain name should be simple and memorable.  When someone is interested in finding more information about your church, you want them to find that information easily without the use of search engines.  Keep it simple and make it easy to remember.  In promoting your web address, leave off the http://‘s and the www.‘s.  This makes your web address easier to remember and easier to say.
2. Be incredibly easy to navigate. People don’t spend a whole lot of time on a website.  They visit your site, search for what they are looking for, and then close the window.  Your church’s website should be designed so that people can find what they are looking for quickly and close out.
3. Have concise and current information. Again, people don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on a website.  No one wants to read a belief statement that they have to scroll down for hours just to read the whole thing.  Be short and concise.  Use the concept of Twitter.  Things should be simple, short, and to the point.  Also keep things current.  Too many times I go to a church’s website and the newest “Upcoming Event” was from 2 months ago.  Once I even saw one that was from 2 years ago.  That’s just insane.  If you are going to have a website that will not be maintained, then don’t integrate things like a calendar or a sermon mp3 player or photographs.  If your church doesn’t have someone to maintain your website and keep it up to date, then I suggest to make your website a simple information only type website.  It looks unprofessional to have old, out dated information on a website.
4. Be a tool to be used by the church. The people in your church are going to your website to find out something or use a tool on your website.  If someone is checking out your website before they visit your church, directions and service times should be easy to be used.  Church calendars should be clean looking and uncluttered for people within the church to keep in the know.  Every program or tool you use should be useABLE!
5. Be accessible on multiple platforms. Whether you’re excited about the change or not, Flash sites seem to be dying.  Flash sites take too long to load and they require a certain plugin to run and be view properly.  The art of CSS web design is taking shape and growing fast in popularity.  CSS  is also mobile friendly so your church members can access your website on the go.

(for examples of how I used this on our church website, check out discoverthewell.org)