A Prayer Request section on your church website can keep your congregation involved and invested in one another and their faith

The Internet is a mainstream phenomenon, and it’s here for the long haul. Though it may seem counter-intuitive at first, any ministry can benefit from embracing the World Wide Web. Used as a vehicle to spread, honor and celebrate God’s word, the Internet becomes a tool with unparalleled reach. The fact is, most people today use the Internet on a regular basis.

If you are an ordained minister from the Universal Life Church, a church website is a great start, but you can take this one step further by making a system whereby members can request prayer. This will allow you to build a sense of community amongst your congregation and give tech-savvy members an easy way to contribute. The concept is simple: a congregation member can go online to your site, outline their issue in an online form, and then other members can come along and offer support.

In order to set this service up on your site, you’ll need to secure the services of a programmer. If he or she is proficient, your members could log in and immediately see a list of prayer requests that they’ve responded to. They will also be able to keep track of their own requests, and see at a glance how many people responded.

A prayer request application is a relatively simple job, and if you reach out to your congregation, you may be able to find a few volunteers. Your younger congregation members are most likely to possess skills such as PHP, HTML and CSS programming, all of which are vital for setting up a dynamic, interactive and good-looking site.

To encourage participation, you may want to allow people to request prayer anonymously. Regular members who do not want anonymity can register for the site and then log in. When they then make make prayer requests, their user names will be displayed prominently at the top of the post. For maximum effect, consider adding a section for comments to the bottom of each prayer request. This way, congregation members can interact with one another on a personal level.

Keep in mind, however, that by making your system open to all, you will have to be vigilant. Spammers and online bullies, colloquially known as “trolls,” can turn a positive experience for all into a nightmare in short order. As an ordained minister, you might not know how to manage a website but your programmer should instruct you on how to delete abusive comments and prayer requests. Additionally, you can ask your tech-savvy congregation members to volunteer for moderator duty.

With this system incorporated into your church’s website, you can foster a strong sense of solidarity in a church body. Such an application on your site may increase church participation overall, and will encourage members to reach out to the congregation for guidance and solace.  You can always explore the website for the Universal Life Church for ideas on what your church website can offer.