How do you direct visitors on your web site? It seems like an obvious question, but there is a subtle side to it. Sure, you expect Church visitors to check out your web site before they show up at the door. After all, they have all week to look. But how do you direct them to the information that is most critical for them deciding on whether to come or pass your Church by? You have to look at the Church web site from the perspective of a visitor. Make sure to present the following information directly off the home page:

• Worship times and places
• Upcoming Worship Theme or Series
• Information about Sunday School for all ages
• General directions and map
• Layout of the Church buildings
• Phone number to call if they have questions

If you do this, then potential visitors should be able to answer their questions prior to coming. And you can expect that they’ll know this basic information before they walk in the door. (Be sure your greeters are familiar with it, too, just in case a visitor doesn’t have web access.) You can then help them start down the path to joining the Church.

There are lots of Bible study programs available now for smart phones. When smart phones got sufficient memory (i.e. megabytes), Bible study applications started coming out. Here are just a few, along with comments:

QuickVerse PDA

Based on the PC program QuickVerse, this version is designed for the Palm OS. It allows you to have multiple translations, as well as commentaries and dictionaries. You use a hierarchical search tool to find a specific verse, i.e. select the book, chapter, then verse. It allows you to attach personal notes to specific words in specific verses.

For more information, see Quickverse.com.

AcroBible

Available on the iPhone, this Bible study program takes advantage of the finger based user interface. To find a verse, you start with an alphabetical list of the books – i.e. just like the contacts list. You select a book, then you get an outline showing chapter numbers and section titles. You then select a chapter and you go to the beginning of that chapter. You can then easily scroll down through the text to find the verse in question.

Acro Bible takes advantage of the iPhone’s user interface. It actually works quite well, allowing you to keep up with even a preacher citing verses rapid fire. And the text is easy to read even in low light, given the iPhone’s backlit display. But note that if you want to add a personal note, the note is attached to the whole verse, not the individual word.

For more information, see AcroBible.