Forward in Faith, Lincoln: Case Study - 01.07.10

• Visit the FiF Lincoln Photography Project for an account of the website's photography service


Author of Study: The Reverend Fr Paul Noble, Sub-Dean, FiF Diocese of Lincoln

Website Address: www.forwardinfaithlincs.org.uk

We were a rather unusual and perhaps difficult commissioning groupbecause we were attempting to put together a composite site that would gather together many different strands of Traditional Anglicanism in the Diocese of Lincoln.

That meant the main commissioning body which was the Lincoln Council of Forward in Faith was the key player but there were also other Diocesan organisations whose needs were to be taken into consideration. A further complication was present because some parishes desired their own separate designated pages.

The projected site was to:
> Give information
> Provide teaching
> Publicise the organisations and parishes

The first meeting with Daniel was a revelation.There were six present from the various organisations, both clergy and laity, and all were uncertain about how this could be put together or if it would be an impossible task.

What happened was that not only were we shown that it was possible but we were given a vision of how well this complicated project could be realised.  It was also pointed out to us that there were many desirable things we had not even thought about- so we were shown features that Daniel explained would enhance the site, make it more useful and mean it would be more readily accessible.
We agreed to all of this at once.

Eventually putting all the various parts together proved a complicated task- mainly because Daniel was having to co-ordinate the free time of so many different people to match his own availability. It involved his making several trips to Lincolnshire to visit the different parishes and groups on weekdays and Sundays. There were some from within the Council of Forward in Faith Lincolnshire who had doubted the outlay involved and were concerned that the project was taking too long. At last, however, all the bits of the complicated jig-saw came together and the web-site was available for the world.

From the time the web-site was up and running the doubts and concerns of  those council members disappeared. There was immediate appreciation of all that it displayed and its fulfilling all our objectives. One of the parishes which had decided not to have its own page, but only a link, felt regret now that it was not included after all.

It has been invaluable in advertising our presence. There have been enquiries to all the parishes that have come through this website rather than by other means. Visitors have found it easy to negotiate; there is a good balance of style and content. The website established itself as a “One-stop shop” for our constituency in Lincolnshire and further afield.

The project has had one important consequence already in encouraging further co-operation between the different organisations. This year for the first time the formal AGMs of the Church Union, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and Forward in Faith are all taking place on the same day and in the same place.

The support services offered by Daniel before and after set up have been crucial. His photographs and visits to individual parishes and priests personalised the process and established the distinctiveness of the different parishes and organisations.

His training for Blog writing was essential. Site maintenance and updating have, on Daniel’s part, been speedy so that information need never get out of date. Running costs have been most cost-effective and given us good value for money.

We definitely feel that without Church Website Design Project and Daniel’s advice, guidance and steering throughout, our vision would probably never have come to fruition. In Lincoln Forward in Faith we feel we have one of the best (if not the best) of all the Diocesan Forward in Faith sites; we’d like to think we’re setting a standard for others to reach.

Rev’d Fr Paul Noble – Sub-Dean, Forward in Faith, Diocese of Lincoln

E-mail: info@churchwebsitedesign.org.uk