If you visited our website before December of 2008, you know that it's made a major change.  While we've redesigned the site before, we've never done anything quite as radical as the 12/08 change.  The entire foundation of the site has changed, and for the better.  If you can spare a couple of minutes, please read the rest of this article--it explains a lot about the site and its relationship to our church family.

The Tiger Team

In mid-2008, Pastor John asked several of us to participate in a communications "tiger team".  This was a response to feedback we'd gotten through the SWOT (strenghts, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the same year.  The purpose of the team was to research and make recommendations regarding how to communicate with our church family in a more productive way.  One of the results of that effort was this new website.

The CMS

The biggest change in the new site is that it is now built on a "CMS" (Content Management System).  So if you hear someone say they "See a mess", it's probably one of us!

Essentially, the CMS gives us the ability to publish information more easily, and provide it to you in much more useful ways.  For example, you can use the search box up near the top of the page (on the right side) to find anything on the site.  It doesn't matter if the thing is in an article, on the calendar--whatever.  The search feature will find it.  You can also click on the PDF icon at the top of any article to get a copy of the article in the popular Adobe Portable Document Format.  In the same fashion, you can print the single article, or send an email link to a friend.

Join Us

The best thing about the CMS is that it gives you the opportunity to create your own account on the system.  Why would you do this?  As we go along, we'll be creating email lists, forums, and other features to help you stay connected at GUMchurch.  By creating an account on the site, you make it easier for us to let you know what's happening.  it also makes it easier for you to contact us with suggestions about how we can better keep you informed.  I hope you'll take the time to create an account.

Above all, let us know if there's anything you'd like to see captured on the site.  We're trying to acknowledge as few boundaries as possible, so let your imagination run.  The internet is a great resource, and we look forward to using its potential to make this site better and better.

In Christ,
- Jeff Peters, webmaster
December 1, 2008