"Why would a church need a calendar?" is a question that we're asked from time to time. However, we feel that the church calendar is a way in which to not only encourage your congregation to visit your site regularly, but also to let potential visitors know precisely what's going on.

We all have some form of a diary, whether mental or physical. And having an online calendar is an excellent tool to help to invite people to your gatherings, and keeps everyone in the loop of what is going on. A church is a hive of activity and sharing this with the community shows that the church is alive, social, and sharing life together. All things that reflect what is fundamental to Christianity, and is very attractive to people who are looking for answers to life.

Not everyone is comfortable with having a calendar because there is a fear that there is not enough going on to warrant one, or because they don't have the time to update it, or because details of an event aren't available yet. However, we've tried to answer some of the hurdles that you might envisage adding a calendar.

I don't have enough events for a calendar

Even with almost no events, having a calendar on your website would be really helpful for your web visitors and congregation. It shows that you're meeting every Sunday, the time of the service, and the type of service e.g. family, guest speaker, giving etc.

We don't have time to update the website

Your Church Pages Website can link to your Outlook Calendar or iCal so any updates that you make on them will automatically be updated on the calendar that's on your Church Pages website. You can set up a specific calendar on your PC or Mac specifically for the church and enable members of your staff/congregation to add their feeds to it. And if you use Facebook to advertise your events is also possible to link your Facebook events your website calendar and these will automatically update,

We aren't sure of the details of events yet

When you add something to your calendar, it automatically updates on your website so you don't have to schedule in all of your events right away. Even if you do add an event to your calendar, you can change the details of it at any time

We use a Church App calendar

That's great! You're already using a calendar and so you can simply embed it on your website if you have not already done so.

A calendar is an excellent way of sharing with your community all that is happening at your church, and offering them an opportunity to engage with you. At Church Pages we can integrate a calendar into your website for you, so please feel free to give us a call and see how we can help you.