Webmaster: Brenda Fenderson

I would like to express my appreciation for the recognition the eChurch award provides for the Grass Valley Church web site.

My goal for the web ministry of the Grass Valley Adventist Church is to create a portal for accessing valuable web resources that can enrich lives. I've been amazed at the growing array of quality support resources available on the internet. Putting people in touch with useful resources, promoting their use through attractive graphical links, and including invitations to try them will help us establish this new ministry for our church.

Our initial introduction of this website to the church was accompanied by a handout that was entitled, "14 Things You Can Do On the Church Website." That continues to be our goal -- to provide lots of things to do. We want the website to be a fun place to visit. Church members have often pulled me aside at church and confessed that they have spent hours just exploring the links we provide. Moms have thanked me for helping them find good places on the web for their kids to spend time. Kids like to use the web site to give them easy access to their favorite sites. Office workers have thanked me for the link to Adventist Radio they play in the background on their computers. Cooks like to explore the recipes. A nurse told me that she was looking for a Christian rehab center for a patient and went to the church website and followed links until she found some.

While many churches use their web site primarily to promote their church and extend access to it's ministries, we are seeking to grow a whole new ministry that will enable us to provide valuable services through the web site. Many of our members have set our web site as their Home Page on their web browser. This enables us to use it as a communication tool, also.

I'm very inexperienced at building web pages, but have been doing graphic design for years. Using the online editor provided by SimpleUpdates.com, and free or low cost resources for building web pages I've found on the web, I was able to develop a functional level of web development skill within a few months. The online editor offered by SimpleUpdates keeps me from having to buy and regularly upgrade web development software. One big advantage is that I can edit my web pages from any computer that will get me on the web. I love that!

The Grass Valley Church web site is a work in progress. I intend to make changes to it regularly to keep it alive and enable new directions we choose to go. The web is such a flexible, growing resource, often limited only by one's imagination. I would encourage anyone who is fascinated by its potential to try a website from SimpleUpdates.com with the many useful modules, and grow your website's ministry as your skills and vision grow.

Thank-you to the Adventist Webservants Association for providing the eChurch awards to promote church website development.

Brenda Fenderson