Sheringham church website shines at awards

2015: Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham won an award for its website at the Norfolk Christian Digital Communications Awards last month, an area which website designer Gareth Gabriel sees as his mission field. Tony Rothe reports.

 
The awards were presented on November 11 at Norwich Central Baptist Church by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, in front of a 90-strong audience. Bishop Graham, who is the Church of England lead spokesman on media issues, commented on the opportunities offered by digital media to present the timeless message of Jesus Christ.
 
The Best Small Church Website category was won by Lighthouse Community Church, Sheringham with Highly Commended entries from Norwich Vineyard and Eternity Churches.
 
The Lighthouse website designer, Gareth Gabriel, has lived in Sheringham since 1998 and attended the church, formerly Sheringham Baptist, ever since. He is married to Rebecca, with sons Thomas, Ollie and Ben.
 
He set up AngelusMedia three years ago, having worked as an internet specialist at a car dealership, although he had been designing posters, flyers and websites for much longer. He decided to set up inChurch as a subsidiary of AngelusMedia so that he could market directly to churches, having been asked to build several church websites. His aim is to grow the business, hopefully taking on a trainee in due course.
 
Lighthouse Community Church came into being in September 2013 when Sheringham Baptist Church moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building on Cromer Road in the town. A new website was needed to reflect the new name and image, and Gareth was given the task, in partnership with DNA intern Peter Bending who worked on much of the content.
 
“The vision for the website was to hold the theme of a lighthouse without being too obvious” explains Gareth. “The site needed to be modern but follow the Lighthouse visual identity guidelines that have a beach and seaside influence with an art deco styling running through. The navigation needed to be simple for visitors, so they can easily find the information they are looking for. There is always room for improvement visually and with functionality, and while I am involved with the website I am sure it will continue to evolve to meet the needs.”
 
InChurch specialises in website design and hosting for churches and Christian organisations, as well as graphic design and videos. They are always willing to advise and welcome all enquiries. Visit : http://inchurch.co.uk/
 
 “I believe that the internet can be a dark place for so many reasons. We, as Christians, are charged to go and shine like stars in the darkness, so the internet very much feels like my mission field” concluded Gareth. “Churches should be able to use their website for so much more than just a notice board for their members; it should be part of their active ministry, and I am happy and willing to help any church take that step.”
 
 
To find out more about Lighthouse Community Church, visit : http://lighthousesheringham.org/
 
To read more about the Norfolk Christian Digital Communications Awards, click here.

The image above is courtesy of Kevin Gotts

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