It’s been awhile since I wrote about a UU congregational website (see my March 10 post “UUI’s Website is Seismic!“), so I figured that today was as good a day as any to check out another one. Actually, I’m more than a little chagrined to be writing about our friends in East Cupcake, what after my rather snarky post of January 24 (see “Bad News for East Cupcake UUs“), where I berated them for being anti-clerical and anti-Christian. But I’m a big enough blogger to admit when I’m wrong, and I have to confess that the folks at ECUU have really surprised me. Who would have suspected that this humble little fellowship in the middle of nowhere (not far from Lake Wobegon, I believe) had the foresight way back in 2004 to use WordPress.com as the host for their website? After all, this article on “5 Reasons to Choose WordPress to Run Your Church Website” didn’t come out until January 2007. What’s more, even though our friends at ECUU haven’t bothered to update their site since their post on April 1, 2004, they’ve shown plenty of wherewithal, chutzpah, and guts (or neglect) by continuing to occupy the same virtual claim they staked seven years ago—for no apparent reason. What. So. Ever.
There’s plenty to love about this site, actually. Por ejemplo, they kinda do two of the five things mentioned in the article “Church Site Essentials…Basic Elements of a Church Website.” They mention that they have some sort of thing (Program? Talk?) on Sunday morning, but they’re a little vague about when it takes places. They also give the impression that they meet somewhere, although where, exactly, Alan and Dawn live is a mystery. And while they don’t have a visitor’s page, don’t bother to explain their faith, and give absolutely no details about how to contact them, they do offer some interesting insights into their history and values. You can check them out here: http://eastcupcake.wordpress.com/.
Phil's Little Blog on the Prairie 
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April 1, 2011 at 7:26 am
Rev. Naomi King
But do they offer visitors cupcakes? This is what seekers want to know!
April 1, 2011 at 7:29 am
Phil on the Prairie
Cupcakes. Brownies. It’s all good!
April 1, 2011 at 7:27 am
Scott Wells
Is the electoral activity reference intentional, as something that must not be done?
April 1, 2011 at 7:35 am
Phil on the Prairie
Pretty much. More than once I’ve heard members of smaller, lay-led fellowships publicly offer their support for a particular candidate in a congregational setting, usually during announcements or joys and concerns. Often they’d use words like, “We need to get out there and show our support for so-and-so.”
April 1, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Dan
OK, you folks can diss the East Cupcake UUs all you want, but I’m terribly impressed by their Web site. Who cares if they don;t have cupcakes, and don’t follow IRS rules about political campaigning? They managed to get a WordPress.com site up and running before WordPress.com even existed. Any congregation that can do time travel is OK by me.
April 1, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Phil on the Prairie
They are pretty amazing, aren’t they!
April 2, 2011 at 5:17 am
Rev. Naomi King
Time-traveling cupcakes? Will they be fresher? We might need to investigate further.
But what we really want to know is how to franchise this refusal to yield virtual space. Are there rights to take up fallow virtual ground? What rites would be involved?
April 2, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Phil on the Prairie
Perhaps an exorcism?
April 12, 2011 at 10:26 am
Jon
Nothing says “dead” like an untended website. Looking over some local church websites in my area most are simply pathetic. The ones that are dynamic tend to be from the evangelical churches. The local UUA church offers some content but it is old. A UCC church offers a minimal webpage with no sermon or podcast content. How do churches think new people will find them and consider them if their public face is so pathetic?
April 12, 2011 at 11:40 am
Phil on the Prairie
Indeed, Jon. I’ve come to the conclusion that any congregation interested in growing needs to spend as much time tending its virtual space as it does its physical place. Thanks.
April 13, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Boy in the Bands - Churches and electoral activity
[…] Star district staffer and blogger Phil Lund (Phil’s Little Blog on the Prairie) considered a failing, fictional test-case church website where the congregation clearly loved a candidate in 2004. (And hasn’t updated their blog […]