About ECWH

Episcopal Church Web Hosting

A mission of SPCK/USA

Eliminates the barriers to churches having websites
Provides free hosting and technical assistance
Simple sign-up through the http://ecwh.org website

SPCK/USA
P.O. Box 879
Sewanee, TN 37375
Phone: (931) 598-1103
Fax: (931) 598-1107
Email: spck@sewanee.edu
Web: http://www.spckusa.org/

Does your church have a website?

Churches today are competing for the attention of the community as more avenues of communication open up. People keep in touch via cell phone and email. For many, the Internet is their primary way of getting information. If your church is still depending on a paper newsletter to keep your membership informed and in touch, you may not be reaching even half your congregation.

Keeping your congregation connected

With a paper newsletter, a church can reach everyone on the mailing list who takes the time to read it. If there’s an error or change that needs to be made in the newsletter, you can't make changes once it’s printed and out the door.

With a website, updates are easily made and immediately available. Anybody with a computer can reach the website 24 hours a day from anywhere as long as they’re still on this earth! An added bonus is there are no postage fees or address lists to maintain.

Reach new members where they are looking

Imagine you’re new to an area. You want to find a church and you remember the great community you were part of growing up. How do you find out about churches in your neighborhood? Other than driving around the area, where’s the first place you’re going to look? The Internet!

Most people depend on a computer today as much as they did a telephone 10 years ago. Surfing the web is the easiest way to find active church communities. In today’s “instant” world, it’s the way many people will find and get involved with a church. And don’t forget vacationers looking to attend Sunday worship services in their vacationing area.

What does it take to get started?

Different churches take different approaches to starting a website. Some form a communications committee and undertake an organized effort to develop a top quality website. Sometimes it is the initiative of a single individual. Many times, the clergy or office staff starts the effort.

Once the way is determined, the next step is to take on the technical challenge. Matching resources to needs: This is where Episcopal Church Web Hosting, a mission of SPCK/USA, fills the gap. ECWH volunteers provide technical assistance and arrange for free web hosting. This means that any church can have a simple website for as little as the cost of the domain name registration, typically $10 per year.

If you have no experience designing a website, ECWH volunteers can help you with that and provide step by step help through the process.

If you just need some technical advice, it’s only an email away.

If you’re an experienced web designer or diocesan organization and just need a place to host your website, ECWH can arrange to provide the server space.

Providing Resources for Christian Discipleship

As a mission of SPCK/USA, ECWH is a technical resource that serves to provide a gathering place for churches to set up and maintain their websites. ECWH provides churches with web hosting services and a capable technical team so that churches may continue their primary work of evangelism and discipleship.

To Get Started:

Register your domain with an accredited registrar. Set the name servers to: ns1.ecwh.org and ns2.ecwh.org.
Setup an account with us by sending an e-mail request with your new domain name to host-team@ecwh.org. In your email, please provide your domain name, the address and telephone number of the organization, and the contact email address.
Usually within 24-48 hours, you will be emailed a password to sign in.

WE NEED YOUR WISDOM on this and other Episcopalian web initiatives. Please join our discussions in THE EP_WEB USER GROUP at Yahoo Groups.

Make a Donation to SPCK/USA Online

ECWH recommends:
(click image to order)

For other hosting alternatives, check out ChurchSites, ForMinistry, Church Host or Christian Web Host. For a complete list of various web hosting services, try the Web Hosting Service Shopping Guide at CNET.

Help those in need: Donate to Episcopal Relief and Development today!