Did you know…? I design websites.
I’ve been using computers since I was a kid. (First computer: Commodore 64.) I’ve been using the internet since before the web… way back in the days of 2400 bps modems and BBS’s… even before AOL!
Still, even though I’ve been using the internet forever, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I began designing and creating websites. When we started Living Hope, we created a website for it… but it wasn’t very good. Then Bill Klein designed a new one for us, and it was much better. And then I discovered WordPress. WordPress is free, open-source software that started out as blogging software and morphed into a platform for building just about any kind of website. I love it, because there are hundreds of free themes and plugins available, and it’s easy to update the website from anywhere. In fact, I hesitate to say that I “design” websites, because I always start with someone else’s design and make modifications from there (with permission).
So anyway, here are a few of the websites that I created and that are currently hosted by our church at Dreamhost.com. (By the way, if you’re looking for a webhosting company and are considering Dreamhost, use promo code LIVINGHOPE to receive $50 off your order… and we’ll get a referral bonus to help us with our hosting costs.)
- www.livinghope.info - for Living Hope Community Church, the church that we started and I pastor
- www.valpochurches.org - for the Valparaiso Christian Ministerial Association
- www.sharefestpc.org - for ShareFest Porter County, an annual service event for all the churches in our county
- www.indianachurchplanting.com - for people considering starting a new church in partnership with the Northwest Indiana District of the Church of the Nazarene
- www.wvlp.org - for WVLP-LP 98.3 FM, Valparaiso’s low-power community radio station, where I volunteer on the morning show Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 7:00 to 8:00 am
And then there are a couple of blogs, this one that you’re reading and one for our church’s youth ministry, neither of which are updated very frequently. 
I’ve done other websites, too, that are no longer in use, and I’m in the process of developing others, but these are the only ones that are currently available online.
Some of these need some serious updating, like the first two in that list up there. I know. I’m working on ‘em.
I mention these here for a couple of reasons: (1) to let you know a little more about me, and (2) to invite comments and feedback. I love getting feedback. Sometimes I miss a typo or don’t realize that something that looks great in my browser looks like garbage in someone else’s. So feel free to share any thoughts, comments, or ideas with me. I’m open.
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Hi Rich. I happened to come across your site (through a link somewhere) as I was researching using WordPress themes for church sites.
I’m in a new ministry/location now and am looking to get the church online ASAP. Anyway, thanks for the examples.
Blessings!
I’m glad to hear from you, Randy! It’s been a while! I hope you’re enjoying your new ministry situation. I was just reading a bit about it on your blog. It sounds like things are going well!
hey Rich, i talked to David (Hayes) and he said that you were the one who helped him set up and configure all the details regarding his blogspot website. i’m a lil lost there (at blogspot, i mean… i got used to my xanga blog that i’ve had for 3 years now) but currently i am trying to create a blog for the company i work at (amcham ukraine -http://www.chamber.ua) and i wanted to ask whether it’s easy to make the address link work like David’s.
what i mean is, it doesn’t matter whether you type http://www.runawaypastor.com or http://www.runawaypastor.blogspot.com, it automatically directs you to the blogspot blog… can it be done inside blogspot or you gotta register a new domain, or something?
anyway, thot i’d ask.
this site totally rocks. did you design the whole thing yourself? wow. being in a web-design (sort of) and html world myself (i work as a web-content / e-publications coordinator) only for a short while, there’s sooooo much to learn and i love the area for the development.
also i noticed that you’ve got Extreme Nazarene added as a link here. have you been to Argentina on that trip? (since i don’t remember you from the Extreme Ukraine)… *sigh* that was a wonderful time.
anyway. yeah. thanks
Zee
Hi, Zee! I recognize your name from David’s blog. All I did for him was register a domain at dreamhost.com (the webhosting company our church uses) and set it to forward to his blogspot blog. It’s nothing fancy, really.
And, like I said in the post, I hesitate to call what I do “designing” websites. With WordPress, it’s very easy to find a theme that’s close to what you want and then tweak it — changing some colors or graphics, adding functionality with plugins (or direct modification of the php code), etc. That’s why I like it. But using blogspot.com or wordpress.com or some other hosted blogging solution is certainly much simpler than hosting your own site like I do here (and with the other sites mentioned above).
And, yes, I went to Argentina this past January with Extreme Nazarene. It was a great experience.
Let me know if there’s something more I can do to help!