Yes. You read right.
Because you want to.
Because you care.
Because you are proud of Creekside's website.
Why vote?
The North American Division SDA organization (nadadventist.org) has an eChurch Award presented to churches that give careful thought and design energies to their church websites.
Each month a website is chosen as the outstanding “Website of the Month" and receives special recognition. And in December, a finalist is selected from the twelve that have been awarded throughout the year to receive the "eChurch Award of the Year."
Naturally, we'd like Creekside to be recognized for "Website of the Month", and also the 'eChurch Award of the Year".
Why? Because Creekside believes in excellence, and one that reaches out to draw people closer to Jesus, both online and offline.
Let us share with you how Creekside Community Church's blog not only meets the eChurch Evaluation Criteria, but exceeds it.
Meeting the eChurch Evaluation Criteria
The award selection committee looks at the following criteria when considering who to award.
1. Does the home page load in a timely fashion?
Our blog loads very quickly, definitely within 10 seconds. The blogging platform we leverage is powered by Wordpress, an open-source platform, and the focus is on 'content', and not slow-loading graphics.
2. Is the home page understandable?
We surveyed both campuses for what our members and visitors wanted immediate access to from the home page, and we listened.
From the home page, you can access and find out:
1. What Creekside is all about
2. Address, Maps & Directions to Creekside's 2 campuses
3. What time our service begins
4. Upcoming message summaries
5. Archives message summaries, podcasts and downloadable MP3s
6. Pastors' phone numbers and email addresses, and even what they look like 
7. Current and past photos of our members in ministry from both campuses
8. What's new, and breaking news you want to know
9. One-click to different topics and categories
10. Easy subscription to our blog so you can be notified of new posts to our site.
We believe our website (blog) is very well presented, with easy to access features, with no broken links, missing sections, or spelling errors (as of the last time we checked
3. Do site pages feature logical navigation options?
Millions of blogs on the internet follow our navigation conventions (or should we say we follow theirs…well, same difference), and so there are many visitors who will be used to our well-designed navigation.
Absolutely no scrolling needed, as the most requested links are in the top navigation, or show as icons in the body of the home page. Plus the links in the right column navigation showcase many of the important topics or categories you may be interested in.
All our pages are just 1 to 2 clicks away from the home page - either through our top navigation, icons, right column navigation, or through our archives.
4. Does the website feature the local church?
You bet!
We feature:
1. Our many different ministries (both local and international outreach)
2. Fun events - both in text and in our photo gallery
3. Creekside's vision, mission, values and beliefs (including hyperlinks to bible verses) on our About Us page that provides details about our 'vibe' and what a typical Saturday (Sabbath) looks and feels like.
In addition, we've made every attempt to position our blog well in the search engines so new visitors and current members can find us on the internet.
A search for these phrases will reveal that creeksideonline.org is in the top 10 of Google, MSN and Yahoo.
- 'creekside community church'
- 'community church langley'
- 'community church langley bc'
- 'church langley bc'
- 'community church north vancouver'
- 'community church north vancouver bc'
- 'north vancouver bc church'
- 'jim gaull' or 'pastor jim gaull'
- 'colin griffiths' or 'pastor colin griffiths'
- 'creekside vancouver sun run 2006'
5. Is the content up-to-date?
Our content is very up-to-date. Every week 'up-to-date'. It's because we have our pastors' and campus updates, along with future events announced, and messages and message podcasts kept current on our blog.
6. Is contact information available?
Yes. All contact info for our pastors are easily available, eg. their phone and email addresses.
Plus we have addresses, map links and directions to both our campuses.
7. Are meeting and worship times clearly posted?
Yes. They are located 'above the fold', below the heading "Weekend Services". You can't miss it - well maybe some could
8. Do the colors and overall design compliment each other?
This is an interesting criteria - and one that changes for us weekly
We're attempting to create masthead graphics and color schemes that match or complement our current message series. So this means that our color schemes and mastheads change weekly, and whenever possible, we design and infuse colors that are pleasant and complement each other well. (You can view a selection of our mastheads that have been used in the past)
9. Does the site include an evangelism component?
Yes, you bet!
We feature both local outreach and international evangelism categories on our blog. Our photo gallery also showcases our members in action.
In addition, we have our own iTunes podcast (Godcast) feed for Creekside Community Church. You'll need iTunes software on your computer to subscribe
Other evangelistic features we're planning on adding include Small Groups, Single & Marriage resources, Bible studies, and much more.
As always, when we blog, we focus on reaching and engaging our visitors with our personal and individual voice that (hopefully) comes across friendly, and inviting.
10. Is the content easy to read (grammar, spelling, etc.)?
We endeavour to produce text content that has no errors in grammar or spelling. Of course, we're human, so if you detect misspellings, let us know, ok? Thanks
11. The site helps eliminate confusion about who Adventists are?
We've featured extensive information about our vision, mission, values and beliefs here. Included are hyperlinks to bible verses so a visitor can conveniently and effectively research our stand on different topics.
We Can Do It With Your Help
So there you have it. We sure hope the above answers to the eChurch criteria has satisfied your curiosity about whether Creekside deserves your important vote.
With your help, we'd be thrilled to gain recognition as a church that believes in excellence, and one that reaches out to draw people closer to Jesus, both online and offline.
Click to Vote For Creekside Community Church now.
