Site to offer stronger branding; GAIN summit also unveils Creation film project
The redesign of the Seventh-day Adventist world church’s website, adventist.org – scheduled for launch in October – will offer major enhancements in style and information architecture, say church Communication leaders.
The overhaul of the site will also include an improved design framework, creating an opportunity for better integration of the hundreds of websites throughout the world church. Church leaders say the move will deliver stronger and more consistent branding across the denomination, which has a decentralized structure throughout the world.
“This will allow the church to define its brand, to clarify its voice and move from a place of multiple different sites to becoming a network of sites,” said Garrett Caldwell, associate Communication director for public relations at the Adventist world church headquarters.
Caldwell and other Communication department leaders from the Adventist Church headquarters announced the website revamp last week at the Global Adventist Internet Network summit, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference brought together 230 participants – top church administrators and technology and communication professionals – to network on unified efforts in sharing the gospel in a clearer way around the world via the Internet.
The new website will be offered in four languages – English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The site is a key starting point for journalists, researchers and those seeking a spiritual community, Caldwell said.
"We want to invite each online visitor to join Seventh-day Adventists on a journey as we pursue a life of spirituality, vitality and service," he said.
The new homepage will have a simple, clear design that will complement its content database and interactive technical features, said Andrew King, the Communication department’s Web manager.
“We’re not just creating a new website, but a design framework for mobile, desktop and television,” King said.
Communication directors from across the church’s division offices agreed that unity and diversity are crucial to achieve successful website integration.
Church leaders from regions such as East Asia, Latin America and Africa are eager to integrate their websites with the new platform. Others, many of whom recently revamped their sites, will work toward adapting to the integration.
South Pacific Division’s Communication Director James Standish is open to seeing what the new website will offer for his territory. “I’m interested in universal excellence while allowing for customized design options,” Standish said.
Williams Costa Jr., the Adventist Church’s Communication director and organizer of the GAIN conference, stressed the importance of a unified digital presence.
“We understand the diversity around the world, the different tastes, colors, cultures and the need to have something that binds us, but people need to see us as a family and with clear content and visibility,” Costa said.
Offering greater unity of content and design was a need that prompted Corrado Cozzi, Communication director for the Inter-European Division, based in Berne, Switzerland, to attempt to integrate diverse and multi-language territory websites for branding more than a year ago. Cozzi and a team led by Klaus Popa of the Adventist Media Center in Germany have coordinated efforts with the Adventist world church’s new website project in the integration of microsites.
Following the launch of the new adventist.org in October, Communication leaders will hold a series of meetings to discuss options for integration.
In addition, the netAdventist platform for church websites will also be integrated into the new look and framework of the new website, said John Beckett, who oversees the platform as director of the church’s Office of Global Software and Internet.
In a Sabbath sermon, Adventist world church President Ted N. C. Wilson addressed meeting participants and local church members at the Ras Al Khaimah Seventh-day Adventist Church, urging them to continue using all means possible to spread the gospel.
“Share God’s love, share the Three Angels' Messages as to how God is preparing people for His soon coming,” Wilson said.
Wilson challenged technologists to explore ways to use in a comprehensive integrated media approach to reach the hearts of people through various outreach initiatives.
Participants were also shown the new "Creation: The Earth Is a Witness" film project, which will be completed and distributed worldwide later this year. Wilson appealed to conference participants to collaborate in innovative ways to showcase the film in churches and other venues in every community possible.
Several netAwards were given during the conference. The recipients were:
Carlos Magalhães, for pioneering Internet ministries in South America.
Rajmund Dabrowski, for overseeing the creation and adoption of the Adventist Church logo while serving as Communication director from 1994 to 2010.
Andrew Oey Kuntaraf, for technology leadership and empowering the Adventist Treasury department worldwide. Kuntaraf passed away last month in a traffic accident. World church Treasurer Robert E. Lemon accepted the award on his behalf.
Luke Pannekoek, for outstanding leadership in Information Technology ministry in the South Pacific Division.
Delwin Finch, for visionary Web ministry leadership in North America and for the world church.
Videos of presentations from this year's GAIN meeting will be available in June on the forum's website at gain.adventist.org.
GAIN’s 2014 meeting is scheduled to be held in India. The forum is held in different world regions each year to motivate and inspire local participants to understand the challenges and opportunities of fulfilling the mission of the Adventist Church in different cultures and regions.