Your New website

It's Christmas 2017, and my gift to Florida LCMS churches is a free website evaluation.

If you are part of an LCMS church in Florida and in need of a website, help just got a lot closer. Our family has relocated to Jacksonville (Grace Lutheran), and while we do not ever have to meet in order for us to provide you with a great new website, it doesn't hurt. Therefore, please reach out to us if your FL LCMS church is in need. While we focus on LCMS, we have experience working with other Lutheran churches, as well. We normally get enough LCMS jobs so that we don't market to all other churches, but we can fit anyone in.

Here's a list of LCMS churches in Florida. We will comment on the church websites for each (as we get to them). This is a free service of Luthernet to help Florida LCMS churches see how their websites can be improved to help inform current and future members.

I'll explain a few details of this analysis, which is meant to be quick and simple. The analysis is mostly based on just a few factors, and these factors may have varying importance to churches, viewers, and search engines.

• Mobile-friendly. This is the biggest issue right now. People are trying to access your website with phones or small tablets. It's that simple.
• I mention if sites cannot use https. Every site we build has this. It's not a big deal right now, but it's getting bigger with each web browser update.
• Another item is copyright date. Normally, I can tell when your website was designed based on this. Simple fix.
• Menus. There's no perfect number of menu items. Too many can be confusing. Too few can look bare. Mostly, users have to be able to navigate.
• Content. Most important aspect of websites that's often most forgotten. I can't speak to content too much in these short reviews.
• Type of website. Wordpress is popular. Weebly is often a "free" option. Type isn't that important, but a lot of churches don't even know what kind they have. Most free options charge for upgrades, but this still could be a decent fit for your church. We use normally use Joomla CMS at Luthernet.
• If I did not find a website and it's there, then records need to be updated with LCMS. This is your best link, and it should be current.
• The FACT that I am linking out to your church is a positive, not a negative. This is constructive criticism, and many of the suggestions can be completed by your current web designer. Just ask. Or hire Luthernet. Or try yourself, then hire someone.
• Websites are changed all the time. Contact me to update your assessment if you purchase a new website and want to see how it has improved.
• I did this totally free of charge. If it helps you, please check out an ad on this page. Or call 414-587-6740.

CHURCH NAME	CITY	WEBSITE COMMENTS
Abiding Savior Lutheran Church	GAINESVILLE, FL	Not mobile-friendly - also, menus a little confusing - upgrade
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church	BELLEVIEW, FL	Squarespace site; non-scrolling menu is annoying
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church	OXFORD, FL	same
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church	SUMMERFIELD, FL	same
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church	THE VILLAGES, FL	same
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church	WILDWOOD, FL	same
Amigos En Cristo Immokalee Lutheran Mission	IMMOKALEE, FL	website is national: Wordpress; not https;
Amigos En Cristo Lutheran Mission	BONITA SPGS, FL	cannot be reached by googlebot for mobile test
Amigos En Cristo Lutheran Mission	BONITA SPRINGS, FL	same
Ascension Lutheran Church	CASSELBERRY, FL	no https, probably costs extra on Weebly
Ascension Lutheran Church	MARIANNA, FL	no website - seems closed
Ascension Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	same as Casselberry
Bay Shore Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	no website. Bay Shore ELCA in Wisconsin is using an old Joomla website that we could fix
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church	LEHIGH ACRES, FL	looks weebly-ish, but not sure. Strange error code looks bad: "dkim.mcsv.net v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net ?all" and 2015 copyright
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church	SARASOTA, FL	Original url redirects to a Google Sites subdomain and proves that Google Sites isn't ready for prime time. We like/use Google Sites, and maybe integrate organizational elements as links out. Hard to look at as main website
Bethany Lutheran Church	LEESBURG, FL	2014 copyright; no https; not mobile-friendly Wordpress site
Bethel Lutheran Church	CLEARWATER, FL	Wordpress and mobile-friendly; not https - probably an easy fix; maybe an updated template soon--looks a little like Blogger site
Bethel Lutheran Church	HOBE SOUND, FL	Weebly is written all over it. Never use More... as a menu item
Bethlehem Haitian Lutheran Church	IMMOKALEE, FL	No website listed
Bethlehem Lutheran Church	FORT MYERS, FL	Google says page IS mobile-friendly, but not sure I agree. Not https.
Bethlehem Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL	asp.net means it's complicated to edit; non-https; NOT mobile-friendly
Bethlehem Lutheran Church	JAX BCH, FL	same
Bible Study in the Park Desoto Village	ARCADIA, FL	no website; associated with a church
Celebration Lutheran Church	FRUIT COVE, FL	Ruby on Rails website - probably too complicated for users; simple isn't bad, but maybe something fun on front page might be nice; map is a small dot in a field; the Our Staff page still describes what the page will one day accomplish
Celebration Lutheran Church	SAINT JOHNS, FL	same
Christ Lutheran Church	AVON PARK, FL	"We're sorry but the website you are looking for is not available. "
Christ Lutheran Church	BROOKSVILLE, FL	mychurchwebsite site; menus scrunched on my laptop; a lot of webpage is blocked by google, but not sure that's a problem; looks a bit dated, but lots of content is a good thing.
Christ Lutheran Church	CAPE CANAVERAL, FL	same
Christ Lutheran Church	CPE CANAVERAL, FL	same
Christ Lutheran Church	LAKELAND, FL	mychurchwebsite site; dated look but lots of content; looks better in mobile than on desktop
Christ Lutheran Church	SPRINGHILL, FL	same as Brooksville
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church	P C BEACH, FL	GoDaddy Website Builder site means limited tools; looks better in mobile than desktop; Photos are plural, not possessive; calendar could be interactive (Google)
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church	PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL	same
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church	SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL	Thrivent free website now defunct: WE CAN'T FIND YOUR PAGE
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church	ST AUGUSTINE, FL	same
Christ The King Lutheran Church	LABELLE, FL	no website linked
Christ The King Lutheran Church	LARGO, FL	Sharefaith site=build it yourself and $71 a month. In one year versus a $10 a month plan, you could pay for a pretty nice website, but these do work, even if they look template/homemade. Link to Comparisons - if you want someone in India handling your website, then these are all OK options.
Christ The King Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	Wordpress; besides looking a lot like a Blogger blog, it's a workable website. Maybe a fresh template soon. Preschool is another story. Not https.
Christ The King Lutheran Church	RIVERVIEW, FL	GoDaddy website. Simple websites can be fine. This one is a little too simple, only because it lacks imagery and current news section, meaning it's completely static. It's a business card in a business that generally requires a full portfolio. Add one photo and a few blog posts. And a calendar.
Christ The King Lutheran Church	SUN CITY CENTER, FL	same
Concordia Lutheran Church	KENDALL, FL	Both church and school sites are Weebly. Functional. Maybe the header is too big on desktop. Getting the job done in a Weebly kind of way, which is usually just a step below Wordpress and other CMS options. 2011 and 2008 copyrights look worse than they are. W favicon on school site could be a cross. PDF calendars could be interactive. Non-https site hurts ranking.
Concordia Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	same
Concordia Lutheran Church	SARASOTA, FL	Wordpress; nice website within confines of system; some might think header images slow pages and make scrolling a hassle, but the added imagery is stylistically pleasing; top and bottom menus are slightly awkward...again, not a big deal. Biggest issue is non https.
Emmanuel Haitian Lutheran Mission	DELRAY BEACH, FL	no website
Epiphany Lutheran Church	LAKE WORTH, FL	no complaints with site, besides image scroller being a little boring; https secure connection failed--probably an easy fix; interesting choice to redirect .org to .com
Epiphany Lutheran Church	TALLAHASSEE, FL	seems to be in good shape; what's that orange favicon all about? I designed a similar website with a lot of white space that had my clients asking for more color, but good website that meets requirements; does Cold Fusion really cost $1500 when Joomla and Wordpress are free? Ouch
Eternal Trinity Lutheran Church	MILTON, FL	url listed with LCMS is wrong; not mobile-friendly; no links work; small church may not think a new website makes sense, but Luthernet is willing to barter (yes, really);
Eternal Trinity Lutheran Church	PACE, FL	same
Faith Lutheran Church	CAPE CORAL, FL	Wordpress website that looks very Wordpressy, but it totally gets the job done; Hooray!
Faith Lutheran Church	CLEWISTON, FL	no website listed
Faith Lutheran Church	CRYSTAL RIVER, FL	NOT mobile-friendly; looks dated; audio and calendar are the only elements updated, and that leads to a lack of search terms for search engines; needs interactive map and calendar and news and redesign; that said, photos are nice
Faith Lutheran Church	DE FUNIAK SPRINGS, FL	no website; interesting church with 7 members and 4 attending each week
Faith Lutheran Church	DUNEDIN, FL	Wordpress--looks kind of old-school Wordpress, but it generally works. In mobile, the menu is always open, which is weird, but the website functions; however, last blog entry was 1-2016
Faith Lutheran Church	ELLENTON, FL	$45 a month plus $250 for design doesn't seem terrible for a decent website, though there is nothing stunning about the design, and that's $550 a year in hosting. However, once all content and emails are tied in, it's hard to leave
Faith Lutheran Church	EUSTIS, FL	another $45 a month site that does not even have a home page in mobile; design looks like LCMS old website; there's a lot on the website, but also a lot that needs login, which is kind of unfortunate to show in the menu
Faith Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	no website listed
Faith Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same
Faith Lutheran Church	HIALEAH, FL	Oh no! Shockwave Flash and ASP.net = most people aren't seeing the site, and it's hard to edit; added to this is it's not mobile-friendly, and it's time to move on; honestly does not look terrible, and has some photos, but it's still time
Faith Lutheran Church	HOLT, FL	no website
Faith Lutheran Church	HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, FL	same as Crystal River
Faith Lutheran Church	LECANTO, FL	same as Crystal River
Faith Lutheran Church	MERRITT IS, FL	site looks OK (colorful), mobile-friendly, etc. But it's NOT secure (https), so some people get error messages when logging in. ASP.NET means you deserve a medal for working on it; should have interactive map and calendar, as well as some news items (not just devotional)
Faith Lutheran Church	MERRITT ISLAND, FL	same
Faith Lutheran Church	N PALM BEACH, FL	website NOT listed with LCMS = many fewer views; Wordpress site is decent, but not so much for school site; missing an map to church...Link it from address, at least; two blocks from the ocean and very few photos? Calendar is unfortunate
Faith Lutheran Church	NAPLES, FL	10 seconds for a redirect? (change the address on LCMS) Nice wordpress page once there. In fact, one of the best I've seen, for Wordpress, but some may not like giant header;  no mention of cost on designer's page, so I hope it was affordable. Luthernet can create a similar website for you, and we'll say the price out loud: under $1000 and $100 a year hosting.
Faith Lutheran Church	NEW PORT RICHEY, FL	Link from LCMS=Sorry, the page you were looking for does not exist or is not available...http://faithnpr.org/#sthash.5bceVb9Z.dpbs = weird happenings. No malware found. Wordpress site is mobile-friendly but not as pretty as some; calendar takes forever to load--mobile users may not like this; page loads as https, but not secure; © 2015
Faith Lutheran Church	NEW PRT RCHY, FL	same
Faith Lutheran Church	NORTH FORT MYERS, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	NORTH PALM BEACH, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	PALMETTO, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	PARRISH, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	PORT CHARLOTTE, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	PUNTA GORDA, FL	lots of Faith Lutherans...same as one above
Faith Lutheran Church	SEBRING, FL	Is this hand-coded php? Loads in https, but not secure. Preschool link is dead.  It's mobile-friendly... However, the content is static...in the case of the photo gallery, it does not exist. No news or calendar or anything to say the church is open. Goodshop button is broken. Adobe Flash won't load on main page for me, and when I force it, there's a link to a non-existent page.
Faith Viera Lutheran Church	ROCKLEDGE, FL	A very large church on a Google Sites page? This is wrong on several levels, most of which being the domain name--sites.google.com/yourchurch ALWAYS looks like some teenager built the site for you. Here's one my 4th grade son made. (is it nicer looking?) These sites look OK, but they are practice sites or info sites. At least it needs to be the main domain of faithviera.org. It seems like this always was a Google Sites site. The new Sites looks nicer, but it loses the ability to write news/blog sections. That's probably frustrating. One could combine Sites and Blogger into one website--the only way Google can accomplish this in 2017. Every news item is only in a newsletter, embeded with clumsy scroll bar or available for download. Integration of Google tools is a plus, but too much given away for this. This domain also broken.
Faith Viera Lutheran Church	VIERA, FL	same
Family Of Christ Lutheran Church	TAMPA, FL	This website was probably a grand vision at one time. It's the latest version of Wordpress, but it's not mobile-friendly, meaning it needs a new template. The Member Business Directory needs to be unpublished (just look at it). Lots of scrolling, as is typical with a Wordpress site that's been around. I would NOT restart from scratch on this website, however. Get a new theme and delete/rework some pages. The content is key.
Family of Christ West	TAMPA, FL	same
First Lutheran Church	CLEARWATER, FL	Wordpress site that is mobile-friendly. However, this is another Wordpress site that negates the power of CMS. It needs to have a blog/news category. If not, this could be done in Google Sites. The point is NOT to direct out to Faceboook but to have FB posts direct into the website. Not secure https.
First Lutheran Church	GAINESVILLE, FL	Wordpress and mobile-friendly. Not a secure connection (https). Designed by a South African web designer--no problem there, just interesting. Nice imagery and all that, but it loads slow because it's a whopping 11mb home page. Use gzip and optimized images to at least help.
First Lutheran Church	INVERNESS, FL	Sometimes, when you type in the wrong website address, the browser goes to a blue page with a side menu that looks exactly like this website. Being skinny does not make it mobile-friendly. Menu items are linked to Microsoft Frontpage (circa 2004) pages. I know, someone will say if it ain't broke, don't fix it...put it in a museum. Also not sure about .church domain name--makes it seem hip and trendy.
Forest Lutheran Church	SILVER SPGS, FL	Not mobile-friendly. ASP.net, so it's hard to use. Secure connection failed (https). Events link opened up a Fish Fry pdf. Only newsletters and no updated content, but at least the newsletters are there. It's time for a new website... someone said in 2012.
Forest Lutheran Church	SILVER SPRINGS, FL	same
Forest Oaks Lutheran Church	SPRING HILL, FL	Wordpress, mobile-friendly, but not secure (https). Static site has either downloads or links out, but it does not have the one thing that sets Wordpress apart: a good news or blog section. Small changes can help.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church	DAVIE, FL	Had to enable Adobe Flash just to see website at all. It's a Clover website... These are pretty awful, with their tiny size and weird scroll bars; plus, they cost $1000 and $25 a month--never use these. Not secure https. I cannot see all of bottom menus without scrolling down.  Weebly or Wix or whatever is better.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	same
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	CALLAWAY, FL	Not a bad Wordpress site. The only update is "Kitchen in substory is closed  under renovation." That's bad because Wordpress is for updates, but the rest of the site is fine, except no secure connection (https), and the main photo looks like it was scanned from a slide taken in 1975. .
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	CHIEFLAND, FL	Not mobile-friendly. Adobe Cold Fusion may just need a new template. No secure https connection. Kind of a wild menu. Lots of scrolling. Mostly, it's lacking basic info, like phone and location on main page; or church name or image.  Video loop seems hip and cool, but it doesn't relate to this church or even LCMS.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	no website
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	FORT MYERS, FL	Wordpress site. Not https--maybe try Let's Encrypt on GoDaddy. Seems to have more on it than it does. Depending on screen size, all you might see is the top of the model's head=awkward. Potential to be good. School has strange $0.00 0 items menu item
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	FORT WALTON BEACH, FL	Not https secure. Never have "More..." as a menu item, even if E-Zekial thinks it's good. Also, it's not easy to get all that content off of old E-Zekial if you decide to move on. Besides that, it works.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same as Fort Lauderdale
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	GULF BREEZE, FL	Mobile-friendly Wordpress site that does not work in https. Mostly, this church and school wants everyone to exit the website to Facebook. Embed Facebook ON the website and encourage people to show up there. Facebook is not your domain, and there are all kinds of distractions there. Facebook articles die in obscurity, but content on YOUR website helps in searches.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	N FT MYERS, FL	same as Fort Myers
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	NAVARRE, FL	same as Gulf Breeze
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	NAVARRE BEACH, FL	same as Gulf Breeze
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	NICEVILLE, FL	same as Fort Walton Beach
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	NORTH FORT MYERS, FL	same as Fort Myers
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	PANAMA CITY, FL	same as Callaway
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	same as Gulf Breeze
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA BEACH, FL	same as Gulf Breeze
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	SARASOTA, FL	I REALLLLLY hope this is not the Abacus (web design) Gold or Platinum plan because Silver costs $2500, and that would be way too much for this website (if built today).  Anyhow, it can't be changed now. I assume this was a free website built by a church member who works at Abacus. These are nice Wordpress websites, don't get me wrong, but Lutheran churches do not have to pay this much. OK, I understand, most web design firms need many employees driving Audis. I don't: I love my 2001 Saab and love helping LCMS churches. It's almost Christmas, and "No Events Found" on the website?
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	SHALIMAR, FL	same as Fort Walton Beach
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	STARKE, FL	Yellow Pages website. Upcoming event is September of 2015--at least change this. Small church, so understandable, but the website is not in a position to help grow the church. Not https. It is mobile-friendly, so it just needs some content to let us know the church is open.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church	TITUSVILLE, FL	Decent Wordpress website by Doss Designs (at a reasonable price--not cheaper than Luthernet, but not bad). NOT secure https. Lots of whitespace and big headers, but that's not a bad thing necessarily.
Grace Lutheran Church	ARCADIA, FL	no website
Grace Lutheran Church	BONIFAY, FL	no website
Grace Lutheran Church	COCOA, FL	Mobile-friendly Wordpress site that needs more menu items and content. It appears the church is growing, and Wordpress sites can grow with you. Portrait image is unfortunate because it takes up too much space. There are better ways than "?page_id=15" to have pages. the most important page to use is the news or blog section. Not a secure connection (https).
Grace Lutheran Church	DESTIN, FL	Kind of a quirky website. Not better than the others on this list, but different--I assume part of a branding campaign. I built one website with no real menu in desktop, and I don't think it's optimal just yet. And there are other areas with extra clicks, like the calendar and location links. Main problem is lack of news or blog section that shows people from the outside what's actually happening or has happened. Therefore, it looks like a lot of marketing. Events page was empty with empty archives, wanting me to sign up for a newsletter. How many church shoppers will do that? NOT a secure connection, and there's an enews signup = bad user experience.
Grace Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE, FL	This is one of Luthernet's designs. Some pages, including main page, could load faster, but images and embeds are important to this church, so we went with more. Facebook is embedded rather than just linked out. Overall, it's what worked best for this church. Mobile-friendly and secure https. Interactive embedded elements make this a single destination.
Grace Lutheran Church	KEY WEST, FL	The main problem here is being a subdomain of 360unite. While the website looks a little templatish and dated, it's mobile-friendly and works, even in https. The news section seems to be one page, but it's more effective to treat it as a blog.
Grace Lutheran Church	MARIANNA, FL	no website
Grace Lutheran Church	NAPLES, FL	It's rare to find a website that is secure (https) but is not mobile friendly. This is the one. Some empty categories, and the photo album is not found at all. Lots of pages, though.
Grace Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	Basically, this is a Wordpress site that has been packaged by a sales team and sold for $500 and $60 a month. It's not even https. It might depend on services used, but you'll want your church to avoid these $50 or higher monthly charges. This one costs over $700 a year in hosting that we'd charge $100 a year to do (within reason).
Grace Lutheran Church	PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL	Squarespace page. Https and mobile-friendly. And yet, there's still something off...actually, it's just the front page. The giant Search and service time announcement and haphazard image blocks (some templates need all images to be resized to look right). Beyond that, it's fine. Well, there are about 50 different fonts being used, but that's not huge.
Grace Lutheran Church	PORT ST LUCIE, FL	same
Grace Lutheran Church	ROCKLEDGE, FL	same as Destin
Grace Lutheran Church	SAINT CLOUD, FL	I'm impressed that GoDaddy's Website Builder can make a website appear to be made in 2005 on Frontpage and still be secure and mobile-friendly. Someone has done a lot of work to make this as good a website as it can be. That said, there are some issues, like the lack of updated news: all the pages are basically static, though changed a lot. Also, the crazy bottom menu--just hit delete. And the Facebook and Twitter share buttons seem to imply I'm going out to those pages, but it's really to share items from the site. Apparently, I could even share a page on Sup Bro.
Grace Lutheran Church	SAINT PETERSBURG, FL	Looks decent. It's not https, so tell developer you want that...it seems to be misconfigured somehow. It's a Joomla site, so it's good that way. That said, it's sad there isn't a news/blog category of some sort, since the power of CMS is kind of wasted in static pages. I'm OK with the super-rounded menus and titles, but some might see it as a flashback. 3+ mb is kind of big for a home page, but it looks nice...I have similar issues with pages I design.
Grace Lutheran Church	ST PETERSBURG, FL	same
Grace Lutheran Church	WINTER HAVEN, FL	$50 a month is steep, but $1000 initial setup is OK for a website. Do you own the content? Can you leave and be happy? It's a pro website look for less money initially. The main issue, and it's fairly big, is the chunky menu, which leads to me not being able to see all of the categories under "Other" under "Resources/News." I'm sure this happened when the hurricane menu items were added. Also, the blog is kind of random, but that's one of the most important parts of a website for getting found. Actually, it might be just one article. My browser says it's not secure https.
Grace Tabernacle Evangelical Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	no website listed with LCMS. Gracetab from The Villages comes up in searches, but that's not Lutheran. LCMS claims there are over 300 people worshipping here, but if I was seeking this church out, I'd be lost online.
Grace Tabernacle Evangelical Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same
Hispanic Lutheran Mission at Family of Christ West	TAMPA, FL	no website
Hispanic Lutheran Mission at Family of Christ	TAMPA, FL	same
Hispanic Lutheran Mission at Hope	TAMPA, FL	no website
Hispanic Lutheran Mission at Messiah	TAMPA, FL	no website
Holy Cross Lutheran Church	DAYTONA BEACH, FL	Seems to be a Joomla page that is not mobile-friendly, meaning old. Not linked from LCMS, which is not helping with exposure. We updated this older Joomla site recently, so it can be done.  Site should have more content in News category, and it probably should not have an empty Classifieds section. Web designer website is for sale, so no help there. Nothing in the calendar, so church appears closed. Not https.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE, FL	Wix says there's no site connected. Not sure if it's a new attempt at a site or something that has disappeared. No pastor listed on LCMS makes me think this church might not be in operation. I've gotten my car fixed near there, and there was little sign of anything happening.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church	LAKE MARY, FL	It's a Wordpress site, so besides being Wordpressy, it's good. Secure and mobile-friendly. Newsletter category also has any updated news. I'd probably have the last few show up on  the main page or have an actual news category--not everyone wants the newsletter. Overall, if your best option is a Wordpress site, this is one to emulate. Monster-sized header images do make scrolling necessary, but I like the imagery.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church	NORTH MIAMI, FL	ASP.net and not mobile-friendly means this site is not friendly to anyone, viewer or editor. Nothing happening on calendar. Last sermon video 11-2016. Last blog is from 2014. Basically, a visitor would assume the church is closed, but LCMS shows attendance is nearly 200 per week. School has a Proweaver website, and I bet that was expensive. Google says the school site is also not mobile-friendy, but it is, which means it's getting blacklisted in searches by Google for no reason...maybe blocked resources. Anyhow, if price is the problem for any LCMS church, then Luthernet is the solution.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church	SOUTH DAYTONA, FL	same as Daytona Beach
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church	BROOKSVILLE, FL	Looks like another expensive-looking web designer that has an https website for its own business but has not done it for an older client. Demand it. Wordpress site is mobile-friendly. Soundcloud can cost more than how much I charge to host a website, and I use a free system on Lutheran Radio Church Service. To me, it looks like HTLC has a free account and deletes older sermons, meaning you never get the number of listeners--I now account for 20% of the clicks there. Just ask me how I do it. Also, a .us domain name? The newsletter is an embed for the month with no archives and no articles, meaning this does not have to be a Wordpress site at all, since that's the power of Wordpress (not the design capabilities).
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church	LAND O LAKES, FL	My sources say this is a Ruby on Rails site, but it's come off the rails a bit, and it looks more like one of my Blogger websites. Not mobile-friendly. Not https secure.  The News section is a good reminder why I use a single column most of the time. Actually, a good portion of the website is a reminder of this, and that a consistent font makes the website look, well, consistent. On the plus, and this is big, there's a lot of content, which has probably made shifting to a better website scary. While it would be a lot of work, we could do it for $1500. Really.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church	LUTZ, FL	same
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church	MASARYKTOWN, FL	same as Brooksville
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church	TAMPA, FL	Google says it's mobile-friendly (but it can't load images), and I think this site might even look better in mobile (you have to compromise). There's a lot of white space on a desktop (tan space in this case), but it probably is gone in mobile. Once again, never use "More" in a menu, especially for one more item. Some pages have giant photos with a non-clickable box, and some just have giant images. All require extra scrolling that might not be worth the photo. The last year in sermons--I hope they're not deleted yearly, but I also hope it's not too costly to keep them. Lots of events on the calendar is good. A lack of interactive map or even a Google Maps link is bad. Lack of a news blog is also bad, since events end. The fact that there's no discussion of all the good things going on, yet there's a menu for Donate AND Capital Campaign gives a visitor the distinct impression that it's all about getting money rather than what we do with that money. And I've never seen an LCMS church where that's really the case. In fact, the favicon looks almost like a "$" . Seems to be a Clover Site, so same price as us with more than twice the price per year of hosting. And not https.
Hope Lutheran Church	BONITA SPGS, FL	Decent design, but nothing really on main page. Minimal can be good, but not everyone will click for more. Mobile-friendly Wordpress page=good. Serve submenus spill off page=bad. Nothing under About=really bad. I assume this website is just underway and will be something soon. Maps, news, etc. That said, there are sermons since August and almost nothing else as of December.
Hope Lutheran Church	BONITA SPRINGS, FL	same
Hope Lutheran Church	BRADENTON, FL	Squarespace site that is mobile-friendly and secure. All is decent, and then you have the calendar (a pdf) and lack of news (blog), both of which make the website basically static. Google can't tell if anything is happening or has ever happened at the church. Form and function.
Hope Lutheran Church	DE FUNIAK SPRINGS, FL	The jury's still out on pop ups as you show up to a website. I lean towards no, but maybe for things like updated service times, and just a couple of weeks. Favicon is for Bruner and Company...that's kind of sad, even if the site was built for free. It looks modern, but my browser AND Google seem to indicate this is NOT mobile-friendly...if this was built in 2014 (copyright), then it was old school when built, which might explain pop ups, too. Oh, just type /administrator and now I see--it's an old Joomla website. That's not even a hard upgrade if it's 2.5. If it's 1.5, we just did one. Web developer fail here; maybe the cost was too high. We took this website from a broken Joomla 1.5 to a brand new install for around $1000 and SAVED ALL CONTENT! I'd have to charge a bit more than $10 a month hosting if all those audio files came along for the ride, but I can show you how to host them on youtube instead. Image gallery not working because of old Joomla version...that's just the beginning. Every month, it's harder to do this upgrade. Web designer's own page says it's from 2010.
Hope Lutheran Church	DESTIN, FL	same
Hope Lutheran Church	FREEPORT, FL	same
Hope Lutheran Church	HUDSON, FL	Holy Scrolly, it's a single page Wix website. Mainly, this takes away any blogor news section, but it's also just a single, long, mess, like the Dead Sea Scrolls. And there's another "More" menu item. I know Wix sites can have more than one page, and I also know they can have blogs, so this page can be improved. There was a trend in doing websites like this some years ago; the idea is that you focus on one pretty page, but the scrolling necessary on this one indicates the church has moved beyond this type of website/template. The images look pretty bad on a big screen, though they are probably fine in mobile. The Meet Our Pastor section is completely off my screen, too...probably a copy and paste issue with html. Wix sites are cheap, but they don't always turn out as well as you might expect, and there's really no one out there to blame.
Hope Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE, FL	Website took too long to load--it's not a complicated site, but it's somehow nearly 4mb and 7 seconds to load. Maybe it's the social media plugins. I'm ok with longer load times if there's a payoff, but this is just a Wordpress site that's bloated for no reason. Mobile friendly, check. Secure connection (https), nope. The Photos, Donate, and Where to Find Us tabs all overlap on my browser. Honestly, it's a simple template that mostly gets the job done, but there are some elements that seem either sloppy or done before tech changed to make them look sloppy. I could only get to the News section at the bottom, and there was no news, so I assume the church is closed.
Hope Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	I'm not usually big into ordering of the menu, but to have Online Giving as the first menu item is a bit over the top. Besides that, it's not a bad website. Better if there was a News section to draw search engines, and if the calendar was interactive (Google). Not secure https, but it is mobile-friendly. Looks like a nice Blogger page, so slightly on the utilitarian side, but it loads fast.
Hope Lutheran Church	PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL	same as De Funiak Springs
Hope Lutheran Church	PLANT CITY, FL	Slightly homely website, but it gets the job done, save for in two ways: it's not https secure and there's no real news blog to drive new searches through content. News is in downloads or links to Facebook, and that's the opposite of desired direction...the newsletter should promote the website, as should Facebook. I don't know if people turn away just because the website looks a decade old...I think the conent is more important, and this site has a lot of pages with content.
Hope Lutheran Church	SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL	same as De Funiak Springs
Hope Lutheran Church	SANTA RSA BCH, FL	same as De Funiak Springs
Hope on the Beach	SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL	same as De Funiak Springs
Hope Viera Lutheran Church	MELBOURNE, FL	Another Clover site. Works pretty well in this case. Not https. Some news in Upcoming Events. Overall, I'd add more content to current sections and focus on what the church does (will do/has done). Not sure if Clover is worth it if it's not hosting a lot of media (for $25 a month).
Hospital del Alma Lutheran Church	HOMESTEAD, FL	no website listed. Seems to have a Facebook page only. Not easier, not better, and not professional, but it's a presence online. At least have it listed with LCMS, I guess. Also, we've done bilingual websites.
Hospital del Alma Lutheran Church	LEISURE CITY, FL	same
Hospital del Alma Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	same
Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Esperanze Viva INC	ORLANDO, FL	no website; we've done bilingual websites.
Immanuel Lutheran Church	BRANDON, FL	Wordpress; the only news type of category is Sermons, and audio tracks only, with no description, so people are unlikely to listen unless they've been following along intently (sure, there are some). Wordpress can be great for news, blogs, and content, but if it's not used that way, then it's not. See how it can be used for sermon archiving here: https://lrcsonline.org/services. Google says page is not mobile-friendly, too. This may not be totally accurate--might just be some blocked resources, but Google is punishing this site because of it. Not secure https. Cool domain name.
Immanuel Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	Mobile-friendly and fairly modern. No blog/news section, and calendar is a pdf, so this ends up being a very large static website. Small text size may be difficult for some readers. Feels like a template, but a fairly decent template...just add weekly content. Well, it's not https, so that's an error in some browsers, and it affects searches--still minor.
Immanuel Lutheran Church	PLANTATION KEY, FL	Like many of the websites reviewed, this one could benefit from updated pages. It has a Google Calendar, but that content is gone once the event happens. Nice use of images in small gallery. Mobile-friendly Wix website without secure https connection. Meets many of the requirements of a decent church website in a basic way.
Immanuel Lutheran Church	TAVERNIER, FL	same
Immokalee Lutheran Mission	IMMOKALEE, FL	no website
Jehovah Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	No website listed. Facebook pages has some content, but very little to send a seeker in the right direction.
Journey of Life Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	Mobile-friendly, secure https, and modern theme=good. The fact that a web designer can't figure out where anything important is located=bad. I assume the goal was to simplify the menu, but I have to play around with links to get any real info. Fix is easy, really.
Lake Wales Lutheran Church	LAKE WALES, FL	No website. Based on search, this church seems closed. Perhaps another church is renting the space, as there are 152 people attending weekly and only 53 baptized members. I am sure there's a story here, but it's not online.
Lakeside Lutheran Church	VENICE, FL	According to Google, this page is not mobile-friendly. Based on admin page, it's an older version of Joomla. That means it's more than just a new template needed. We've done this before (and that site was more complicated).
Lamb of God Lutheran Church	BRANDON, FL	same as Lithia
Lamb of God Lutheran Church	LITHIA, FL	The .org version on LCMS is wrong, and no redirect to .com. It might be a new website. Wix, https, mobile-friendly, etc. The July, 2017 registration form on the main page not only cuts off the head of the person on the main image, but it also indicates no one has done anything to the website for half a year. And there's no menu because of it. That's a game-ender for most visitors.Finally, I was able to guess a menu name to move on. No ministries. Calendar has another popup wanting me to join this or that. But I'm not ready to attend an old event or join a mailing list. I'd say font is hard to read, too.
Lamb of God Lutheran Church	RIVERVIEW, FL	same as Lithia
Lamb of God Lutheran Church	VALRICO, FL	same as Lithia
LIVE UCF Lutheran	ORLANDO, FL	Modern and mobile-friendly Wordpress site. Last Blog post is Sept of 2016. Unclear whether group is still meeting. Calendar shows nothing.
Living Water Lutheran Church	MEXICO BEACH, FL	How cool is it to have church at the beach! Probably so cool that you can afford to have a website that's not mobile-friendly, according to Google. Then again, 60% of local searches for church are on mobile devices.
Lutheran Church Of Providence	DELTONA, FL	Many concerns here. Old website is still listed with LCMS. It was a free website from Thrivent that was cut off a couple years ago. New website is a single-page oddity that might have been hand-coded by a time traveler who went back to 1995. However, the main page that Google finds is the Facebook page, which is unofficial, and has main post from four years ago. If I was seeking a church, I would not know what to do with this one. Ironically, the website is designed and hosted by a marketing company that has not figured out how to get it to #1 on Google for the location. Ouch.
Lutheran Church of The Cross	ARCADIA, FL	The only thing this website is missing is Gary Wright singing "Dreamweaver" in the background. I've worked with Dreamweaver, so I'm not ripping on the program, but it can't be used anymore, like news tickers across the top, even if they are useful. Honestly, if it was just a dated design and a news ticker, I could be OK with this website, but it's not mobile-friendly, so no one who's looking for a church is finding this fairly comprehensive website, or seeing it well once found.
Lutheran Church of The Cross	LAKE SUZY, FL	same
Lutheran Church of The Cross	NORTH PORT, FL	same
Lutheran Church of The Cross	PORT CHARLOTTE, FL	same
Lutheran Church of The Cross	PUNTA GORDA, FL	same
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer	SANFORD, FL	Link from LCMS does not work. Cannot find it in searches. I assume this church is closed. However, I found it was mentioned in newsletters from another church this fall. Nobody looking for a church, however, will see that as enough reason to show up.
Lutheran Church Of The Redeemer	VERO BEACH, FL	This is a Wix website somehow made to look much older than 2013 (the copyright date). Seems to look better in mobile. Once you navigate from main page, menus don't work in desktop, which is really bad. Upcoming Events tab shows nothing--if a component is not used, it should be unpublished. There's no news or blog section, so it's as static as any older website, even if it's mobile-friendly and https.
Marco Lutheran Church	MARCO ISLAND, FL	This is another Dreamweaver site. It looks dated, but it's functional. There's a lot of content, but the site does not have a news or blog section to seem more relevant in searches and keep people of the church informed...newsletters are fine, but there should be articles. We'd just copy and paste all of this into a new website that's modern, adding a news section (in order to not lose all the hard work). Google seems to think it's mobile-friendly--I see, it's a mobile-only page that's basically useless: http://www.marcolutheran.org/mobile
Martin Luther Chapel	MARATHON, FL	Wordpress sites can look like Dreamweaver websites if you try hard. The site is mobile-friendly, but it's not secure (https). The menu is two lines, but Pastor Tony's Blog is empty, and the sermons stopped in November of 2016. That said, Newsletter and Calendar pages are updated. An interactive map would be useful. New theme with a few additions, and this can be a Wordpress website as good as any other.
Messiah Lutheran Church	CARROLLWOOD, FL	I think it's all here. Navigate around a bit, and you'll find it. I don't love the menus that pop up and down, even though I have one on Luthernet right now. Ruby on Rails framework, but it's not https secure. Google thinks it's NOT mobile-friendly, which is probably a result of blocked resources, but that will still hurt search results.
Messiah Lutheran Church	TAMPA, FL	same
Miramar Lutheran Church	MIRAMAR, FL	no website; small congregation. It's one way to grow.
Mont Garizim Evangelical Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	no website; can't find it on Google. Did it close?
Mont Garizim Evangelical Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same
New Alliance Haitian Ev Lutheran Church	WEST PALM BCH, FL	no website. small church. nous parlons francais.
New Alliance Haitian Ev Lutheran Church	WEST PALM BEACH, FL	same
New City Church	ORLANDO, FL	satellite worship, so no website
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE, FL	The main image and color scheme remind me of fall in Wisconsin. Favicon is a strange blue ball...perhaps it has some meaning I'm missing. Google says it is mobile-friendly, but with some page load issues. In desktop, the menus spill over into one another. And the font is hard on the eyes. There's a lot of content, and I'd say someone has worked hard on this website, which is why some of its failings are sad.
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church	LAKE CITY, FL	No website listed with LCMS, but I found one as #2 on Google search, which (I assume) means it's a new website. Wix website that's https and mobile-friendly. Calendar is an image rather than interactive. The News page has a staff photo. Lots of white space, but that might be because of lack of content. Update news weekly, and fill in a little more on other pages. Wix isn't fun or easy, but it can get the job done.
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church	OCALA, FL	Wix website done fairly well. I'd add an actual blog section for news rather than just links to newsletters. Favicon would be nice, but maybe Wix charges extra for that. Header above menu is big, but if service times are that important, by all means. Not https secure, but maybe Wix charges extra for that, too. The Wix model to stay in business is much more complicated than my own. I don't upsell as much, but a good designer can take advantage of what Wix does provide, until Wix decides to no longer provide it or charge more. It's a gamble. Anyhow, wrap-around menu is a little dated, and there are many stock photos instead of real people: is there concern about copyright claims?
Our Savior East Bay	CLEARWATER, FL	satellite worship with no website
Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church	CRESTVIEW, FL	This website is unique and it makes a bold statement. Google, however, says it's not mobile-friendly. True or not, Google might be ranking it lower because of that. And having to scroll for the main menu in desktop is a no-no. I have to admit, I think it's cool that each page scrolls on in. But then I get to that page and I can't get to another set of pages without going back home, which is confusing. Actually, after spending some time with this love-hate design, I'm leaning more towards the latter. Why does it take so long to reload the home page? Where is everything? Is there a news section or not? I give up.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	LAKE WORTH, FL	Wordpress website. Google sees it as not mobile-friendly. Nine loading errors might be the reason, or it's just an older template. Since there's a lot of good content, I'd recommend a new theme rather than a whole new website. The menu item to News makes you choose a separate category for the blog, which makes the blog a hidden menu item. If nothing else, it could be a submenu to News as Articles or something. The secure https connection also failed.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	Not https secure. It is mobile-friendly. Mostly missing a news or blog section, a map, and a calendar.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	PLANTATION, FL	A .org is generally (meaning always) better than the same .church domain. I'd only get a .church if I needed to, like grace.church. However, that ship has sailed for now. Looks like a fully-updated Wordpress website, but Google sees it as NOT mobile friendly, probably because of blocked resources. Regardless, Google may rank it lower in searches, as it's a .church and not secure https. Also, the power of Wordpress is in the articles, not in its ability to house pdfs, so I'd add some articles about events that have happened in the news category. Other than those suggestions, it's really a nice website.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	SAINT PETERSBURG, FL	no website listed with LCMS. While this might not seem like an issue with a new Wordpress site that's https and mobile-friendly, any related backlink can help. Lots of color and images. Calendar and sermons good. No blog or news -- Wordpress IS a blog, so it's power is in news articles. Some might see the top menu as dated with its hard edges. Doesn't bother me a lot, but it might make a new website look a little older.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	ST PETERSBURG, FL	same
Our Savior Lutheran Church	TAMPA, FL	Ruby on Rails, mobile-friendly website. Not https secure. Not particularly good looking. However, most of what is needed in a church website exists. I'd add a true blog/news section with more than just links to pdfs. Also, Google sees it as mobile-friendly, but the image looks like there's no mobile menu, so perhaps Google is missing that, or there's some other problem. Not sure why home page is /home; it may not affect much.
Our Savior Lutheran Church	ZEPHYRHILLS, FL	same
Our Saviour Lutheran Church	LITTLE RIVER, FL	Another /home home page. Another Ruby on Rails...must be a flaw of that system. Mobile-friendly. Not a secure https connection. Menu oddly/annoyingly switches to mobile in desktop after navigating from main page. No blog or news section makes this relatively nice looking website seem static. Lack of any real images make it seem sterile.
Our Saviour Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	same
Peace Lutheran Church	DUNNELLON, FL	Sad that the web designer had tagged the website at the bottom (normal) and in the favicon (not normal). Website is mobile-friendly and https secure, so even though it looks a little like a relic, it certainly can do what it's supposed to do. For example, if you want to see website design circa 2007, look at the Pastor's Corner page. I'm not saying it's time to start over because parts of this website are fine.
Peace Lutheran Church	NAPLES, FL	I can see from the favicon that this is a Joomla website, so #1, change the favicon. #2, figure out why this 5mb (large) site is taking 16 seconds to load...looks like gzip compression might be a good start. There seems to be some kind of Moodle test buried in the home page, too, along with a login, that shows up in mobile (check out Google's view). No sermons since May or news ever, even with all those categories making my head spin. A lot of static content, and that can be good, but what happened last week? Google Calendar is good to some degree, but when it's over, it's over. We love Joomla websites, by the way.
Peace Lutheran Church	OKEECHOBEE, FL	Another Joomla website, but this one might need some help. Specifically, Google says it's not mobile-friendly. Somehow, it also looks like it's about a decade old. Honestly, if it looked a little dated but still worked in mobile, that might be fine. Maybe it's just all the stock photos in the header, all floating in the clouds.Calendar is empty, which means to a seeker, nothing ever happens at Peace. Photos page claims to be coming soon, but that can last several years on websites. Sermons under construction, etc. Basically, this is an overbuilt website. Someone had high hopes and big plans, but then reality set in. Joomla websites can be awesome, and this one could get there someday.
Peace Valley Lutheran Church	WAUCHULA, FL	no website listed
Primitive Lutheran Church House of God	BOYNTON BEACH, FL	no website listed, but this is an intriguing name for a church
Prince Of Peace Lutheran Church	HOLLYWOOD, FL	no website listed
Prince Of Peace Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	Wordpress site that is considered mobile-friendly. However, the mobile menu did not seem to exist for me. Maybe the theme needs an update. Another item that needs an update would be a news or blog section, which is all about newsletters now. Sermons are nice to have, but news articles have more words and can affect searches in a positive way. Simple websites can be fine, but this one mostly needs to fix the menu. And it's kind of boring. I don't mind boring, but it might not draw seekers in.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	BARTOW, FL	No pastor, email, or website listed with LCMS.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	ENGLEWOOD, FL	2014 copyright on the website, which was also the last time people thought hit counters were a good idea. I think most kids today will think you have some kind of broken countdown clock on the page. Another old-school-looking Wix website that looks a bit better in mobile. Congratulations are in order for fulling using the ridiculous Wix "more" menu category, as this website has a whopping six categories that get pushed to page 2. It took me a long time to figure out I had to click on an arrow to listen to a sermon, and I build websites. I know, it's written right there, but no one uses random arrows next to text like that. The News section should be a blog, but instead it just shows newsletters, and it also highlights which months lack newsletters. Most of the important parts are here in a lackluster package.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	No secure https connection. asp.net = unnecessarily complicated. Google says it's not mobile-friendly. We won't touch an asp.net website, but neither will most clients who own them. This one has menu items and then more tabs below. I designed a church website with those elements in 2005, so I'll assume parts of the design are dated. And so is the Calendar page, which shows an error. In fact, there's nothing new about the website, which means it could be the same website with mostly the same content since 2005. And that's not a terrible thing, as long as something is new some of the time. Also, not https.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	STUART, FL	Wordpress with a pro theme can look pretty good. I do not understand the favicon. I don't like having to click for church or school...and how dumb is it to go back to that choice once you choose one and then click home? There's probably a metaphor I'm missing.  I really don't like that there's no news or blog for me to know more about the church without having to sift through a newsletter. Headers might make me scroll too much. The site looks and feels modern.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	WEST PALM BCH, FL	asp.net website. NOT mobile-friendly. Looks its age. Needs map, blog/news, and calendar, at least. I have to wonder how long the Under Construction sign has been spinning on the Stained Glass page.
Redeemer Lutheran Church	WEST PALM BEACH, FL	same
Redemption Lutheran Church	PANAMA CITY, FL	no website
Resurrection Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	Basic Ruby on Rails website trying to be modern. Photos of real people. Mostly missing interactive calendar and a blog/news section instead of just an upcoming events page that just lists what would be on a calendar. No https secure connection.
Risen Savior Lutheran Church	PALM BAY, FL	expired domain = no website
Saint Andrew Lutheran Church	HIALEAH, FL	no website listed
Saint John Lutheran Church	OCALA, FL	Menu DOES NOT SHOW UP in desktop for me (Firefox and Chrome). This is a Wix website, so it should not be this broken. I get it now...you have to choose church or school, but that's not apparent enough. Old-school side menus once you get into church home, with words spilling over. I was frustrated trying to find a calendar of events or any real news in all the submenus. Not even sure the newsletter is on the website. Basically, it ends up being a static relic to the day it was created, except for uploaded sermons. It appears devotions are written five days a week--that would be great website content instead of Facebook fodder (use Facebook to drive people to the website and church, not the other way around).
Saint Lukes Lutheran Church	CHULUOTA, FL	OK, Code Igniter website with the mega menu to end all mega menus. A lot of static content, so that's all set. And then, I wonder, what has this church done? Buried under Resources and Member Resources, I can find announcements or join a mailing list. But if I'm new, and I want to know that the ministries are doing something important, I can't see that easily, not even from the three "Latest News" articles that are located under what section of the actual menu? I can't seem to see more than last week's sermon in the Service Archives, either. The non-static part of the website should change and archive, without me having to work too hard to find what I'm looking for, especially if it's very easy to find the Donate Today button AND the Electronic Giving button. This is a large church, and I know it does more than accept donations, but I can't see that as well as I'd like to on the website. Sad that it's not https secure, either. Yes, it's a vast, nice-looking website, and it's mobile-friendly, so that can make up for some issues. I am also sure there's a lot on Facebook or Twitter, but then those articles also need to appear where it matters most, not as a link out to advertiser-supported sites. Even the social media sites (besides Facebook) have very little to add--there's no requirement they all have to be linked to.
Saint Lukes Lutheran Church	ORLANDO, FL	same - I just want to explain a little more, expecially since other churches will want to know what makes St. Luke's successful and probably look at it as the best website to copy. If you are a small congregation, it makes sense to list your staff and location and whatnot, but it's just as important to let seekers see that you are working in the community, that you learn together, and that it all matters somehow. You also don't have to embrace every new means of communication, since you don't have the staff for that. I have some church clients that would rather post to Facebook than the website I've built; then I suggest Facebook is embedded in the website. But you have to realize that an article you write about the quilting club on Facebook will get twenty likes and then be forgotten tomorrow. If you put it on the website, it will be there a decade from now, still getting hits, and still telling people about that experience. Real articles on a church-owned website are able to maintain relationships. Write the article, and then post to Facebook a link TO the article. Some people will "Like" the link and never read it, but they would never have read it on Facebook, either. Others will click through or share it with others who will click through. And then you have them, with other articles about all the meaningful things you do at church.
Saint Lukes Lutheran Church	OVIEDO, FL	same
Saint Lukes Lutheran Church	WINTER PARK, FL	same
Saint Lukes Lutheran Church	WINTER SPRINGS, FL	same
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	no website listed
Saint Matthew Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	no website listed
Saint Michael Lutheran Church	FORT MYERS, FL	The website linked from LCMS appears to be for the school, not church...you have to click the church link under the Home tab. This should be changed with LCMS. Not a terribly modern-looking Wordpress template, but it's mobile-friendly. Newsletters are better as articles on a Wordpress site--that's what it's made to do. Interactive calendars are better than lists. Most of what is needed is on the website, though it could use some photos.
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	APOPKA, FL	no website
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	BOCA RATON, FL	Looks modern. Adobe Muse website. Google DOES NOT see it as mobile-friendly, probably because of page load issues that can easily be fixed (but not by me, since I don't use Muse). Embed Youtube sermons instead of linking out to a commercial website. After navigating around, the issues are bigger than I'd thought. Annoying popups for any content, no news section, and more. I think this is a single-page website with some popups, and I wonder if that other content can even be indexed by searches. Only half the popups X-out properly, too. Great images to draw people in, however. Not https secure.
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	I am not familiar with the systems used to create this website: Dudamobile and Homestead. The mobile site looks like it's mostly a donation form. The desktop version looks old and sad, even though it's apparent someone has tried very hard to keep it alive. Images are good, but I get annoyed by constant scrolling...so do most people, I assume, since that's rarely used anymore. Not https secure. Words spilling out of frames. It's time for retirement, old website.
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	JACKSONVILLE, FL	website listed with LCMS no longer exists
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	LAKELAND, FL	I have to allow Adobe Flash on my browser before I can see website, so I know I'm in for a treat. Google says it's mobile-friendly. It's not really desktop-friendly, though. Oh, it's one of those Clover Sites. I really can't imagine the Clover sales pitch--"We're going to give you this tiny website that will annoy all your visitors and have scroll bars inside boxes, with menus in weird places." Based on the photo album, I'd say the staff gave up on the website in 2014, and I can't  blame them. Not https secure. News is only in newsletter form, presumably because Clover sites don't do blogs...just another reason they are bad websites. Run away!
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	Page is not mobile-friendly. I think it's hand-coded. Copyright says 2012, but it looks more like 2002. Menu disappears when you navigate from the home page. While this might be a metaphor for the resurrection, it's not useful in a website. The main page is kept updated, and that's good, but the website is just in need of dismantling. Here's Google's mobile-friendly report. $500 and $100 a year in hosting, and you'll be very happy with Luthernet.
Saint Paul Lutheran Church	WESTON, FL	same as Fort Lauderdale
Saint Peter Lutheran Church	MIDDLEBURG, FL	Red and yellow circle favicon--wondering what that represents...oh, it's the web designer's favicon, and that's sad. Also a sad design element is the disappearing text in the menus when you hover over them. And they use asp.net, so I know updates are a real joy. Speaking of updates, Google does not see this site as mobile-friendly, even though it's promoted all over the web designer's own website. This could be a page-load error causing it, but I'd ask the "pros." Crazy-tall header means the Community drop down menu drops up, and that's just silly. No announcements and no newsletter = nothing is going on at St. Peter. That's just how seekers see it. Most other categories could use more content, or maybe it's time to reconsider the number of categories.
Saint Peter Lutheran Church	ORANGE PARK, FL	same
Saint Peters Lutheran Church	BELLE GLADE, FL	No website listed
Salem Haitian Lutheran Mission	LAKE WORTH, FL	No website listed. Encore, nous parlons francais.
San Pablo Apostol Lutheran Church	MIAMI, FL	no website listed
Shekinah Lutheran Church	KISSIMMEE, FL	no website listed
Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	Mobile-friendly Ruby on Rails website. You can tell the church got tired of changing the copyright date, so there's a . and then All rights reserved in the footer. Does the S favicon really stand for Shepherd? Look like a dolalr sign. A couple of images not loading. Lots of white space--probably fine in mobile. Sermons are OK, but the other updated content (Newsletters), not so much. Only a single month in the past, and no articles talking about what's going on or has gone on. A lack of interactive map and calendar also make it seem like there's nothing happening at church.
Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same
Shepherd Of The Coast Lutheran Church	PALM COAST, FL	Think about this: the main domain for a church with a decent number of people is "sites.google.com/site/coastalshepherdpc01." Domain names only cost $12 a year with Google. Also, this website (and all Google Sites pages) are a good reminder that Google Sites is not ready for being the main website for an organization. I've tried. I want it to be good enough, since some of it is easy to use. But it's just not. It almost always looks like something someone threw together in a Word Document to show a web designer the basic framework for a real website. This one also sports a lot of extra blank space under the map. And there's no news or blog section...something that isn't easy to implement in Google Sites, anyhow. That said, it's mobile-friendly, https, and probably easy to use for what it's used for. Adding documents and videos is also a breeze, so there are some bonuses to using this system, just not in looks.
Son Life Lutheran Church	BOYNTON BEACH, FL	Hey, it's a Joomla website, and proof that Joomla sites can also look tired and older. Google says it's not mobile-friendly. I'd slap on a new template, add some more images, and definitely add a blog/news section, and call it a day. That's it. Since it's Joomla, everything will stay in the same spot with a new template, though it might look nicer to nix the index.php part of each page. It's funny that all pages except the main page have a copyright of 2014, though I can't believe this was a new template only a few years ago.
The Cross Central Florida	MOUNT DORA, FL	satellite worship site
The Cross Lutheran Church	MOUNT DORA, FL	It's https and mobile-friendly, though Google does claim there are some errors in loading the page. Probably no big deal. Super-duper photo menus look pretty cool. Blog AND News section. And the staff photo page is also cool...thinking about how I can do that with my websites if asked. Basically, if someone wants to see a nearly perfect Florida LCMS website not designed by Luthernet, then this would be the one. Can we do anything on that site? Yes. Do we? Rarely. Can we also add unlimited newsletters and other services that the website host of this website charges $300 a month to do? Yes, and for less than $300 a year. Do you own a website we build for you, free to host it elsewhere? Absolutely.
The Cross Orlando	ORLANDO, FL	satellite worship
The Pelican Lutheran Church	NAPLES, FL	Nothing seems to be known about this church
Thrive Community Lutheran Church	ESTERO, FL	Full-page video intro and parallax images get me thinking this is one of the top LCMS websites in Florida. And then there are NO upcoming events on the Events page. And there's no blog or news category. And it's just a Wordpress website. And there's some weird App Support page. And it's NOT https secure. Ironic that the theme is about relationships being everything...I guess that's if I stop in and say hello. As a visitor online, I am feeling left out...maybe I need to watch a sermon or click on Instagram to really connect. I'm just not sure...click;gone.
Tree of Life Lutheran Church	INVERNESS, FL	No website listed
Trinity Haitian Mission	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	No website listed
Trinity Haitian Mission	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	No website listed
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	ENGLEWOOD, FL	The animated gif has me thinking I'm making a right turn the whole time I'm navigating the website. And I think that if I click on another menu item, I'll be spared its constant and incessant blinking, but no. Photos are good; I don't know if they're from this year or a decade ago, but I like photos. However, sometimes you need a thousand words as well as a picture, so actual news items are also needed. There's a strange dark space at the bottom of every page, poassibly caused by the pain to my psyche. Or maybe a published module with nothing assigned to it. I literally had to stop navigating because of the blinking, however. Some people just can't handle that sort of thing. Here, just stare at it for a while on this website:
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	GULF COVE, FL	same - Also, I am not sure this gif is religious. The more I stare at it, the more I believe it's someone tossing a hot potato in the air.
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	NORTHPORT, FL
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	PORT CHARLOTTE, FL
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	PT CHARLOTTE, FL
Trinity Lutheran Church of Southwest Florida	ROTONDA WEST, FL
Trinity Lutheran Church	BELLEVIEW, FL	Ahh, the swoop header image. It reminds me of my old school district's website, and lots of other school district websites...and the web designer is a school one, so that makes sense. Sure, it's not the latest style, and you always have to scroll past a header image, but it's mobile-friendly and there seems to be actual news on the site in addition to bulletins and newsletters, so good job. Interactive calendar and interactive map (if you look for it--link it from address, too). Not sure what's in the member portal...most churches don't end up using this functionality, but we can design websites that do it. Overall, besides reminding me of a school website from a few years back and NOT being https (which might affect which browsers allow member portal access), this is a decent website. And it looks like it was the $2300 option, so not too bad. If another church wants this exact setup, Luthernet can do it for less than $1500, but, really, that price point is competitive, so don't feel bad if you paid less than $3000 for a website like this. I'd contact the host and tell them you want your site to be https, like its own.
Trinity Lutheran Church	CANTONMENT, FL	I think everyone who visits will be like, "What's with the landing page?" And then, "What's with the home page being a Beliefs page? And the wacky side menu?" And the What About area has an asterix next to some elements with the suggestion to call the office, but the other non-asterixed parts don't have any explanation or links or anything. I love that the architectural model photo includes vehicles from the 1960s to really give the church a modern look. No news and no interactive calendar. Also, it's not mobile-friendly, so people searching for a church home will move on to another website. And not https secure.
Trinity Lutheran Church	CAPE CORAL, FL	This is a mobile-friendly Open Resty website (another framework I don't know). I'm not sure about that menu in mobile, however, using "More." Also, the menus are redundant, which might seem to help, but it's kind of confusing. Some decent imagery and animated boxes. No news/blog section makes the site too static. Preschool staff photos should be there, unless everyone working it looks suspect. NOT a secure https connection.
Trinity Lutheran Church	CARRABELLE, FL	Mobile-friendly Go Daddy Website Builder page. Not https secure. No news or calendar or bulletins, etc. One ministry. It IS a web presence, but it's quite sparse. Some decent but pixilated images. Broken link to knowledgetreeacedemy.com If you get $500 ahead, Luthernet can spruce things up.
Trinity Lutheran Church	COCOA, FL	Landing page for church or school leads to a Wix site, complete with the wix dropdown ad and 2015 copyright. While Wix does have mobile-friendly sites, something about this one makes Google say it's not. Also does not appear to be https secure. Newsletter is only updated section, and the links spill over in to images. Besides a news blog, there should be an interactive calendar.
Trinity Lutheran Church	CRAWFORDVILLE, FL	same as Carrabelle
Trinity Lutheran Church	CUTLER BAY, FL	no website
Trinity Lutheran Church	CUTLER RIDGE, FL	no website
Trinity Lutheran Church	DAYTONA BEACH, FL	The domain is a subdomain of it's own domain, which likely means the old website is still there somewhere. It's not always easy to move a Wordpress website to the main domain, but then you end up with redirecting and a bit of a mess. Everything on the website is static, so it could be from any time in the last decade, and it negates the power of Wordpress. No news, calendar, or interactive map. Some menu items are in two places. The main consistent module is the Donate one, and that also has a menu item, so it seems to be the most important part of the website.Even though it's mobile-friendly, it's not https secure.
Trinity Lutheran Church	DELRAY BEACH, FL	Landing page yuk, then a church home with lots of imagery that feels static--maybe some animation would help. Asp.net website, so I am sure it's complicated to use, though it looks pretty good...implies pricey. I use the Facebook embed and calendar embed, too, though, like my websites, this one slows down a little to do that--it's a tricky decision whether or not to include on the main page or just a sub-page. Then again, this is already a sub-page because of the whole landing page thing. Looks like the once-a-week blog went silent and then came back as once-a-month. Other news is not on the site. Remember that all those events on the calendar just disappear when done, but the results are what's important to a website (at least to those seeking a church). There's no intuitive way to get back to the church home page from the top menu, so that means an extra click to find the calendar again, which might as well be on multiple pages. Also, this page does not have a secure https connection.
Trinity Lutheran Church	FORT LAUDERDALE, FL	2013 copyright--that doesn't look good. But it's a mobile-friendly E-zekial site. Not https secure. Oh no, the dreaded "More..." menu item. And one of the three main menu items (Weekly Worship Folders) seems to be a defunct service (summer of 2016). Newsletters stopped in 2015. Sermons, basically, in 2016. The snapshots menu is a mess because it's tiny with big titles. News and Updates seems old, with an invitation to Germany for the 500th Reformation. I'd think about cleaning it all up and unpublishing items that no one wants to deal with. Websites can be a lot of work, but that old work is often wasted if a someone shows up and it appears that the church has stoppped maintaining the weekly elements.
Trinity Lutheran Church	FORT PIERCE, FL	I started to get excited when I saw a section called Blog, but then that excitement turned to disappointment with the date of the last entry (Spring of 2014). This is a mobile-friendly Ekklesia360 website with a lot of color, but both the blog and sermon sections have been neglected for almost four years. Perhaps the Ekklesia plan got too expensive, but the lowest rate plan is still SIX times what we charge per month. The favicon is the E from Ekklesia, too. I wonder how long the Style Guide (part of the guide for the church to design the website) has been published. It's good to have an updated calendar, but this website has more potential. That said, it might be time to move on to a designer who can help a bit more. Also, it's not a secure https connection.
Trinity Lutheran Church	FRUITLAND PARK, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	FT LAUDERDALE, FL	same as Fort Lauderdale
Trinity Lutheran Church	HOLLY HILL, FL	same as Daytona Beach
Trinity Lutheran Church	LADY LAKE, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	LAKE PLACID, FL	link from LCMS goes to a Bluehost landing page. Looks like the website was taken down for some reason. We have dealt with hacked websites and defunct websites before.  New website designed by Luthernet!
Trinity Lutheran Church	LEESBURG, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	MERRITT ISLAND, FL	same as Cocoa
Trinity Lutheran Church	OCALA, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	OCALA, FL	There's a second entry on LCMS for a defunct website
Trinity Lutheran Church	OCKLAWAHA, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	OXFORD, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	PANAMA CITY, FL	Joomla website, so that can be good. Not a secure https connection, so your browser might give you an error message. Lack of images other than home page is kind of sad. No use of calendar besides service times. Photo gallery has likely been coming soon for three years--when I'd estimate this was designed. No blog or news or sermons, so Joomla's power is wasted. And what's with the .net domain name? The church seems to own the .org version.
Trinity Lutheran Church	PENSACOLA, FL	same as Cantonment
Trinity Lutheran Church	PERRINE, FL	no website listed
Trinity Lutheran Church	PORT ST LUCIE, FL	same as Fort Pierce
Trinity Lutheran Church	ROCKLEDGE, FL	same as Cantonment
Trinity Lutheran Church	SUMMERFIELD, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	TALLAHASSEE, FL	same as Carrabelle
Trinity Lutheran Church	THE VILLAGES, FL	same as Belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	TRINITY, FL	Wordpress website gone kind of wrong--nothing but white space followed by nothing but black space. I'd just publish the archive module to a new location on the side menu and add a nice slider or permanent images to the main page. Or don't publish the archive list at all. Here's what I did with a huge website with lots of sermon archives: http://lmcusc.org/resources/sermons - it's not perfect, but it looks clean. You WANT to archive, but it needs to go somewhere organized. And you WANT new articles, but the main page needs to look like a welcome place, not a news feed. I'd also rework the menu so that it's one line -- how many categories might fit under Resources, for example? This is also not https secure.
Trinity Lutheran Church	WEIRSDALE, FL	same as belleview
Trinity Lutheran Church	WILDWOOD, FL	same as belleview
Trinity Lutheran Downtown	ORLANDO, FL	Another landing page. This one has some quick links, so that's quicker than some other landing page sites. I'm about to design a dual website, and I think I'll have the solution soon, but it's tricky, I know. You may not believe this, but the main church page is 45mb and takes 15 seconds to fully load. If all that also loads in mobile, it's a problem. Even if it does not, it's still a problem, and why we have menus, even if I do like all the photos. It appears that the blog posts can only be found on the main page and not as a menu item? And that might be the same issue with the photos. Fewer blog posts and images on main page, and categories for those in the menu...simple. Really, it's not much, but these suggestions would help a lot. Navigating through, it gets a little confusing with different ways to do things--tabs, blog posts, more photo galleries. I'm fine with it myself, but just a reminder that some folks need consistency.
University Lutheran Church and Student Center	TALLAHASSEE, FL	Blue Host favicon is a nice ad for the hosting company but not for the church. Page is mobile friendly, but it's not https secure. I'm feeling like the 8% of men worldwide who are color blind might not be able to see the blue on red or black on red of this website. I'm not color blind, and it's a chore. Social buttons galore, but Google+ is kind of a let-down. Also, it's better to embed and make the site the destination rather than the ad-supported websites. An interactive map (main page) or link is better than a photo of the map, especially a static map that does not even show two streets. I'd avoid More as a Heading. Besides that, the updated content is awesome on this website. In fact, it might be the best in all of Florida LCMS churches. It's kind of sad that form is following so far behind function, but this is how a Wordpress website is supposed to be used in many ways. Some static content is missing, like History or Ministries. Probably not a big deal considering the clientele...it's just they also won't be searching through articles for all they might want to know about the organization. This is weird. After I clicked around a while, the blue text became white. I think there's a CSS problem. It's probably supposed to be white, but it's reverting to blue for some reason. Maybe the theme needs an update. Looks much better now.
Wellspring Church	DELAND, FL	satellite site
Woodlands Lutheran Church	MONTVERDE, FL	Everything seemed in order, and then I saw a photo gallery of mostly one event from 2013. And then there wasn't a real blog or description of what's gone on in the past (not just church history). The separate Youth calendar has nothing on it, so it's likely been combined with the main church calendar...at least it looks that way. Not https secure.
Zion Haitian Lutheran Church	PALM BAY, FL	no website
Zion Lutheran Church	FORT MYERS, FL	Big header image before menu means it drops down beyond screen view in desktop. No archived newsletters, so it's hard to see what's gone on in the past. Sermons link out to Youtube instead of embedding the videos, which means people get to see all the recommended videos and ads. No news / blog section, and that's what Wordpress does so well.
Zion Lutheran Church	TAMPA, FL	website listed with LCMS no longer works
Zion New Life Lutheran Church	WINTER GARDEN, FL	Sermon section seems empty at first glance, but you have to click on an external link. Unfortunately, the linked content does not help people find the church, save for one of many links in the About section. No news or newsletters or events, so it appears nothing is happening or has happened at church. Site is mobile-friendly but not https secure.