The problem
Someone searches for you tonight and finds a line in a directory.
A church name, a cross street, a time. Nothing that tells them the Mass is sung in their own languages, that there are drums, that people from across the continent will be in that room, or that their children are welcome to come along.
Everything else the community needs already works. Notices travel through WhatsApp. The committee organises. The chaplain leads. None of that requires a website, and this proposal does not try to replace any of it.
The website is the front door. It is for the people who are not yet inside the building or in the group chats. That is one job, and it is worth doing properly.
What the visitor needs
Five questions, answered before anyone scrolls twice.
Every decision in this proposal comes back to these. If something does not help answer one of them, I have left it out.
- 01When is Mass?Date and time at the top of the home page, with the full year on the calendar page.
- 02Where is Mass?Address, a map, parking and the nearest bus stop, so nobody arrives at the wrong door.
- 03What happens there?Languages, music and traditions, set out plainly in a section called What to expect.
- 04Who do I contact?One form and one nominated inbox, instead of hunting a Facebook page for a number.
- 05Can I bring my family?Answered directly, because it is the question people are most nervous to ask.
What will be built
Five pages. Not four, not eight.
A committee can keep five pages accurate. That matters more than having more of them.
Home
Next Mass, time, place and map above everything else, then a welcome, what to expect, what is coming up, and how to get in touch.
About us
Who gathers and from where, the chaplain, and a plain list of the ministries a newcomer could join.
Mass and calendar
The dates for the year ahead in one list, including feast days and the archdiocesan occasions the community takes part in.
Gallery
Photographs you supply, arranged properly. Members do not upload directly unless you take that add on.
Contact and giving
One enquiry form to a nominated inbox, and a giving page connected to the community's own account.
The parts nobody notices
Designed for a phone first, written to work with a screen reader, respects a reduced motion setting, and the content stays readable if scripts do not load.
The home page, in order
Read top to bottom, this is what a stranger meets.
The order is the design. Anything that pushes the Mass details below the fold makes the site worse, however good it looks.
- Next MassThe single most important line on the site
- Date and timeWritten out, not buried in a widget
- LocationChurch name and street corner
- Directions and mapParking and the nearest stop
- A welcome for newcomersShort and warm, in the community's own words
- Who the community isTwo paragraphs and a photograph
- What to expectLanguages, music, length, children
- Upcoming eventsThe next few dates, nothing more
- Contact, join or askOne form, one inbox
The calendar page
A year of Sundays, and the ones that belong to you.
Below is every Sunday of 2027, shaded by liturgical season, with the community Mass marked larger. It shows the shape of the calendar page rather than a liturgical calendar. Your confirmed dates replace it.
What it costs
Two options. The difference is who changes the dates.
Both build exactly the same five pages, with the same design and the same giving page. The second hands you the keys, so a committee member can update the site without contacting me. If you expect dates and notices to change more than a couple of times a month, take the second.
Essential Community Website
I make the changes for you.
- ✓All five pages, designed and written up from your material
- ✓Giving page connected to the community's own account
- ✓Enquiry form to an inbox you nominate
- ✓Two rounds of changes after you see the design
- ✓Hosting, security certificate and backups
- ✓Two content updates a month, made by me
Right for you if the Mass runs to a steady pattern and updates are occasional.
Community Website and Self Management
You make the changes yourselves.
- ✓Everything in the Essential package
- ✓A simple editor, so a committee member can change dates, notices and photographs
- ✓A calendar that reads from a Google Calendar the committee already controls
- ✓A training session for two committee members
- ✓A short written guide, so it survives a change of committee
Added later these two pieces come to A$950. Built in from the start they are A$800, because retrofitting always costs more.
Payment is half on acceptance and half on the day the site goes live. There is no charge if you decide against it after seeing the design. The monthly fee begins at launch and can be stopped at any time.
Scope
What is in, what comes after launch, and what is not included.
I would rather you read this now than discover it in week three.
| Item | Detail | Essential | Self Managed |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the initial build | |||
| Five pages | Home, About us, Mass and calendar, Gallery, Contact and giving | Yes | Yes |
| Design | One direction, shown as a finished home page before the rest is built | Yes | Yes |
| Changes | Two rounds after the design is shown | Yes | Yes |
| Phone and tablet | Designed for a phone first and checked on small screens | Yes | Yes |
| Giving page | Connected to an account in the community's name | Yes | Yes |
| Being found | Page titles and descriptions, a sitemap, and help listing you on Google Maps | Yes | Yes |
| Editor for the committee | Change dates, notices and photographs without contacting me | No | Yes |
| Calendar you control | Reads from a Google Calendar the committee already uses | No | Yes |
| After launch, inside the A$30 a month | |||
| Hosting and certificate | Kept running and kept secure | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | So a mistake is never permanent | Yes | Yes |
| Content updates by me | Two small changes a month. Anything further at A$60 an hour | Yes | Yes |
| Training and written guide | Two committee members, plus a handover document | No | Yes |
| Not included in either | |||
| Writing from scratch | I edit and shape what you send. I do not interview people or invent your history | No | No |
| Photography | Nobody attends a Mass to take pictures. See the add on below | No | No |
| Other languages | Pages in languages other than English | No | No |
| Member accounts | Logins, member records or a private area | No | No |
| Paid to others, never to me | |||
| Domain name | Registered in the community's name, roughly A$20 a year | At cost | At cost |
| Card fees on giving | Charged by the payment provider on each gift | Provider | Provider |
Add ons
Three, and only because each has a real reason to exist.
I cut two I had drafted. A ministry directory is plain text and belongs on the About page, so it is now included rather than sold. Online giving has moved into both packages, because a Catholic community website where a visitor cannot make an offering is missing the one thing that visitor may actually want to do.
Photographs from members
Members submit images, a nominated administrator approves them, approved images appear in the gallery. Only worth taking if someone is genuinely willing to review submissions each month.
Email list
A signup form feeding a mailing service you control, so notices reach people who are not in the WhatsApp groups. Useful mainly if someone will write the emails.
A photographer at a Mass
This site will live or die on its photographs. If the community has none it can use, I will arrange a local photographer and pass on their fee with nothing added.
How it is delivered
Three weeks, once the material is with me.
The three weeks begin on the day I have your photographs, dates and text, not on the day you accept. I cannot promise a launch date without those, and I would rather say so now than apologise later.
Acceptance and material
You accept, pay the first half, name the person who approves on behalf of the community, and send photographs, Mass dates and any text you already have.
The design
A finished home page design, not a sketch. If the direction is wrong, this is the cheapest moment to say so.
Build and review
The full site on a private link. The committee reads every word. Two rounds of changes are included and work best gathered into one list.
Launch and handover
Domain connected, site live, final payment due. Training and the written guide happen here if you take the self managed package.
What I need from you
Five things, and the project moves at the speed of them.
One person who decides
A named contact with authority to approve. Projects stall when four people hold different views and nobody can settle it.
Photographs
Fifteen to twenty good images, with consent from the people in them. This is the hardest item and the one worth starting today.
Mass dates
Confirmed dates for the next twelve months, including feast days and archdiocesan occasions.
Words you already have
Anything written about the community, however rough. Notes from a newsletter are enough for me to work from.
An inbox and an account
The email address enquiries should reach, and a bank account in the community's name for the giving page.
That is the whole list
Everything else is mine to do. If any of these are difficult, tell me early and we will work around it.
Worth saying plainly
Four things I would want to know if I sat on the committee.
None of this is fine print. It is the part of the thinking that usually happens too late.
Photographs need consent
Some members came to Australia through circumstances they would rather not have attached to a public photograph. Please send only images where the people in them have agreed. If you tell me a face should not appear, it will not appear.
The chaplain should be comfortable
The community gathers within the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, in a parish church. Before we settle on a domain name or use any archdiocesan wording or imagery, please confirm the chaplain is happy with it.
The money is never mine
The giving account is opened in the community's name and gifts land in the community's bank account. I connect it, and after that I have no access to it and no view of the balance.
You are not tied to me
The domain is registered in your name. If you stop the monthly fee I hand over every file and help you move the site elsewhere. Nothing here is built to make leaving difficult.
How to proceed
Tell me which option, and I will send an invoice for the first half.
Send this and it reaches me directly, with a copy back to you for your records. Nothing is charged and nothing is agreed until we have both replied.
Or simply write to hello@markasare.com and tell me which option you would like. That works just as well.