Ditch Your Church Website
In today’s church, we must reimagine how we share the Gospel, create community, form disciples, and sustain ministry.
Most people no longer come to church.
Many people are nominally Christian but have no idea what that means in their lives.
In today’s world, we must use today’s technology to bring church to people.
This course and consultation are primarily about ministry.
And their about using today’s technology for ministry.
Core idea:
Most ministry digital presences are websites are stuck in the early 2000s and anemic social ministry
DYCW is about building a thriving ministry ecosystem using Planning Center and Substack:
one platform for organizing and caring for members
one platform for proclaiming, publishing, inviting
both for growing in relationship with God for those in the pews - and those beyond them.
DYCW is not a course you have to be super techie to understand and implement.
At the same time, it’s not a course for those who are too nervous to try new things (and probably fail at a few…)!
It is a course for those who are ready to make the necessary changes for thriving 21st century ministry
It’s for those who are ready to bring church to people.
The church is changing - and the institution is collapsing.
Fewer people are even looking for a church, and even fewer are finding us while we’re using outdated technology - and remain uncomfortable with being online.
But the hunger for community - and for relationship with God - has not gone away. In fact, it may be stronger than ever.
It’s time to build real digital ministry for today’s church - and world.
Why DYCW?
In-person worship and practice are still primary
DYCW is not about replacing embodied church. Real, local faith community remain the church’s ‘secret weapon of love.’
But there needs to be a pathway between ‘meeting online’ and ‘worshiping together in person’. And there needs to be real, actual ministry that is fully digital (some people will not - or cannot - ever come to church).Institutional church systems are collapsing.
That makes it harder on congregations - how to keep up with everything? Digital tools and platforms make church more agile, with less administration, organization, and communication (let’s let tech take care of the back office!).Why both Planning Center and Substack?
Because this is not primarily a ‘how-to use tech’ course. Both PCO and Substack have robust instruction and help on how to use the platforms themselves. This is a digital ministry course - and how to use these two platforms together to create your own thriving digital ecosystem.We’ll be doing this together
Throughout the course, we will use one simple formation offering - a Bible study - and one new domain (url), and walk through setting them up as an example. So you can see how it works from beginning to end.
Today we can move technology to the center of our ministry life: to make organization, administration, communication - and above all:
Create an online presence to a custom platform that is alive, engaging, and sharing God’s love directly.
‘Ditch your Church Website’ is a course and consultation package that helps you:
Use Substack as a dynamic front door for teaching, invitations, reflections, and stories that actually reach people where they are (it’s also free - and provides a potential income stream).
And Planning Center (PCO) for a flexible, practical structure of membership, communication, forms, sign-ups, and organization behind the scenes (along with their built-in public facing platform - Church Center) - for member engagement, organization, and deep knowledge of your community. The database function is always free, and the rest is sliding scale according to usage..
Together, they create a powerful and evangelical digital ecosystem: less about maintaining an institution and more about cultivating community, formation, and following Jesus.
Ditch Your Church Website
and Bring Church to People with a 21st century technology-based ministry platform you can easily use and afford.
The Course
$127
Walk through the vision of moving from ‘church database software, static website and anemic social media’ to ‘true digital membership and walking with others as they grow in their faith’.
Use two of today’s best digital platforms - Planning Center (PCO) and Substack - as the center of ministry.
We’ll stop at 9 points along a digital reimagination journey - 6 Planning Center features and 3 Substack features, customized for agile, networked, technology-based ministry (scroll down this page for what the 9 points are).
This course is available in May 2026. If you’re interested - and want early access and 25% off, just fill out this form:
The Assessment
$250
Schedule a one hour consultation and roadmap-building session. If you’re new to Substack or PCO -
or you’re using these platforms but need direction about how to best use them for more dynamic ministry
- let’s go through where you are, and create some steps to get you where you want to be.
The Assessment cost is automatically deducted from any Bundle of ‘Done with you’ or ‘Done for you’ services.
Done with you
$250 per point
You do the work, I guide you.
We work through one of the 9 points together in a session. Includes session recordings and notes, plus directions to specific PCO training resources.
Discounted ‘bundled’ rates for multiple points. Focus on only the features - in either Substack or PCO - that you want to maximize for your ministry.
Schedule a 30-minute video call to talk about the details…
Done for you
$500 per point
Free Range Priest builds it for you. Using tested templates, customized for your ministry.. Includes a walk through so you can maintain it yourself.
Schedule a 30-minute video call to talk about the details…
The 9 points
each point is a module in the course, and a unique consulting area that you can mix, match, and bundle
Planning Center (PCO) (6 points)
‘What time was that meeting again?’
Move from calendar clutter no one sees to targeted events everyone needs, using PCO Calendar and Publishing.From Announcement to Belonging
Instead of a static bulletin board (your old website), create a doorway into relationship with God and one another. Use PCO Groups and Calendar to create real community: people get the info they need (and not what they don’t), know how to join, what to expect, and how to stay connected.What Digital Ministry Can Really Mean
It’s not just live streaming your worship service! Design sign-ups and registrations that give a sense of belonging to digital (and in-person) members, using PCO Registrations and Groups.No More Generic ‘Contact Us’ Forms!
Replace black-hole forms with specific pastoral pathways that lead to immediate response - and ongoing relationship, using PCO Automations, Tasks, and Forms.What It Means to Be a Member in Today’s Church
Move beyond Member/not Member into a spectrum of categories that reflect the multiple ways people can be in relationship with your community, using PCO Customized Fields, Lists, and Automations.No One Walks Cold into Your Church
They want to know something about you first. And they want you to know something about them. ‘Communication’ is not just output - it’s a conversation. Start new conversations online with those who are new - and deepen the conversation with longtime members - using PCO Workflows, Email Templates, and Automation.
Substack (3 points)
Move Your Church’s Digital Doorway to a Place of Welcome
Don’t just host a static bulletin board about your ministry - create a place where ministry actually happens. Move your ministry domain (url) to Substack and customize the settings for engaging ministry.Here’s How to Bring Church to People
Turn ‘announcements’ into a pastoral, theological, and evangelical publication that grows an email list and nurtures discipleship, using Substack Settings and Formatting (+ connect your PCO Pages through Church Center).Build a Meaningful Bridge between ‘Digital’ and ‘In-person’ Community.
Digital members are still members! Connect with them - and those in your pews - with Substack Notes, Chats, Live streams, Welcome Emails, and Paid Subscriptions (+ the pros/cons of ‘Chat’ and ‘Paid Subscriptions’ between PCO and Substack).
Bundle Pricing
Not everyone is ready to do everything at once - or ever! Bundle the 9 points and get the help you need where you want it
Substack only (all 3 points):
Done-With-You $600 (save $150)
Done-For-You $1,200 (save $300)PCO only (all 6 points):
Done-With-You $1,350 (save $150)
Done-For-You $2,700 (save $300)Full build, all 9 points:
Done-With-You $1,800 (save $450)
Done-For-You $3,600 (save $900)
All bundles include the Online Course for free!
Already purchased the course?
Cost credit applied to any ‘Done with you’ or ‘Done for you’ bundle
(this can feel confusing! schedule a free 30-minute chat about getting the consultation need)
Creating your own, customized and dynamic digital platform with Substack and PCO makes it easier - and way more JOYful! - to Bring Church to People.
At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.
