It has been long overdue. I haven't changed the basic layout of this blog since I set it up in the summer of 2008. Since then I've lost a job, started a home church, then moved it out of the house and over to our public setting at Mid-Ohio Conference Center. All the while, the look of the Church Requel blog has remained the same.
Anyone who knows me knows that I get tired of things in short order. I love to create and refashion. But the blog was just always on the bottom of the totem pole of things that needed doing. Since I've started the blog, there's been the work on the new church website, the audio blog, the private online church community site, the Vimeo and YouTube video sites, not to mention the fun sites like Twitter and Facebook. And of course there is the weekly, creative juices that go into each Church Requel worship service.
Three things have motivated me to get out the blog paint brush and tidy things up. First, my seminary class has been canceled because of the snow so I suddenly had a few free hours. Second, the News Journal will be publishing an article about Mansfield's top bloggers within the next few days and I thought this might be a good excuse to fancy up just a bit. (Apparently if one googles "blog Mansfield Ohio," three of the top six sites belong to Church Requel!)
Third, and really the most important reason, is that this blog has taken on a different life than it had when it began. In the summer of 2008, this blog was the story of an executive pastor at a local megachurch. Now it's the story of a church planter AND (the most important aspect) his friends who have decided to take this journey with him. So I thought the look of the blog should reflect that.
The banner at the top now includes pictures of the many people involved in Church Requel. The color scheme is lighter and, I hope, more pleasing to the eye. And I now have some easy navigation links across the top that can take the reader to any of the sites that I keep up on a day to day basis.
So... what do you think? I'd love to hear your feedback! Mark
