In its first major overhaul since 2005, the diocese has revamped the look of its web site, dioswva.org.
The primary goal of the site is to contain descriptions of every diocesan ministry so that both a lifelong Episcopalian and a newcomer might discover the breadth of ministry across the diocese. It was particularly designed to emphasize news items to help keep the more than 6,000 households in the diocese better connected with each other and with the wider Church.
The color palette of the site reflects the green and blue hues of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a Blue Ridge skyline illustrates the masthead of the homepage. The site also features a new searchable database of the diocese’s 57 parishes and a searchable calendar of diocesan events.
When longtime diocesan webmaster and information technology staff person, Alan Boyce II, relocated to Florida in late 2007, the diocese explored options for web site hosting in a competitive bid process. It chose to contract with Digital Faith Community, a spinoff private company from the Episcopal Media Center in Atlanta, which offered the best price, good customer service and a straightforward web design.
In addition to the diocesan web site, the diocese’s contract with DFC offers an attractive benefit: Diocesan parishes will be able to host their church web sites through DFC at no additional cost to the parish. The parish would simply be responsible for managing the content and layout of its own web site. A training date will be held in mid-September for any parish interested in exploring this opportunity.  //