First, an apology

I do sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the switch has caused you. What switch you ask? Why, the switch of domain names (URIs) and site design of course. Southside Baptist Church has an excellent youth group program whose official web presence used to be located at etcstudents.com. It is now located at southsidebaptistgriffin.com/etc.

Second, an explanation

It was costing us a little over $100/year to run etcstudents.com; all the while we had a perfectly viable option for a youth group site right under our nose: southsidebaptistgriffin.com. I (Ben Gray) made the executive decision to save the church $100 each year by placing the youth group’s web site in a sub directory on southsidebaptistgriffin.com. This accomplishes at least two things:

1. Results in better stewardship of God’s money
2. Expresses the more obvious connection that Etc Student Ministries has with Southside Baptist Church

The 5¢ tour

• First, notice the very top of your browser screen. See that text that says “open search?” Yeah, click it…I’ll wait…(Ooooo’s and Ahhhhh’s commence). Nice, eh? Yeah, if you ever want to find something here that’s gonna be your best bet. Search first.
• Now, on the front page (southsidebaptistgriffin.com/etc) you’ll notice that there are three columns. The column on the far left will hold entries like this. They’ll range from random thoughts, to sermon-ettes, to miscellaneous announcements. The one thing they won’t contain is upcoming event information. That information will be contained in the middle column. Finally, the column to the far right is your basic navigation.
• One important thing to note is that all entries and announcements here at Etc Students will be open for comments. That means if you read something here and it leaves you feeling a little confused you should take a moment and write a comment. It may say something like,
  

  “Ben, this makes no sense, can you please explain (you poo-poo head)”.

  Though I do ask that personal insults and attacks to my character be limited to calling me a poo-poo head. *wink* Why did I decide to allow this kind of interactivity you ask? Because I’m an interactive kind of guy. I also firmly believe that the current generation thrives on interactivity. Look at the sites that attract teens: Myspace, MTV.com, Facebook, etc. They all are chock-full of interactivity. Teens nowadays (myself included) don’t want to visiti a site if the only thing they can do is look at it. They want to be a user, not just a visitor.

  At any rate, welcome to the new Etc Students web site! If you have any questions, suggestions or (gasp)complaints please let me know in the comment form below.

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