Church websites need to be user friendly, welcoming and informative. It has to be a place where one can access sermons online, have an easy way to reach out and connect and find out about news and events. It should be familiar and easy for the existing congregation as well as newcomers.
How can a church website design be functional and look good? To answer that question we’ve put together a list of examples that showcase church websites that visually engage users and guide them to find the information they need. Each example demonstrates that there are lots of useful design features that work splendidly to make a church website special and great.
We hope that these examples inspire you to think about designing your church website to emphasize what you would like to say about it.
What makes a church website good?
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Like any website, a church website is nothing without its visitors. Churches tend to have visitors belonging to varied age groups and levels of tech savviness. So the best church websites are clear and easy to use.
Other elements will depend on the way a church operates. Do they have a steady online presence or do they prefer to keep events on-site? Are the necessary information upfront and accessible, such as upcoming events, values, news, directions and contact? Are there options to subscribe or donate?
The look and feel of a great church website will also be compatible with who they are and who they are welcoming in, and the “who” might just be everyone. A church website should be crystal clear even to a person who is new to a city or country.
So what are some of the best church websites out there? We have collected amazing church designs to inspire members of the church, designers and anyone else who needs to build a website for a church.
Church websites that use strong imagery
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Hillsong Church
What stands out in Hillsong Church’s website is how visually distinct each section feels from one another. Each page has a different background, often a high-definition photo of a London neighborhood, or the people, or just a fun, vibrant color. With the thick, bold font, the feature image on each page really gives a strong first impression.
Holy Trinity Parish
We are welcomed onto Holy Trinity Parish’s page with text of colors that complement the drone footage of the church and its surroundings. Having a scenic video that auto-plays in the background makes the website engaging instantaneously. The video brings movement to the page and also sets up the church beautifully (thanks, in part, to the California landscape). Once the user is drawn into the page with the introduction video, they can explore the church by clicking through to the events, schedules and any online resources.
LF Church
Once you land on the LF Church website, the image captures your focus. From there the website helps users navigate without much fuss. Locations, contact information and communications are all a simple scroll away. The homepage design is ideal for someone who would like to build a church website in a cost and time-efficient way. Most sections are designed to host information that can be static and do not need to be updated regularly. This makes the website low maintenance and easy-to-use, while still having a captivating pull for visitors.
La Placita
The location and the architecture can be a very important bond for a church community. Especially if it’s one as beautiful as the La Placita Church. All the elements on the web page design are made to complement the daylight of Southern California. The font, the colors, even the way the portraits are lit below. This site shows you that by focusing on what makes your church unique, you can convey who you are with an elegant, unfussy design with a beautiful feature image.
Christ, Unveiled
This web design first draws visitors in with striking imagery and a thoughtful quote. For the rest of the web layout, imagery is grouped with a balanced amount of text and plenty of white space. The address, social media pages, latest sermons are all on the landing page. The clickable articles make the design similar to that of a blog, there are lots of little nooks offering opportunities to stop and read. Something else that’s nifty is that it was also built on WordPress using a theme. Easy to build and to use!
Church websites where content and community come first
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Christian Church
Who are you likely to meet and engage with if you visit this church? That’s what the Christian Church’s website answers at first glance. The large main image is of the church’s members and there are similar images in other sections of the website. By emphasizing those in the community, the church gives new and existing members a sense of who they will be sharing this space with. This church website really puts the spotlight on its members.
Beyond that, the other key information is easy to find, such as a clear “give” call-to-action button, “about us” information on the community and church, calendar of events and where to find the church. You don’t need to look for too long to find what you need and to get to the page you want.
St Nics
St Nics Durham’s website has not just one but quite a few neat features. To start things off, the landing page has a video on the main header. The video gives a sense of the church’s activities and sermons. That’s the main focus the church wants to draw attention to for the user. It gives a visitor a sense of what goes on at the church and the people and community involved.
As you scroll through the site you’ll see touches like parallax scrolling and subtle animations, like a clock countdown or a hover animation detail. These elements add a sleek and modern look and feel. All these details can bring a website to life.
Vision Norway
Vision Norway’s website is content first and almost has a newsletter look and feel. Everything is meticulously structured. What the information is and why it’s there is clear. For example, there are several sections dedicated to church “News” and there is also video content in the Web TV section. These sections tell users that the website is tended for and updated regularly.
That’s a great way to share updates and keep in touch with visitors. They also make sure to include all the essentials and the day-to-day of the community members. The message is: here are ways to stay up-to-date with our church and community.
Higher Purpose Pentecostal Church
The community feel of the Higher Purpose Pentecostal Church is apparent from the start. The website starts with an introduction and quickly offers ways to visit and to connect. The large font size and minimal writing are unpretentious and casual. Everything on it says that we are here to speak to anyone who comes our way.
Church websites with a minimal aesthetic
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Bridgetown Church
Here is a church website that is showcasing a great use of white space and a “less is more” way of thinking. Just upon first landing on the page, all the information is easy to find, like that they gather on Sundays and do so with safety measures (under our COVID circumstances). Below is a breakdown of where and how to meet. Click on the menu tab and you will see items that are more like messages. It’s a simple and minimal web design that invites you to participate from the get-go.
Woodmont Hills Church
Lots of white space and large photos create a peaceful and memorable landing for the Woodmont Hills Church website. The main navigation menu is kept short and sweet, just the key links to connect and to find out more information. Nothing feels cluttered and all the key information is easy to find. You can click one of the menu items, but you don’t even have to. Just a scroll down the page will tell you everything you need to know.
Hope Hill Church
Hope Hill Church’s website welcomes you with a simple and minimal design. The color scheme is soft but engaging, with gray, white, black and yellow hues. Scrolling down helps you explore more and more about the church and the menu at the top of the page holds a treasure of content about the church for those who wish to learn more.
The Block Church
This website is visually striking even at first glance, even though the designs are simple and minimal. Right away the user knows where they are with the did block text of the church’s name. There is a lot of white space, allowing the text and buttons to breathe. The options after that are very straightforward: watch past sermons or current ones.
Church websites with a unique and modern approach
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Mannahouse
The homepage of Mannahouse is really quite different from most other church websites. It’s full of color and fun ways to navigate using a sideway scroll. With the block design, it really feels like there’s a little treat under every click. As an added bonus, it’s good for responsive design since the blocks can stack on top of each other and arrange to different screen sizes and devices.
Epic Church
Epic Church’s website is exceptional in how modern and quick it is. A short welcome video plays immediately when you go to the website. The video touches on what’s happening in the world at the moment and encourages visitors the option to engage, whether that’s to give help or to get help. There is a subtle animation effect where the content appears as you scroll, which adds a nice modern and sleek touch to the website experience.
From that point on, it’s all bright and clear indicators for any calls-to-action of the church’s key activities and programs, which reinforces their message in the main header at the top of the website.
Fearless
Welcome to the web page of Fearless, where events look like fliers for a cool concert! This church website is definitely stylish and pretty without foregoing the essential element that makes a church website great: clarity. Take a look at the very top of the page and you will see when and where this church congregates. After getting that crucial information, you can choose to explore the menu items or scroll down to get a sense of who is behind this church and how to reach them.
Oakland Church
Oakland Church’s website has a vintage dreamland aesthetic. It’s the sort of aesthetic that manages to feel a little retro, taking some inspiration from the arts and crafts movement, while also being something that belongs to the present day. Pastel colors and elegant serifs motifs evoke a pink sunset and wispy clouds, dreamland look and feel. The website design speaks to a more youthful audience by fitting into an aesthetic that is familiar, pleasing and stylish.
Build a home online for your community
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The websites we have showcased really stand apart from another but they all prioritize ease of use. A great church design empathizes with who its visitors are and what they would like to see. Even the more experimental and modern examples above showcase that a church website has to be user-friendly, inviting and clear above all else. You never know who’s going to stop by!
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