More than ever, your church website is a critical touchpoint for members, visitors, and seekers.
Your site is not only a reflection of who you are as a church. It’s also an opportunity to engage visitors, call them to action, and provide lifegiving resources (such as sermons and livestreaming).
But as anyone who has ever attempted to build a church website has discovered, it’s not all that simple. To build a site from complete scratch, you need knowledge of coding and design at the very least.
Plus, visitors may have a range of goals when they come to your site. Are they looking up basic contact info? Are they interested in the most recent sermon? Or are they wanting to give money to support your group?
In short, creating a great church website is a tall order.
The best way to create an effective site? “Learn by example,” they say (After all, isn’t that how Jesus taught the disciples?)
In the following article, we’re taking a look at 11 great examples of church websites, and why we think they’re exceptionally effective, engaging, and just plain cool to look at.
Church Website Example #1: City Life
City Life is an Alberta-based church with a unique message: Find your place in God’s story.
Their website showcases a church that’s fun, accessible, and Christ-centered with the following powerful features.
An Awesome Above the Fold
“Above the fold” is marketing lingo for what’s immediately apparent to a site visitor. In other words, if something is visible without scrolling down, it’s above the fold.
City Life makes a dynamic first impression on visitors with a unique, above the fold message that immediately engages visitors and gets them to think. The background of the message is a live, dynamic video visual of scenes from the church so that visitors can immediately get a feel for who they can expect to see on a Sunday morning.
Call to Action
A call to action (or CTA) is typically an active button that invites the site visitor to a specific action. City Life has a call to action to “Watch Online” for site visitors who might want to check out the church’s livestreaming. The CTA is above the fold, making it easy to click without needing to scroll down.
Loads of Personality
Quickly run through City Life’s site, and it’s not hard to see that this church is oozing with personality. With unique messaging, a blooper reel, a spunky video intro, and a detailed “Leadership” page, City Life’s site effectively uses graphics, copy, and video content to communicate exactly who they are.
Easy to Navigate
Great websites have clear, easy user interfaces. In other words, they’re easy to navigate and explore.
City Life’s site makes it simple to find key information on the homepage (services times and ministries), and to locate additional information in an easy to read menu across the top of the homepage.
Church Website Example #2: Real Life Church
Real Life Church is a down to earth church based in Bakersfield, CA. Their messaging is focused on getting real with people to help them navigate everyday life with Jesus.
Real Life Church’s website does a great job of drawing in visitors and making their message clear and accessible. Here’s how they do it.
A rich, unique color palette.
Color scheme might seem like an afterthought, but choosing the right brand colors can make the difference between communicating “We’re a fun, 20-something church” and “We’re a family-friendly church with a low-key vibe.”
Real Life Church leans towards the latter with their branding, and chose a rich, unique color palette: dark teal and mustard yellow, with white text. The result is a warm, inviting appearance that would appeal as much to the young mom as to the retiree.
Easy to Follow Buttons
Three graphic buttons directly below the fold make it simple for site visitors to take action on Real Life Church’s site: Connect, Pray, or Give. Represented by simple text and icons, these buttons drive visitors to action with minimal confusion.
Event Calendar
Churches typically have a range of meetings and services throughout the week, along with one-time events like conferences. That being said, there’s a lot to communicate to site visitors, including times, locations, and other relevant details.
Real Life Church has two options for discovering events: a section on their homepage with a few core events, and a more detailed Event page with a full selection of regular events, such as Men’s Bible Study and Prayer.
Newsletter Signup
One way to stay engaged with site visitors is through a newsletter signup. Creating a slot for email signups creates a low barrier for communicating with one-time visitors who might want to learn more about your church, but who aren’t ready to register for an event or sign up for a group.
At the bottom of every page, Real Life Church has an option for providing your email address to subscribe to a newsletter. This is a simple, subtle reminder for visitors to engage with their church without making a huge “ask.”
Church Website Example #3: Centralia Bible Baptist Church
Based in beautiful Centralia, Washington, Centralia Bible Baptist Church is a church that’s committed to teaching Scriptural truth, discipling others, and sharing the Gospel.
Centralia Bible Baptist Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Beautiful above-the-fold graphic.
CBBC chose an eye-catching, contemporary above-the-fold graphic that looks clean and inviting. They overlaid text on the graphic to make it clear what they’re all about.
Immediate information.
As soon as visitors scroll down from the above-the-fold graphic, they see clearly displayed service times.
A robust sermon series page.
CBBC makes it easy to access their teaching on a detailed sermon series page. Their sermons are clearly displayed with teacher, date, and scripture reference. They even offer site visitors a filtering tool that makes it simple to find specific teachings.
Church Website Example #4: Salt Creek Baptist Church
Salt Creek Baptist Church is an Oregon-based church with a warm, family-forward approach and a rich, 120-year legacy.
Salt Creek may have been around since the early 1900’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s stayed behind in terms of technology. They’ve got a fresh, clean website that helps visitors learn exactly who they are and how they can get involved at Salt Creek.
Here’s what makes their website great.
Livestreaming.
Livestreaming services has become more important than ever, with some church members choosing to stay home from regular service.
Salt Creek makes their livestreaming option clear and accessible. Directly below the fold, Salt Creek has a call to action to “Watch...Sunday Morning Worship Live,” along with a video player to make it easy to watch right then and there.
A detailed sermons page.
Many first-time visitors to a church like to check out sermons before committing to a Sunday morning service. Existing members also like to have access to sermons so that they can catch up after a weekend away, or even revisit a message if it was especially powerful.
Salt Creek does a great job of offering a clear, easy-to-access library of current messages on their “Sermons” page, conveniently located on the menu at the top of their homepage. Visitors can filter sermons by year, series title, or even speaker. Or, they can simply scroll through the most recent sermons.
Simplicity rules.
Sometimes, simplicity works best, and Salt Creek Baptist chooses to keep their homepage simple with a pleasant banner graphic and bold but classic color palette: red and yellow. A quick scroll through their homepage, and visitors can also learn exactly who they are, what they teach, how to participate on Sundays, and other relevant news and updates.
A top of page banner.
As any leader in church knows, churches are often hiring for new positions. Hiring for the position of Children’s Ministries Director, Salt Creek strategically displays this information in a thin but visible banner across the top of their homepage.
Church Website Example #5: Beloved City Church
Beloved City Church is another Alberta-based church with a vision to see close-knit community transform the world through the love of Christ.
Immediate CTA.
The Beloved City Church homepage has an immediate call-to-action: “Connect With Us.” This immediately lets people know that this is a church that wants to connect–and gives visitors a way to do it.
Simple sermon player.
One of the best ways to gauge whether a church might be a good fit or not is to listen to a sermon. This website has an easy-to-access sermon player right below the fold of the front homepage, directing visitors to their most recent messages.
Newsletter sign-up.
Site visitors who want to receive regular news from Beloved City Church can sign up for their newsletter emails at the bottom of the homepage.
Church Website Example #6: SD.Church
SD.Church is a San Diego-based church with a few different locations. Its mission? To build Christ-centered community throughout San Diego.
SD.Church’s website is fun, vibrant, and inviting. Here are a few more reasons why we think this site is a win.
Awesome site location pages.
As mentioned above, SD.Church has multiple locations across the San Diego area. Their website does a great job at keeping this multisite church organized, with individual location pages that display staff members, home group information, and an events calendar.
Social links.
It’s more important than ever to build a church presence online, and SD.Church does an amazing job at linking site visitors to their YouTube page, Instagram account, and Livestreaming on Facebook.
Clear navigation.
It’s easy for site visitors to find their way around this website, with clear headers, buttons, and sections that make navigation a breeze.
Church Website Example #7: Be The Church
Be The Church is a South Atlanta-based church community with an emphasis on faith in action.
Be The Church’s website is bold, intriguing, and action-oriented. Here are three other things we love about this site.
Unique calls to action.
Every church website should have a call-to-action that’s immediately displayed on the home page. Be The Church created an especially unique CTA that invites site visitors into a transformative experience.
Awesome giving page.
Giving online should be super easy. This website not only makes it easy to give, but provides site visitors with easy-to-understand instructions for giving online, with a text message, and more.
Church Website Example #8: Unity of Dallas
Unity of Dallas is a Dallas-based church with a heavy emphasis on prayer and community.
Unity of Dallas offers a ton of great information on their church website. Here are just a few of the features we love.
Upcoming Events.
Unity of Dallas displays a clear events calendar on their homepage that makes it easy for site visitors to immediately see how they can get involved.
Livestream Services.
Unity of Dallas makes it simple to check out their livestream services from their homepage. They even display the specific title of each sermon.
Prayer Requests.
One unique feature on the Unity of Dallas website is the prayer request feature. Site visitors are encouraged to submit prayer requests for any of their needs.
Church Website Example #9: Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church
Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church is a warm, community-oriented church based in Washington State.
JCSL Church has a great, detailed church website that offers a ton of interesting information to site visitors.
Blog.
JCSL Church has an active blog that allows site visitors to get an intimate peek into the lives of church staff.
Ministries Page.
JCSL Church has a great ministries page that highlights the different opportunities they have to get involved and plugged into the community.
“I’m New”.
JCSL Church has an “I’m New” page that answers commonly asked questions about the church. This makes it fast and simple to understand the new visitor experience.
Church Website Example #10: Transformation Church
Transformation Church is a Canada-based church that “ exists to make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ that will have a significant and lasting impact on the city of Thunder Bay and beyond.”
Transformation Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Connection Card.
Transformation Church has a section that gives site visitors the opportunity to immediately connect with a contact information card.
Get Involved.
Transformation Church offers an awesome Get Involved section that helps site visitors immediately understand how they can get plugged in.
Video Content.
Transformation Church has a feature video just for their Life Groups page, helping to give visitors immediate insight into the importance of getting involved in a small group.
Church Website Example #11: All Peoples Gathering Church
All Peoples Gathering Church is a Milwaukee-based church that emphasizes food justice and inclusivity.
All Peoples Gathering Church also happens to have a great church website. Here’s why we think it’s so effective.
Events.
All Peoples Gathering Church has an Events page that makes it easy to view their upcoming events in either a list or calendar format.
App Download Section.
The website also features an app download section that directs visitors to download their Church App and get connected right away.
Search Bar.
Finally, the All Peoples Gather Church website has a search bar across the top of the page that makes it easy to look for a particular piece of information. A great add-on feature!
Key Takeaways
After looking over a few of our favorite websites, we ended up with a few key takeaways on what makes a church website great.
- Church websites should be easy to navigate. Visitors don’t want to have to think too hard to find what they’re looking for. They want a simple, intuitive experience.
- Great church websites give visitors a way to respond. The goal of a website is to drive visitors to another touchpoint, whether that’s to visit on Sunday morning, sign up for an email list, or to listen to a sermon.
- Church websites should be nice to look at! Aesthetics are important, and you’ll want a website that looks contemporary, clean, and graphically interesting.
The Common Thread: Built with Tithe.ly
What do all of these sites have in common, other than the fact that they’re exceptionally effective?
They’re built with Tithe.ly.
Tithe.ly makes it easy to build an awesome church website at a low cost and with minimal effort.
Offering livestream embedding, mobile-friendly site formats, digital event calendars, and more, Tithe.ly sites are a great option for anyone who wants to create a clean, effective, and dynamic website without a background in design or coding.
To learn how you can use Tithe.ly to build a website that draws in new visitors and engages your existing members, click here.
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AUTHOR
Kelsey Yarnell
Kelsey is a SaaS content writer, a Southern California native, and a follower of Christ. When she's not crafting content for up-and-coming tech companies, she's running, surfing, or exploring her adopted hometown of San Diego.
More than ever, your church website is a critical touchpoint for members, visitors, and seekers.
Your site is not only a reflection of who you are as a church. It’s also an opportunity to engage visitors, call them to action, and provide lifegiving resources (such as sermons and livestreaming).
But as anyone who has ever attempted to build a church website has discovered, it’s not all that simple. To build a site from complete scratch, you need knowledge of coding and design at the very least.
Plus, visitors may have a range of goals when they come to your site. Are they looking up basic contact info? Are they interested in the most recent sermon? Or are they wanting to give money to support your group?
In short, creating a great church website is a tall order.
The best way to create an effective site? “Learn by example,” they say (After all, isn’t that how Jesus taught the disciples?)
In the following article, we’re taking a look at 11 great examples of church websites, and why we think they’re exceptionally effective, engaging, and just plain cool to look at.
Church Website Example #1: City Life
City Life is an Alberta-based church with a unique message: Find your place in God’s story.
Their website showcases a church that’s fun, accessible, and Christ-centered with the following powerful features.
An Awesome Above the Fold
“Above the fold” is marketing lingo for what’s immediately apparent to a site visitor. In other words, if something is visible without scrolling down, it’s above the fold.
City Life makes a dynamic first impression on visitors with a unique, above the fold message that immediately engages visitors and gets them to think. The background of the message is a live, dynamic video visual of scenes from the church so that visitors can immediately get a feel for who they can expect to see on a Sunday morning.
Call to Action
A call to action (or CTA) is typically an active button that invites the site visitor to a specific action. City Life has a call to action to “Watch Online” for site visitors who might want to check out the church’s livestreaming. The CTA is above the fold, making it easy to click without needing to scroll down.
Loads of Personality
Quickly run through City Life’s site, and it’s not hard to see that this church is oozing with personality. With unique messaging, a blooper reel, a spunky video intro, and a detailed “Leadership” page, City Life’s site effectively uses graphics, copy, and video content to communicate exactly who they are.
Easy to Navigate
Great websites have clear, easy user interfaces. In other words, they’re easy to navigate and explore.
City Life’s site makes it simple to find key information on the homepage (services times and ministries), and to locate additional information in an easy to read menu across the top of the homepage.
Church Website Example #2: Real Life Church
Real Life Church is a down to earth church based in Bakersfield, CA. Their messaging is focused on getting real with people to help them navigate everyday life with Jesus.
Real Life Church’s website does a great job of drawing in visitors and making their message clear and accessible. Here’s how they do it.
A rich, unique color palette.
Color scheme might seem like an afterthought, but choosing the right brand colors can make the difference between communicating “We’re a fun, 20-something church” and “We’re a family-friendly church with a low-key vibe.”
Real Life Church leans towards the latter with their branding, and chose a rich, unique color palette: dark teal and mustard yellow, with white text. The result is a warm, inviting appearance that would appeal as much to the young mom as to the retiree.
Easy to Follow Buttons
Three graphic buttons directly below the fold make it simple for site visitors to take action on Real Life Church’s site: Connect, Pray, or Give. Represented by simple text and icons, these buttons drive visitors to action with minimal confusion.
Event Calendar
Churches typically have a range of meetings and services throughout the week, along with one-time events like conferences. That being said, there’s a lot to communicate to site visitors, including times, locations, and other relevant details.
Real Life Church has two options for discovering events: a section on their homepage with a few core events, and a more detailed Event page with a full selection of regular events, such as Men’s Bible Study and Prayer.
Newsletter Signup
One way to stay engaged with site visitors is through a newsletter signup. Creating a slot for email signups creates a low barrier for communicating with one-time visitors who might want to learn more about your church, but who aren’t ready to register for an event or sign up for a group.
At the bottom of every page, Real Life Church has an option for providing your email address to subscribe to a newsletter. This is a simple, subtle reminder for visitors to engage with their church without making a huge “ask.”
Church Website Example #3: Centralia Bible Baptist Church
Based in beautiful Centralia, Washington, Centralia Bible Baptist Church is a church that’s committed to teaching Scriptural truth, discipling others, and sharing the Gospel.
Centralia Bible Baptist Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Beautiful above-the-fold graphic.
CBBC chose an eye-catching, contemporary above-the-fold graphic that looks clean and inviting. They overlaid text on the graphic to make it clear what they’re all about.
Immediate information.
As soon as visitors scroll down from the above-the-fold graphic, they see clearly displayed service times.
A robust sermon series page.
CBBC makes it easy to access their teaching on a detailed sermon series page. Their sermons are clearly displayed with teacher, date, and scripture reference. They even offer site visitors a filtering tool that makes it simple to find specific teachings.
Church Website Example #4: Salt Creek Baptist Church
Salt Creek Baptist Church is an Oregon-based church with a warm, family-forward approach and a rich, 120-year legacy.
Salt Creek may have been around since the early 1900’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s stayed behind in terms of technology. They’ve got a fresh, clean website that helps visitors learn exactly who they are and how they can get involved at Salt Creek.
Here’s what makes their website great.
Livestreaming.
Livestreaming services has become more important than ever, with some church members choosing to stay home from regular service.
Salt Creek makes their livestreaming option clear and accessible. Directly below the fold, Salt Creek has a call to action to “Watch...Sunday Morning Worship Live,” along with a video player to make it easy to watch right then and there.
A detailed sermons page.
Many first-time visitors to a church like to check out sermons before committing to a Sunday morning service. Existing members also like to have access to sermons so that they can catch up after a weekend away, or even revisit a message if it was especially powerful.
Salt Creek does a great job of offering a clear, easy-to-access library of current messages on their “Sermons” page, conveniently located on the menu at the top of their homepage. Visitors can filter sermons by year, series title, or even speaker. Or, they can simply scroll through the most recent sermons.
Simplicity rules.
Sometimes, simplicity works best, and Salt Creek Baptist chooses to keep their homepage simple with a pleasant banner graphic and bold but classic color palette: red and yellow. A quick scroll through their homepage, and visitors can also learn exactly who they are, what they teach, how to participate on Sundays, and other relevant news and updates.
A top of page banner.
As any leader in church knows, churches are often hiring for new positions. Hiring for the position of Children’s Ministries Director, Salt Creek strategically displays this information in a thin but visible banner across the top of their homepage.
Church Website Example #5: Beloved City Church
Beloved City Church is another Alberta-based church with a vision to see close-knit community transform the world through the love of Christ.
Immediate CTA.
The Beloved City Church homepage has an immediate call-to-action: “Connect With Us.” This immediately lets people know that this is a church that wants to connect–and gives visitors a way to do it.
Simple sermon player.
One of the best ways to gauge whether a church might be a good fit or not is to listen to a sermon. This website has an easy-to-access sermon player right below the fold of the front homepage, directing visitors to their most recent messages.
Newsletter sign-up.
Site visitors who want to receive regular news from Beloved City Church can sign up for their newsletter emails at the bottom of the homepage.
Church Website Example #6: SD.Church
SD.Church is a San Diego-based church with a few different locations. Its mission? To build Christ-centered community throughout San Diego.
SD.Church’s website is fun, vibrant, and inviting. Here are a few more reasons why we think this site is a win.
Awesome site location pages.
As mentioned above, SD.Church has multiple locations across the San Diego area. Their website does a great job at keeping this multisite church organized, with individual location pages that display staff members, home group information, and an events calendar.
Social links.
It’s more important than ever to build a church presence online, and SD.Church does an amazing job at linking site visitors to their YouTube page, Instagram account, and Livestreaming on Facebook.
Clear navigation.
It’s easy for site visitors to find their way around this website, with clear headers, buttons, and sections that make navigation a breeze.
Church Website Example #7: Be The Church
Be The Church is a South Atlanta-based church community with an emphasis on faith in action.
Be The Church’s website is bold, intriguing, and action-oriented. Here are three other things we love about this site.
Unique calls to action.
Every church website should have a call-to-action that’s immediately displayed on the home page. Be The Church created an especially unique CTA that invites site visitors into a transformative experience.
Awesome giving page.
Giving online should be super easy. This website not only makes it easy to give, but provides site visitors with easy-to-understand instructions for giving online, with a text message, and more.
Church Website Example #8: Unity of Dallas
Unity of Dallas is a Dallas-based church with a heavy emphasis on prayer and community.
Unity of Dallas offers a ton of great information on their church website. Here are just a few of the features we love.
Upcoming Events.
Unity of Dallas displays a clear events calendar on their homepage that makes it easy for site visitors to immediately see how they can get involved.
Livestream Services.
Unity of Dallas makes it simple to check out their livestream services from their homepage. They even display the specific title of each sermon.
Prayer Requests.
One unique feature on the Unity of Dallas website is the prayer request feature. Site visitors are encouraged to submit prayer requests for any of their needs.
Church Website Example #9: Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church
Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church is a warm, community-oriented church based in Washington State.
JCSL Church has a great, detailed church website that offers a ton of interesting information to site visitors.
Blog.
JCSL Church has an active blog that allows site visitors to get an intimate peek into the lives of church staff.
Ministries Page.
JCSL Church has a great ministries page that highlights the different opportunities they have to get involved and plugged into the community.
“I’m New”.
JCSL Church has an “I’m New” page that answers commonly asked questions about the church. This makes it fast and simple to understand the new visitor experience.
Church Website Example #10: Transformation Church
Transformation Church is a Canada-based church that “ exists to make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ that will have a significant and lasting impact on the city of Thunder Bay and beyond.”
Transformation Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Connection Card.
Transformation Church has a section that gives site visitors the opportunity to immediately connect with a contact information card.
Get Involved.
Transformation Church offers an awesome Get Involved section that helps site visitors immediately understand how they can get plugged in.
Video Content.
Transformation Church has a feature video just for their Life Groups page, helping to give visitors immediate insight into the importance of getting involved in a small group.
Church Website Example #11: All Peoples Gathering Church
All Peoples Gathering Church is a Milwaukee-based church that emphasizes food justice and inclusivity.
All Peoples Gathering Church also happens to have a great church website. Here’s why we think it’s so effective.
Events.
All Peoples Gathering Church has an Events page that makes it easy to view their upcoming events in either a list or calendar format.
App Download Section.
The website also features an app download section that directs visitors to download their Church App and get connected right away.
Search Bar.
Finally, the All Peoples Gather Church website has a search bar across the top of the page that makes it easy to look for a particular piece of information. A great add-on feature!
Key Takeaways
After looking over a few of our favorite websites, we ended up with a few key takeaways on what makes a church website great.
- Church websites should be easy to navigate. Visitors don’t want to have to think too hard to find what they’re looking for. They want a simple, intuitive experience.
- Great church websites give visitors a way to respond. The goal of a website is to drive visitors to another touchpoint, whether that’s to visit on Sunday morning, sign up for an email list, or to listen to a sermon.
- Church websites should be nice to look at! Aesthetics are important, and you’ll want a website that looks contemporary, clean, and graphically interesting.
The Common Thread: Built with Tithe.ly
What do all of these sites have in common, other than the fact that they’re exceptionally effective?
They’re built with Tithe.ly.
Tithe.ly makes it easy to build an awesome church website at a low cost and with minimal effort.
Offering livestream embedding, mobile-friendly site formats, digital event calendars, and more, Tithe.ly sites are a great option for anyone who wants to create a clean, effective, and dynamic website without a background in design or coding.
To learn how you can use Tithe.ly to build a website that draws in new visitors and engages your existing members, click here.
podcast transcript
(Scroll for more)
AUTHOR
Kelsey Yarnell
Kelsey is a SaaS content writer, a Southern California native, and a follower of Christ. When she's not crafting content for up-and-coming tech companies, she's running, surfing, or exploring her adopted hometown of San Diego.
More than ever, your church website is a critical touchpoint for members, visitors, and seekers.
Your site is not only a reflection of who you are as a church. It’s also an opportunity to engage visitors, call them to action, and provide lifegiving resources (such as sermons and livestreaming).
But as anyone who has ever attempted to build a church website has discovered, it’s not all that simple. To build a site from complete scratch, you need knowledge of coding and design at the very least.
Plus, visitors may have a range of goals when they come to your site. Are they looking up basic contact info? Are they interested in the most recent sermon? Or are they wanting to give money to support your group?
In short, creating a great church website is a tall order.
The best way to create an effective site? “Learn by example,” they say (After all, isn’t that how Jesus taught the disciples?)
In the following article, we’re taking a look at 11 great examples of church websites, and why we think they’re exceptionally effective, engaging, and just plain cool to look at.
Church Website Example #1: City Life
City Life is an Alberta-based church with a unique message: Find your place in God’s story.
Their website showcases a church that’s fun, accessible, and Christ-centered with the following powerful features.
An Awesome Above the Fold
“Above the fold” is marketing lingo for what’s immediately apparent to a site visitor. In other words, if something is visible without scrolling down, it’s above the fold.
City Life makes a dynamic first impression on visitors with a unique, above the fold message that immediately engages visitors and gets them to think. The background of the message is a live, dynamic video visual of scenes from the church so that visitors can immediately get a feel for who they can expect to see on a Sunday morning.
Call to Action
A call to action (or CTA) is typically an active button that invites the site visitor to a specific action. City Life has a call to action to “Watch Online” for site visitors who might want to check out the church’s livestreaming. The CTA is above the fold, making it easy to click without needing to scroll down.
Loads of Personality
Quickly run through City Life’s site, and it’s not hard to see that this church is oozing with personality. With unique messaging, a blooper reel, a spunky video intro, and a detailed “Leadership” page, City Life’s site effectively uses graphics, copy, and video content to communicate exactly who they are.
Easy to Navigate
Great websites have clear, easy user interfaces. In other words, they’re easy to navigate and explore.
City Life’s site makes it simple to find key information on the homepage (services times and ministries), and to locate additional information in an easy to read menu across the top of the homepage.
Church Website Example #2: Real Life Church
Real Life Church is a down to earth church based in Bakersfield, CA. Their messaging is focused on getting real with people to help them navigate everyday life with Jesus.
Real Life Church’s website does a great job of drawing in visitors and making their message clear and accessible. Here’s how they do it.
A rich, unique color palette.
Color scheme might seem like an afterthought, but choosing the right brand colors can make the difference between communicating “We’re a fun, 20-something church” and “We’re a family-friendly church with a low-key vibe.”
Real Life Church leans towards the latter with their branding, and chose a rich, unique color palette: dark teal and mustard yellow, with white text. The result is a warm, inviting appearance that would appeal as much to the young mom as to the retiree.
Easy to Follow Buttons
Three graphic buttons directly below the fold make it simple for site visitors to take action on Real Life Church’s site: Connect, Pray, or Give. Represented by simple text and icons, these buttons drive visitors to action with minimal confusion.
Event Calendar
Churches typically have a range of meetings and services throughout the week, along with one-time events like conferences. That being said, there’s a lot to communicate to site visitors, including times, locations, and other relevant details.
Real Life Church has two options for discovering events: a section on their homepage with a few core events, and a more detailed Event page with a full selection of regular events, such as Men’s Bible Study and Prayer.
Newsletter Signup
One way to stay engaged with site visitors is through a newsletter signup. Creating a slot for email signups creates a low barrier for communicating with one-time visitors who might want to learn more about your church, but who aren’t ready to register for an event or sign up for a group.
At the bottom of every page, Real Life Church has an option for providing your email address to subscribe to a newsletter. This is a simple, subtle reminder for visitors to engage with their church without making a huge “ask.”
Church Website Example #3: Centralia Bible Baptist Church
Based in beautiful Centralia, Washington, Centralia Bible Baptist Church is a church that’s committed to teaching Scriptural truth, discipling others, and sharing the Gospel.
Centralia Bible Baptist Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Beautiful above-the-fold graphic.
CBBC chose an eye-catching, contemporary above-the-fold graphic that looks clean and inviting. They overlaid text on the graphic to make it clear what they’re all about.
Immediate information.
As soon as visitors scroll down from the above-the-fold graphic, they see clearly displayed service times.
A robust sermon series page.
CBBC makes it easy to access their teaching on a detailed sermon series page. Their sermons are clearly displayed with teacher, date, and scripture reference. They even offer site visitors a filtering tool that makes it simple to find specific teachings.
Church Website Example #4: Salt Creek Baptist Church
Salt Creek Baptist Church is an Oregon-based church with a warm, family-forward approach and a rich, 120-year legacy.
Salt Creek may have been around since the early 1900’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s stayed behind in terms of technology. They’ve got a fresh, clean website that helps visitors learn exactly who they are and how they can get involved at Salt Creek.
Here’s what makes their website great.
Livestreaming.
Livestreaming services has become more important than ever, with some church members choosing to stay home from regular service.
Salt Creek makes their livestreaming option clear and accessible. Directly below the fold, Salt Creek has a call to action to “Watch...Sunday Morning Worship Live,” along with a video player to make it easy to watch right then and there.
A detailed sermons page.
Many first-time visitors to a church like to check out sermons before committing to a Sunday morning service. Existing members also like to have access to sermons so that they can catch up after a weekend away, or even revisit a message if it was especially powerful.
Salt Creek does a great job of offering a clear, easy-to-access library of current messages on their “Sermons” page, conveniently located on the menu at the top of their homepage. Visitors can filter sermons by year, series title, or even speaker. Or, they can simply scroll through the most recent sermons.
Simplicity rules.
Sometimes, simplicity works best, and Salt Creek Baptist chooses to keep their homepage simple with a pleasant banner graphic and bold but classic color palette: red and yellow. A quick scroll through their homepage, and visitors can also learn exactly who they are, what they teach, how to participate on Sundays, and other relevant news and updates.
A top of page banner.
As any leader in church knows, churches are often hiring for new positions. Hiring for the position of Children’s Ministries Director, Salt Creek strategically displays this information in a thin but visible banner across the top of their homepage.
Church Website Example #5: Beloved City Church
Beloved City Church is another Alberta-based church with a vision to see close-knit community transform the world through the love of Christ.
Immediate CTA.
The Beloved City Church homepage has an immediate call-to-action: “Connect With Us.” This immediately lets people know that this is a church that wants to connect–and gives visitors a way to do it.
Simple sermon player.
One of the best ways to gauge whether a church might be a good fit or not is to listen to a sermon. This website has an easy-to-access sermon player right below the fold of the front homepage, directing visitors to their most recent messages.
Newsletter sign-up.
Site visitors who want to receive regular news from Beloved City Church can sign up for their newsletter emails at the bottom of the homepage.
Church Website Example #6: SD.Church
SD.Church is a San Diego-based church with a few different locations. Its mission? To build Christ-centered community throughout San Diego.
SD.Church’s website is fun, vibrant, and inviting. Here are a few more reasons why we think this site is a win.
Awesome site location pages.
As mentioned above, SD.Church has multiple locations across the San Diego area. Their website does a great job at keeping this multisite church organized, with individual location pages that display staff members, home group information, and an events calendar.
Social links.
It’s more important than ever to build a church presence online, and SD.Church does an amazing job at linking site visitors to their YouTube page, Instagram account, and Livestreaming on Facebook.
Clear navigation.
It’s easy for site visitors to find their way around this website, with clear headers, buttons, and sections that make navigation a breeze.
Church Website Example #7: Be The Church
Be The Church is a South Atlanta-based church community with an emphasis on faith in action.
Be The Church’s website is bold, intriguing, and action-oriented. Here are three other things we love about this site.
Unique calls to action.
Every church website should have a call-to-action that’s immediately displayed on the home page. Be The Church created an especially unique CTA that invites site visitors into a transformative experience.
Awesome giving page.
Giving online should be super easy. This website not only makes it easy to give, but provides site visitors with easy-to-understand instructions for giving online, with a text message, and more.
Church Website Example #8: Unity of Dallas
Unity of Dallas is a Dallas-based church with a heavy emphasis on prayer and community.
Unity of Dallas offers a ton of great information on their church website. Here are just a few of the features we love.
Upcoming Events.
Unity of Dallas displays a clear events calendar on their homepage that makes it easy for site visitors to immediately see how they can get involved.
Livestream Services.
Unity of Dallas makes it simple to check out their livestream services from their homepage. They even display the specific title of each sermon.
Prayer Requests.
One unique feature on the Unity of Dallas website is the prayer request feature. Site visitors are encouraged to submit prayer requests for any of their needs.
Church Website Example #9: Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church
Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church is a warm, community-oriented church based in Washington State.
JCSL Church has a great, detailed church website that offers a ton of interesting information to site visitors.
Blog.
JCSL Church has an active blog that allows site visitors to get an intimate peek into the lives of church staff.
Ministries Page.
JCSL Church has a great ministries page that highlights the different opportunities they have to get involved and plugged into the community.
“I’m New”.
JCSL Church has an “I’m New” page that answers commonly asked questions about the church. This makes it fast and simple to understand the new visitor experience.
Church Website Example #10: Transformation Church
Transformation Church is a Canada-based church that “ exists to make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ that will have a significant and lasting impact on the city of Thunder Bay and beyond.”
Transformation Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Connection Card.
Transformation Church has a section that gives site visitors the opportunity to immediately connect with a contact information card.
Get Involved.
Transformation Church offers an awesome Get Involved section that helps site visitors immediately understand how they can get plugged in.
Video Content.
Transformation Church has a feature video just for their Life Groups page, helping to give visitors immediate insight into the importance of getting involved in a small group.
Church Website Example #11: All Peoples Gathering Church
All Peoples Gathering Church is a Milwaukee-based church that emphasizes food justice and inclusivity.
All Peoples Gathering Church also happens to have a great church website. Here’s why we think it’s so effective.
Events.
All Peoples Gathering Church has an Events page that makes it easy to view their upcoming events in either a list or calendar format.
App Download Section.
The website also features an app download section that directs visitors to download their Church App and get connected right away.
Search Bar.
Finally, the All Peoples Gather Church website has a search bar across the top of the page that makes it easy to look for a particular piece of information. A great add-on feature!
Key Takeaways
After looking over a few of our favorite websites, we ended up with a few key takeaways on what makes a church website great.
- Church websites should be easy to navigate. Visitors don’t want to have to think too hard to find what they’re looking for. They want a simple, intuitive experience.
- Great church websites give visitors a way to respond. The goal of a website is to drive visitors to another touchpoint, whether that’s to visit on Sunday morning, sign up for an email list, or to listen to a sermon.
- Church websites should be nice to look at! Aesthetics are important, and you’ll want a website that looks contemporary, clean, and graphically interesting.
The Common Thread: Built with Tithe.ly
What do all of these sites have in common, other than the fact that they’re exceptionally effective?
They’re built with Tithe.ly.
Tithe.ly makes it easy to build an awesome church website at a low cost and with minimal effort.
Offering livestream embedding, mobile-friendly site formats, digital event calendars, and more, Tithe.ly sites are a great option for anyone who wants to create a clean, effective, and dynamic website without a background in design or coding.
To learn how you can use Tithe.ly to build a website that draws in new visitors and engages your existing members, click here.
VIDEO transcript
(Scroll for more)
More than ever, your church website is a critical touchpoint for members, visitors, and seekers.
Your site is not only a reflection of who you are as a church. It’s also an opportunity to engage visitors, call them to action, and provide lifegiving resources (such as sermons and livestreaming).
But as anyone who has ever attempted to build a church website has discovered, it’s not all that simple. To build a site from complete scratch, you need knowledge of coding and design at the very least.
Plus, visitors may have a range of goals when they come to your site. Are they looking up basic contact info? Are they interested in the most recent sermon? Or are they wanting to give money to support your group?
In short, creating a great church website is a tall order.
The best way to create an effective site? “Learn by example,” they say (After all, isn’t that how Jesus taught the disciples?)
In the following article, we’re taking a look at 11 great examples of church websites, and why we think they’re exceptionally effective, engaging, and just plain cool to look at.
Church Website Example #1: City Life
City Life is an Alberta-based church with a unique message: Find your place in God’s story.
Their website showcases a church that’s fun, accessible, and Christ-centered with the following powerful features.
An Awesome Above the Fold
“Above the fold” is marketing lingo for what’s immediately apparent to a site visitor. In other words, if something is visible without scrolling down, it’s above the fold.
City Life makes a dynamic first impression on visitors with a unique, above the fold message that immediately engages visitors and gets them to think. The background of the message is a live, dynamic video visual of scenes from the church so that visitors can immediately get a feel for who they can expect to see on a Sunday morning.
Call to Action
A call to action (or CTA) is typically an active button that invites the site visitor to a specific action. City Life has a call to action to “Watch Online” for site visitors who might want to check out the church’s livestreaming. The CTA is above the fold, making it easy to click without needing to scroll down.
Loads of Personality
Quickly run through City Life’s site, and it’s not hard to see that this church is oozing with personality. With unique messaging, a blooper reel, a spunky video intro, and a detailed “Leadership” page, City Life’s site effectively uses graphics, copy, and video content to communicate exactly who they are.
Easy to Navigate
Great websites have clear, easy user interfaces. In other words, they’re easy to navigate and explore.
City Life’s site makes it simple to find key information on the homepage (services times and ministries), and to locate additional information in an easy to read menu across the top of the homepage.
Church Website Example #2: Real Life Church
Real Life Church is a down to earth church based in Bakersfield, CA. Their messaging is focused on getting real with people to help them navigate everyday life with Jesus.
Real Life Church’s website does a great job of drawing in visitors and making their message clear and accessible. Here’s how they do it.
A rich, unique color palette.
Color scheme might seem like an afterthought, but choosing the right brand colors can make the difference between communicating “We’re a fun, 20-something church” and “We’re a family-friendly church with a low-key vibe.”
Real Life Church leans towards the latter with their branding, and chose a rich, unique color palette: dark teal and mustard yellow, with white text. The result is a warm, inviting appearance that would appeal as much to the young mom as to the retiree.
Easy to Follow Buttons
Three graphic buttons directly below the fold make it simple for site visitors to take action on Real Life Church’s site: Connect, Pray, or Give. Represented by simple text and icons, these buttons drive visitors to action with minimal confusion.
Event Calendar
Churches typically have a range of meetings and services throughout the week, along with one-time events like conferences. That being said, there’s a lot to communicate to site visitors, including times, locations, and other relevant details.
Real Life Church has two options for discovering events: a section on their homepage with a few core events, and a more detailed Event page with a full selection of regular events, such as Men’s Bible Study and Prayer.
Newsletter Signup
One way to stay engaged with site visitors is through a newsletter signup. Creating a slot for email signups creates a low barrier for communicating with one-time visitors who might want to learn more about your church, but who aren’t ready to register for an event or sign up for a group.
At the bottom of every page, Real Life Church has an option for providing your email address to subscribe to a newsletter. This is a simple, subtle reminder for visitors to engage with their church without making a huge “ask.”
Church Website Example #3: Centralia Bible Baptist Church
Based in beautiful Centralia, Washington, Centralia Bible Baptist Church is a church that’s committed to teaching Scriptural truth, discipling others, and sharing the Gospel.
Centralia Bible Baptist Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Beautiful above-the-fold graphic.
CBBC chose an eye-catching, contemporary above-the-fold graphic that looks clean and inviting. They overlaid text on the graphic to make it clear what they’re all about.
Immediate information.
As soon as visitors scroll down from the above-the-fold graphic, they see clearly displayed service times.
A robust sermon series page.
CBBC makes it easy to access their teaching on a detailed sermon series page. Their sermons are clearly displayed with teacher, date, and scripture reference. They even offer site visitors a filtering tool that makes it simple to find specific teachings.
Church Website Example #4: Salt Creek Baptist Church
Salt Creek Baptist Church is an Oregon-based church with a warm, family-forward approach and a rich, 120-year legacy.
Salt Creek may have been around since the early 1900’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s stayed behind in terms of technology. They’ve got a fresh, clean website that helps visitors learn exactly who they are and how they can get involved at Salt Creek.
Here’s what makes their website great.
Livestreaming.
Livestreaming services has become more important than ever, with some church members choosing to stay home from regular service.
Salt Creek makes their livestreaming option clear and accessible. Directly below the fold, Salt Creek has a call to action to “Watch...Sunday Morning Worship Live,” along with a video player to make it easy to watch right then and there.
A detailed sermons page.
Many first-time visitors to a church like to check out sermons before committing to a Sunday morning service. Existing members also like to have access to sermons so that they can catch up after a weekend away, or even revisit a message if it was especially powerful.
Salt Creek does a great job of offering a clear, easy-to-access library of current messages on their “Sermons” page, conveniently located on the menu at the top of their homepage. Visitors can filter sermons by year, series title, or even speaker. Or, they can simply scroll through the most recent sermons.
Simplicity rules.
Sometimes, simplicity works best, and Salt Creek Baptist chooses to keep their homepage simple with a pleasant banner graphic and bold but classic color palette: red and yellow. A quick scroll through their homepage, and visitors can also learn exactly who they are, what they teach, how to participate on Sundays, and other relevant news and updates.
A top of page banner.
As any leader in church knows, churches are often hiring for new positions. Hiring for the position of Children’s Ministries Director, Salt Creek strategically displays this information in a thin but visible banner across the top of their homepage.
Church Website Example #5: Beloved City Church
Beloved City Church is another Alberta-based church with a vision to see close-knit community transform the world through the love of Christ.
Immediate CTA.
The Beloved City Church homepage has an immediate call-to-action: “Connect With Us.” This immediately lets people know that this is a church that wants to connect–and gives visitors a way to do it.
Simple sermon player.
One of the best ways to gauge whether a church might be a good fit or not is to listen to a sermon. This website has an easy-to-access sermon player right below the fold of the front homepage, directing visitors to their most recent messages.
Newsletter sign-up.
Site visitors who want to receive regular news from Beloved City Church can sign up for their newsletter emails at the bottom of the homepage.
Church Website Example #6: SD.Church
SD.Church is a San Diego-based church with a few different locations. Its mission? To build Christ-centered community throughout San Diego.
SD.Church’s website is fun, vibrant, and inviting. Here are a few more reasons why we think this site is a win.
Awesome site location pages.
As mentioned above, SD.Church has multiple locations across the San Diego area. Their website does a great job at keeping this multisite church organized, with individual location pages that display staff members, home group information, and an events calendar.
Social links.
It’s more important than ever to build a church presence online, and SD.Church does an amazing job at linking site visitors to their YouTube page, Instagram account, and Livestreaming on Facebook.
Clear navigation.
It’s easy for site visitors to find their way around this website, with clear headers, buttons, and sections that make navigation a breeze.
Church Website Example #7: Be The Church
Be The Church is a South Atlanta-based church community with an emphasis on faith in action.
Be The Church’s website is bold, intriguing, and action-oriented. Here are three other things we love about this site.
Unique calls to action.
Every church website should have a call-to-action that’s immediately displayed on the home page. Be The Church created an especially unique CTA that invites site visitors into a transformative experience.
Awesome giving page.
Giving online should be super easy. This website not only makes it easy to give, but provides site visitors with easy-to-understand instructions for giving online, with a text message, and more.
Church Website Example #8: Unity of Dallas
Unity of Dallas is a Dallas-based church with a heavy emphasis on prayer and community.
Unity of Dallas offers a ton of great information on their church website. Here are just a few of the features we love.
Upcoming Events.
Unity of Dallas displays a clear events calendar on their homepage that makes it easy for site visitors to immediately see how they can get involved.
Livestream Services.
Unity of Dallas makes it simple to check out their livestream services from their homepage. They even display the specific title of each sermon.
Prayer Requests.
One unique feature on the Unity of Dallas website is the prayer request feature. Site visitors are encouraged to submit prayer requests for any of their needs.
Church Website Example #9: Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church
Jesus Christ Salt & Light Church is a warm, community-oriented church based in Washington State.
JCSL Church has a great, detailed church website that offers a ton of interesting information to site visitors.
Blog.
JCSL Church has an active blog that allows site visitors to get an intimate peek into the lives of church staff.
Ministries Page.
JCSL Church has a great ministries page that highlights the different opportunities they have to get involved and plugged into the community.
“I’m New”.
JCSL Church has an “I’m New” page that answers commonly asked questions about the church. This makes it fast and simple to understand the new visitor experience.
Church Website Example #10: Transformation Church
Transformation Church is a Canada-based church that “ exists to make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ that will have a significant and lasting impact on the city of Thunder Bay and beyond.”
Transformation Church also happens to have an awesome church website. Here’s why we love it.
Connection Card.
Transformation Church has a section that gives site visitors the opportunity to immediately connect with a contact information card.
Get Involved.
Transformation Church offers an awesome Get Involved section that helps site visitors immediately understand how they can get plugged in.
Video Content.
Transformation Church has a feature video just for their Life Groups page, helping to give visitors immediate insight into the importance of getting involved in a small group.
Church Website Example #11: All Peoples Gathering Church
All Peoples Gathering Church is a Milwaukee-based church that emphasizes food justice and inclusivity.
All Peoples Gathering Church also happens to have a great church website. Here’s why we think it’s so effective.
Events.
All Peoples Gathering Church has an Events page that makes it easy to view their upcoming events in either a list or calendar format.
App Download Section.
The website also features an app download section that directs visitors to download their Church App and get connected right away.
Search Bar.
Finally, the All Peoples Gather Church website has a search bar across the top of the page that makes it easy to look for a particular piece of information. A great add-on feature!
Key Takeaways
After looking over a few of our favorite websites, we ended up with a few key takeaways on what makes a church website great.
- Church websites should be easy to navigate. Visitors don’t want to have to think too hard to find what they’re looking for. They want a simple, intuitive experience.
- Great church websites give visitors a way to respond. The goal of a website is to drive visitors to another touchpoint, whether that’s to visit on Sunday morning, sign up for an email list, or to listen to a sermon.
- Church websites should be nice to look at! Aesthetics are important, and you’ll want a website that looks contemporary, clean, and graphically interesting.
The Common Thread: Built with Tithe.ly
What do all of these sites have in common, other than the fact that they’re exceptionally effective?
They’re built with Tithe.ly.
Tithe.ly makes it easy to build an awesome church website at a low cost and with minimal effort.
Offering livestream embedding, mobile-friendly site formats, digital event calendars, and more, Tithe.ly sites are a great option for anyone who wants to create a clean, effective, and dynamic website without a background in design or coding.
To learn how you can use Tithe.ly to build a website that draws in new visitors and engages your existing members, click here.
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AUTHOR
Kelsey Yarnell
Kelsey is a SaaS content writer, a Southern California native, and a follower of Christ. When she's not crafting content for up-and-coming tech companies, she's running, surfing, or exploring her adopted hometown of San Diego.
