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Studying best practices from other church websites can give you ideas that can improve online communication, avoid costly mistakes, and even yield greater spiritual fruit for the Kingdom. There’s certainly a place for such pragmatism, but only if it goes hand-in-hand with listening to and obeying God.
Keep in mind it’s okay if your church website is quite different from someone else’s. Prayerfully focus on what is the best way for you to use the Internet to obey God’s will in your unique context. The more Spirit-led your design process is the better.
Maybe God wants your website to be simple yet effective. Maybe you need to try something radical that’s never been done before. Maybe you don’t need a website. The point is if you have any leading from the Holy Spirit, obey it even if the experts call you crazy.
At the same time, it helps to get ideas and inspiration from what others are doing in the Kingdom. To aid in this part of the process, here are 40 great church websites worth checking out in 2013.
Hillsong London (London, UK)
URL: hillsong.co.uk
Designer: Unknown
Celebration Church (Jacksonville, FL)
URL: celebration.org
Designer: Unknown
Missio Dei Church (Cincinnati, OH)
URL: mdcincy.org
Designer: Justin Rahmes (In-House)
City on a Hill (Melbourne, Australia)
URL: cityonahill.com.au
Designer: In-house & Happy Widget Co
Terra Nova (Troy, NY)
URL: terranovachurch.org
Designer: Iron to Iron
Glad Tidings (Omaha, NE)
URL: gladtidingsomaha.com
Designer: Rocket
Mars Hill (Seattle, WA)
URL: marshill.com
Designer: In-house
The City Church (Kirkland, WA)
URL: thecity.org
Designer: Sean Sperte (In-House)
Woodlands Church // The Woodlands, TX
URL: woodlandschurch.tv
Designer: Justin Keller (In-House)
White Horse Church (Pyrmont, Australia)
URL: whitehorsechurch.com.au
Designer: Church Plant Media
Church of Christ the King (Brighton, UK)
URL: cck.org.uk
Designer: FentonForeman, The Basement, & Brightec
LifeChurch.tv (Oklahoma City, OK)
URL: lifechurch.tv
Designer: In-House
NewSpring Church (Anderson, SC)
URL: newspring.cc
Designer: Unknown
The Austin Stone Community Church (Austin, TX)
URL: austinstone.org
Designers: Brendan Pittman & Shaun Fox (In-House)
The Journey (St. Louis, MO)
URL: thejourney.org
Designer: Simon Yost (In-House)
Biltmore Baptist (Arden, NC)
URL: biltmorebaptist.org
Designer: Pixelight Creative
Gateway Scottsdale (Scottsdale, AZ)
URL: gatewayscottsdale.tv
Designer: ChurchMedia
First Baptist Concord (Knoxville, TN)
URL: fbconcord.org
Designer: AM Design
The Chapel (Barrington Hills, IL)
URL: chapel.org
Designer: Cleve Persinger & Steven St. Clair
Cornerstone Church of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
URL: turningthehearts.com
Designer: Unknown
20 More Great Church Websites
Glide (San Francisco, CA)
Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK)
Brainerd Baptist (Brainerd, TN) // Designed by: Lightfly Creative
Redemption Church (Mesa, AZ)
Christ Fellowship (Miami, FL)
Coral Ridge Prespyterian Church (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
FairHaven (Centerville, OH)
Highpoint Church (Memphis, TN)
Mars Hill (Grandville, MI)
Planetshakers City Church (Melbourne, Australia)
Prism Church (Pasadena, CA)
Westover Hills (San Antonio, TX)
First Baptist Church Woodstock (Woodstock, GA)
Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR)
James River Assembly (Ozark, MO)
The Rock (Point Loma, CA)
City of Grace (Mesa, AZ)
Red Rocks Church (Littleton, CO)
Potential Church (Cooper City, FL)
Hillsong Church (Sydney, Australia)
If you are looking for more church design inspiration, also check out our list of Great Church Logos.