22 Top Church Websites of 2012

September 3, 2007

This article is brought to you by Sharefaith:

It has been a few years since I last updated this top church websites list. And it is remarkable how dramatically church web design has improved in such a short time span. Similar to what we see with church logos, what was a great design for in 2007 is now the norm.

It is a new decade now with a new list of sites to give you inspiration as you design your church’s communication platforms.

Brainerd Baptist Church (Chattanooga, TN)

Website URL: BrainerdBaptist.org
Web Designer: Lightfly Creative

Sometimes well-thought out simplicity is all you need. Brainerd Baptist Church’s use of color and compositional balance also helps. Adding anything else may ruin it.

Church of Christ the King (Brighton, England)

Website URL: CCK.org.uk
Web Designer: FentonForeman, The Basement, & Brightec

The site features a lot of content, but its minimalism, smart typography, and fun colors make it easy to digest and easy on the eyes.

Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK)

Website URL: ChurchontheMove.com
Web Designer: Unknown

Church on the Move’s site runs heavy on announcements and on media consumption. I like the finesse and efficiency of their recent services page which lets the sermon titles slide out and expand to feature a Vimeo video of the message.

City of Grace (Scottsdale, AZ)

Website URL: CityOfGrace.com
Web Designer: Unknown

Few church sites have this level of aesthetic polish and seamless polish on each page.

EBS (Strasbourg, France)

Website URL: Eglise-EBS.com
Web Designer: Progressif Project (English) or Profressif Media (French)

It is more than a fresh color palette. EBS’ website has quite a few fresh ideas for web design hidden throughout it.

Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX)

Website URL: FellowshipChurch.com
Web Designer: Unknown

Fellowship Church uses a very simple layout with some aesthetic polish, which allows them be more versatile and agile in what they highlight and how often they update it.

Glad Tidings Church (Omaha, NE)

Website URL: GladTidingsOmaha.com
Web Designer: Unknown

It is a simple site with a well-balanced layout and custom pages that further proves you don’t have to get fancy with features to have a great website.

Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR)

Website URL: ImagoDeiCommunity.com
Web Designer: Unknown

A laid back color palette and well-placed graphics and photos make Imago Dei Community’s website and beautiful experience. Don’t let the simple 5-item navigation fool you. Super drop-downs reveal a site chocked full of content.

Hillsong Church (London, United Kingdom)

Website URL: Hillsong.co.uk
Web Designer: In-House

This unconventional website design is a great way to keep the current events of the church at the forefront regardless of what page a visitor is on.

Hillsong Church (New York, NY)

Website URL: HillsongNYC.com
Web Designer: In-House

Hillsong NYC takes an oversimplified approach to a church website. It is just blog posts and a page with service times and a Google map, but it works. However, keep in mind that a big reason why it is a great website is because they use great photography that captures the emotions, experience, and brand of Hillsong. Without the photographs, the site would be underwhelming.

James River Assembly (Ozark, MO)

Website URL: JamesRiver.org
Web Designer: Unknown

This is a beautiful website with a seamless look on every page. The skyscraper ads in the right sidebar of the Ministries page for promoting upcoming events are an interesting touch.

LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK)

Website URL: LifeChurch.tv
Web Designer: In-House

With 16 campuses and growing, LifeChurch.tv has taken much of its campus specific content and put it on Facebook where most of their congregation is daily. It cut out hundreds of website pages to manage and let them better engage their community.

Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI)

Website URL: MarsHill.org
Web Designer: Unknown

Their consistently simple and sleek design avoids the visual complexity of most church sites and allows them to pleasantly handle content for any area of their church.

Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA)

Website URL: MarsHill.com
Web Designer: In-House

The navigation also features super drop downs allowing them to streamline their navigation for multi-site campuses and various ministries.

NewSpring Church (Anderson, SC)

Website URL: NewSpring.cc
Web Designer: Unknown

I particularly like NewSpring Church’s Next Steps page that offers site visitors the next steps for salvation, baptism, membership, volunteering, and classes.

Planetshakers Church (Melbourne City, Australia)

Website URL: Planetshakers.com
Web Designer: Unknown

Planetshakers does a nice job featuring leadership on each individual ministry page. It is a small touch, but one that can help large churches build familiarity and thus make people feel a little bit more connected.

Red Rocks Church (Golden, CO)

Website URL: RedRocksChurch.com
Web Designer: AM Design

Red Rocks Church’s site has a fun twist. While its novelty isn’t timeless, the visual approach to the navigation is a nice way to get a glimpse at what each section has to offer.

Redemption Church (Phoenix, AZ)

Website URL: RedemptionAZ.com
Web Designer: Terralever

Using a more robust header and navigation, Redemption Church takes an unconventional approach to church websites and nicely organizes subpages across tabs and fresh, custom layouts.

Second Presbyterian Church (Memphis, TN)

Website URL: 2pc.org
Web Designer: Unknown

This is a terrific example of a website for a large traditional church. There is a lot of content, but it is all seamlessly woven and organized into easy to use sections.

The City Church (Kirkland, WA)

Website URL: TheCity.org
Web Designer: Unknown

The City Church has had a long history of a high quality website that expand one’s concept of what a website can be. The current homepage features a full screen gallery of candid shots from their community. And I love the way their “Gatherings” page introduces campuses, what to expect, and quick glimpses of their culture and what they offer.

The Edge Church (Aurora, CO)

Website URL: EdgeChurchAurora.com
Web Designer: UDFD Design

Testimonies are one of the most powerful things. I love how The Edge Church uses the homepage and their stories page to highlight testimonies from their church members.

Watermark Community Church (Dallas, TX)

Website URL: Watermark.org
Web Designer: AM Design

The ministry pages are powered by a sophisticated content management system that conveniently organizes general information, latest news, times & location, ministry calendar, staff list, and more under one tabbed page for each ministry.