Top 80 Church Websites
With more and more churches launching exceptional websites, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep my top church websites list to only 75 sites. So to make it easier on myself and give you more eye candy, I am expanding the list to the Top 80 Church Websites.
Ten new church websites made list, and The Life Church (Memphis, TN) recently redesigned their website. Here are the eleven new screen shots. I hope they inspire you.
#1 - Buckhead Church (Atlanta, GA)
#2 - Catalina Church of Midtown (Tucson, AZ)
#3 - City of Grace (Mesa, AZ)
#4 - Cornerstone (Chandler, AZ)
#5 - Crosspointe Church (Cary, NC)
#6 - First Baptist Church (Orlando, FL)
#7 - Kingsfield Church (Irvine, CA)
#8 - Lenexa Christian Center (Lenexa, KS)
#9 - One* (Spokane, WA)
#10 - The Life Church (Memphis, TN)
#11 - Windsor Crossing Community Church (Chesterfield, MO)
For more church web design inspiration, check out the complete list of the Top 80 Church Websites. What other sites do you think should be on the list and why?
Brian Jones Said,
March 18, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Kent,
This is an outstanding list. I am forwarding this to our IT and web team and asking them to wade through them all for ideas. Thanks for taking the time to compile it.
Press on.
Brian Jones
Jermayn Parker Said,
March 18, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
Come on! Surely you guys can do better than this….
One out of the top 80 is outside the US, what a joke! I am sorry but there are WAY more better web designs outside the US, open your eyes….
Kent Shaffer Said,
March 18, 2008 @ 9:44 pm
Jermayn,
There are currently 5 from Canada and 1 from New Zealand, which equals 6 not 1 (Canada is not part of the United States).
Still, only 6 of the 80 are from outside the United States. If anyone knows of some great non-U.S. church websites, let me know. I would love to add some more.
IT Guy Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 7:13 am
http://www.northviewcc.com
Mark O. Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 8:09 am
Wow some really great websites there. Our church staff frequents this list to see what new and exciting ideas are out there for websites. Couple of questions though, what is the process for being considered to be on this list? What are the major qualifications that help you compile this list?
Kent Shaffer Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 8:34 am
IT Guy:
Thanks for the link.
Mark O:
The list is very subjective. The first criteria I judge a site by is the aesthetics, including the overall balance of the layout. I also consider usability and basic web design principles. And sometimes a site’s creativity or innovation can help it get on the list or stay on the list even if its aesthetics are not the best.
As for the process, when I see a site I like, I bookmark it. Eventually, I look through all of my bookmarked church websites and subjectively determine if any are good enough to replace a site that is already on the list.
matt Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 8:51 am
I need to protest #4. Its a rip off.
http://viministry.com/
The viministry site was up over a year before the cornerstone site. The sad part is, the same guy did both sites. Anyone who rips off his own work, it lame.
These churches are less than 20 miles apart. Sure one is a church, and the other is a college ministry, but thats splitting hairs. A rip off is a rip off.
Kent Shaffer Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 9:04 am
Matt:
I thought it looked familiar.
paul merrill Said,
March 22, 2008 @ 6:15 pm
I know you said you value: “… the aesthetics … the overall balance of the layout [and] … usability and basic web design principles.”
…But these sites tend to favor personality-based churches, mega-churches & program-oriented churches. I guess those are the ones who can afford a good-looking website.
But none of those churches are ones I’d attend.
stevo28andgrowing Said,
March 24, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Buckhead Church…yes! glad to meet you on Flickr.
Batsirai Chada Said,
March 25, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
Check out http://www.theembassyofgod.com
Recently Launched.
Josh Willaford Said,
March 25, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
Take a look at James River Assembly’s Site
jamesriver.org
greg Said,
March 27, 2008 @ 8:05 am
hey, check out this new site launched in january:
http://www.valleychristianchurch.net
Ray Mason Said,
April 14, 2008 @ 8:03 am
I’m looking for web designers to put together my church site.
I love the look of http://www.Stonebrair.org & http://www.pemburybaptistchurch.org in Kent,UK but for pure evangelism I haven’t seen one to better http://www.southsidelife.org
Can any one help?
In His service
Ray
Randy Wood Said,
April 24, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Check this out and tell us what ya think http://www.crosspointwlr.com
Logan Duarte Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 3:14 am
Take a look at Generatelife.com
Scott Marks Said,
December 26, 2008 @ 2:20 am
I really like the website http://www.stfaiths.org.au
they are aussie and I reckon they have done a really good job and putting all the main stuff like podcasts rss’d onto the main page!
Check it out!
Tara Said,
May 26, 2009 @ 1:59 pm
Check out this church site: http://www.felcodenton.org
Feedback would be great. Thank you.
Josh Said,
June 10, 2009 @ 8:08 pm
Just redesigned our church website, and would love any suggestions on how to improve it.
Thanks Kent for such a great list of sites that I could pull inspiration from!