A church website that welcomes someone who's never been
A church website has two audiences. Newcomers want service times, where to park, what happens inside and whether their children are welcome. Members want this week's events, group details and how to give. Most church sites are written for members and quietly put newcomers off. Here's how to serve both, and how to keep the calendar current with a church website builder like Anticode.
Service times on the first screen
The single most-searched fact about any church is when the services are. Put this Sunday's times (and any midweek services) at the top of the homepage, with the full address as a map link, before any welcome message. Note changes for festivals, holidays and summer, and say clearly if a service is in another building or online.
"What to expect" for someone who's never been
Walking into an unfamiliar church is daunting. A short page answering the questions people are too shy to ask will do more for visitors than any slogan:
- How long is the service, and what happens in it: music, readings, a talk or sermon, communion.
- What people wear ("anything from jeans to a suit").
- Where to go when you arrive, and whether someone will greet you.
- Children: is there a crèche, a children's group during the talk, a quiet space for parents with babies?
- Access: step-free entry, an accessible toilet, a hearing loop, large-print materials, parking spaces close to the door.
- Afterwards: coffee and a chance to meet people, or a quick exit if you'd prefer.
Avoid insider words without explanation. "Join us for evensong" or "All-age worship in the hall" means a lot to members and little to a neighbour. A sentence of explanation removes the barrier.
Events and groups that stay current
Out-of-date event listings are the commonest problem on church websites, because the person who built the site isn't the person who organises the toddler group. Anticode's CMS solves that: keep events and groups as collections with typed fields (title, date and time, place, who it's for, contact), edit them in the dashboard, and each gets its own page. Parish administrators and group leaders can update their own entries without touching the design.
Groups such as youth groups, home groups, choirs, food bank volunteers and parent and toddler mornings should each say who they're for, when they meet and who to contact. For anything involving children or vulnerable adults, link to your safeguarding policy and name the safeguarding contact. The post news updates workflow suits a weekly notices routine.
Giving, without pressure
Many members now give online. Anticode doesn't process money, but a Give button can link to a checkout from Stripe Payment Links, PayPal or another supported provider, for one-off and (where your provider supports it) regular giving. Explain what giving supports and how it's governed, mention any tax-relief schemes that apply in your country, and keep it to one calm section rather than repeating it on every page.
Prayer requests and pastoral contact
A prayer request form should ask for very little: a first name (optional), the request, whether it can be shared with a prayer team or kept with the minister only, and a contact route if they'd like someone to get in touch. Say who reads it. A form with these separate fields is a custom form tied to a site function. Anticode saves submissions sealed at rest and can email them to the account owner; think before connecting a shared chat channel, because a connector receives every form the site sends, prayer requests included.
Add a separate contact form for weddings, baptisms, funerals and hall hire, since those go to different people. Connectors receive every submission rather than one form's, so to route weddings and hall hire to different people, use a webhook that sorts by form, or work from a shared Google Sheet.
A look that matches the congregation
Generic generated church sites use stained-glass stock photos and dramatic sunbeams. Real photos of your building, your people (with consent) and your community activities are more welcoming. Editorial (Geist) suits a traditional parish with a lot to say; Organic (Figtree) gives a warm, community feel; Swiss (Inter Tight) suits a modern church plant. Keep text large and contrast high: many members will read on a phone with older eyes.
What Anticode doesn't cover
- No livestreaming. Link to your streaming channel and list stream times.
- No member directory or logins. Published sites have no visitor accounts.
- No rota planning for readers, stewards or musicians.
- No sermon podcast feed. CMS entries can hold sermon notes and links, but there's no RSS.
Questions people ask
Can volunteers update events on our church website?
Yes. Events and groups can live in CMS collections edited in the dashboard, so a group leader can update their entry without changing the design.
Can we take online giving through a church website builder?
Through payment links from your own provider, such as Stripe Payment Links or PayPal. Anticode doesn't handle the money.
Can people send prayer requests privately?
Yes. Submissions are emailed to the account owner and sealed at rest in the dashboard, so make sure that's the right person, and leave shared chat connectors off if requests are confidential.