Nowadays, having multiple congregations, or services, within one church is fairly common. It's a great way of a church expanding without having to find a bigger location, or for some churches it's a way of having two separate styles of worship within one church. e.g. an informal service and a formal service. 

Working with churches across many denominations, we're aware of the challenge that this can pose when building a single website for your church. How do you show both congregations within the one website? And how do you ensure your website is a useful resource that engages all your church members? 

Church unity is a particular passion of ours and we know the power of a website to either bring a church together, or create division. 

What should you do when you're making a church website for a church with multiple congregations?

Here are some tips when you're managing a website for multiple congregations: 

• Imagery: Make sure your images reflect a cross section of your church members i.e. people from both congregations. If you have one service with formal worship and another that's more informal, it's a good idea to show both throughout the site. 
• Written Content: It's important your written content appeals to both congregations. If you're not sure how to do this, just listen to how your church leadership talks to both congregations and mirror their language. Even in the tone of your writing you can alienate or engage your reader. 
• Feedback: It's a great idea to get feedback from members of both congregations when looking to launch a new site as people will see things that you maybe haven't! And again once the site is launched ask your members to comment on the balance of content.
• Devices: Ensure your website works across all devices - without your site being mobile friendly your site is instantly not going to engage with the next generation.
• Legibility: Is your font size and style legible for your congregation? Bear in mind we may not all have 40-40 vision... and it is important that all members of your congregation and community find your website user friendly.
• Ways to get in touch: Do you have multiple ways people can contact you? It could be that viewers of different ages are more comfortable getting in touch in different ways. For some it may be Facebook messenger, others Instagram, or for others they will prefer to pick up the phone, email or write a letter. The contact details on your website should take all these ways of communicating into consideration so that everyone feels welcome.

Can we help?

At Church Pages we work with a range of churches, some of whom face the challenge of appealing to different congregations, and so we understand the importance of having a website that welcomes all church members.  If you'd like to discuss your church website and how we can help you to meet the needs of your congregations please do not hesitate to get in touch.