What Should a Website for a Church of Christ Include? A Practical Checklist for Elders and Preachers

The first thing a visitor reads should answer one implicit question: is there a place for me here? A headline like “Walk With Us Toward Peace and Purpose” or “Find the Simplicity that is in Christ” communicates warmth, direction, and invitation. A headline that just displays the congregation’s name communicates almost nothing useful to a seeker.

Your homepage headline should speak directly to the person you most want to reach. What are they struggling with? What are they searching for? Speak to that first, before you say anything about the church.

Here’s a concrete example. “Join Our Journey to Clarity and Confidence in Christ” (North Terrace church of Christ, Lutz FL) paints an aspirational identity, inviting the reader to join a journey, not just attend a church, all before a visitor even scrolls. That’s the difference between a website that holds someone’s attention and one they click away from in ten seconds.

This is the most commonly overlooked element, and the one that separates a genuinely evangelistic website from one that merely looks nice. Most church websites talk almost exclusively about themselves: who they are, what they believe, when they meet. That information matters, but it’s not what moves a searching person.

What moves them is feeling understood: seeing their own struggles reflected back to them, and beginning to envision what their life could look like with Christ and a loving congregation in it. An evangelistic website speaks to the real problems people carry when they start searching. The loneliness. The lack of purpose. The feeling that something is missing and they can’t name it. It positions the congregation not as an institution to join, but as a guide, one that has walked the same road and knows the way forward. It answers the unspoken question every seeker is really asking: will my life be better if I follow Jesus with these people?

The words on your website should help a visitor envision that better life. That’s what turns a curious click into a first visit.

The church of Christ is distinct in that the gospel, the plan of salvation, is central. Many churches do not have a page dedicated to the plan of salvation, which is a missed opportunity.

A dedicated page that plainly walks someone through what the Bible says serves two audiences: the spiritually curious person who isn’t yet a Christian, and the lifelong member seeking a congregation that takes scripture seriously. It’s one of the most important trust signals such a website can have, and it’s something most generic church website platforms don’t prioritize the way evangelistic templates do.

The number-one reason spiritually curious people don’t attend a new congregation isn’t that they aren’t interested. It’s that they’re afraid of the unknown. What do people wear? Will I be put on the spot? Is it friendly to someone who hasn’t been to church in years? What’s the service actually like?

A warm, honest first-time guest page removes that friction entirely. The best ones don’t just list service times; they walk a first-time visitor through exactly what to expect, answer practical questions about parking and children’s classes, note that dress is casual, and offer a warm assurance that no one will be singled out or pressured. Some even include a plan-your-visit form so the congregation can prepare a warm welcome in advance.

That kind of transparency builds trust before you ever meet someone in person. It turns a hesitant Google search into someone who shows up on Sunday already feeling like they know you.

Most websites for churches of Christ, especially those on older platforms, feature a lifeless photo of the church building or the sign out front. That’s not a welcome mat. It’s a missed opportunity. Real photos communicate what a building photo never can: that there are actual people here, that they’re warm and genuine, and that a visitor would be walking into a community rather than a structure.

Photos from worship services and Bible classes give a seeker a real sense of what your congregation looks and feels like. A smartphone photo of your actual members, taken with decent lighting, will always outperform a polished exterior shot of the building.

When someone sees real faces from your congregation on the website, they’ve already started forming a connection before they ever walk through the door.

This sounds obvious, but it’s where a surprising number of church websites still fall short. Hard-to-find service times. An address with no map.

Make this information impossible to miss. Put it on the homepage. Update it any time it changes. And embed a Google map with your listing directly on your site, so you don’t make someone copy-paste an address into a separate app. The person deciding whether to visit this Sunday morning should never have to hunt for this. If they do, many of them simply won’t come.

Your website should have a way for a visitor to reach out, ask a question, or request a prayer, and someone should actually respond within 24–48 hours. When someone fills out a contact form on a church’s website, they are often at a significant spiritual decision point.

A warm, personal response within a day or two can be the difference between someone who visits and someone who moves on. This is low-hanging fruit that costs nothing; it just requires intentionality.

Sermon libraries aren’t just for members. They’re one of the most powerful trust-building tools a congregation can offer a seeker. A person who is spiritually curious but not yet ready to visit can listen to a few sermons and feel like they already know your preacher, which dramatically lowers the barrier to showing up in person.

The key is making sure the sermon page is organized and accessible, not just a raw archive. Label series clearly. Feature recent messages prominently. A seeker browsing your sermons should be able to find something relevant to where they are, without feeling like they walked into the middle of a conversation they don’t understand.

The church of Christ has a clear, distinct identity rooted in the New Testament. A website that hides this, or drowns it in vague language that could describe any church anywhere, misses the opportunity to attract exactly the right people.

The congregations with the most effective evangelistic websites are the ones that lean into their identity: Bible-based, non-denominational, patterned after the first-century church, uncomplicated. Language like “we go back to the Bible” or “simple, Christ-centered worship” does something powerful: it simultaneously draws the spiritually curious and resonates deeply with those who have been burned by man-made complexity and are looking for something simpler and truer.

Don’t hide what makes you distinct. It’s one of your greatest evangelistic assets.

Most church websites provide information but never call people to action. They describe the congregation, list the services, and then leave the visitor to figure out what to do next. That’s a missed opportunity every time.

The best evangelistic websites make the next step unmistakable, and they repeat it. A clear, prominent button that asks visitors to “Plan a Visit” or “Schedule a Bible Study” should appear on your homepage multiple times. Not buried at the bottom. Not tucked in a menu. Front and center, showing up again (and again) as the visitor scrolls, so that when someone is finally ready to take a step, they can’t miss how to do it.

The goal of every other element on this list is to build enough trust that a searching person wants to take that step. The call to action is where that trust becomes a decision.