Free church websites

We're exploring how to give every Methodist church a free, professional web presence through a connexional platform.

Right now, there are over 35 different website platforms in use across Methodist circuits - from WordPress and Wix to specialist church tools like Chrestos and Church Edit. When the volunteer maintaining a church website moves on, the site often goes with them. Our Digital Landscape Audit found that 20% of Methodist churches have no web presence at all.

We're working with the Developer Society to redesign the Church Finder tool so that every church has an up-to-date, accessible page as a baseline - generated automatically from existing data. Churches that want to go further will be able to customise their page with events, news, photos, and stories.

This means no church needs to pay for a separate website unless they choose to. No church loses its web presence because a volunteer leaves. And every church is findable by people looking for a place to worship.

This work is currently in the scoping phase. We'll share more as the approach develops.