Church websites and The Church Co: a pastor-friendly

Why a church should have a website

Why does a website matter if our church already has social media?

Social platforms are valuable “front-porch” tools, but they are not a stable home base you control. A church website gives you a consistent place to clarify service times, beliefs, next steps, safety/kids policies, and how to contact a pastor—without fighting algorithm changes, ad clutter, or platform shifts. This matters because people already use the internet for religious purposes (including searching for info about religion and using apps/websites for Scripture reading). 

How does a website strengthen outreach and first impressions?

Q: What do online behaviors tell us about outreach?

A: Pew’s national survey data indicates that 30% of U.S. adults go online to search for information about religion.  Even for people who ultimately prefer in-person worship, online exploration often precedes a first visit. Church-focused platforms also explicitly frame the website as a first-impression tool: Tithely, for example, says a church website is “often the first impression people get” and should be “warm, welcoming, and easy to navigate.”

Q: What should a church assume about a first-time guest?

A: Many guests want low-pressure answers: “When are services? What’s it like? Where do my kids go? Can I watch online first? How do I connect?” Pew’s findings that Americans watch services on screens and use religious apps/websites underscores that digital “previewing” is normal, not exceptional.

How does a website improve communication and discipleship during the week?

Q: Isn’t Sunday morning communication enough?

A: Increasingly, connection is both in-person and digital. Pew reports that about a quarter of U.S. adults regularly watch religious services online or on TV, and many are satisfied with virtual experiences.  A website can gather newsletters, sermon archives, small group info, counseling resources, and prayer request pathways into one reliable destination.

Q: What “communication jobs” does a website do best?

A: It centralizes announcements, calendars, plan-a-visit flows, sermon libraries, and contact forms. This is why most church-focused builders elevate these tools (events calendars, sermons/media, “plan your visit,” etc.) as core website functions rather than optional add-ons. 

How does a website support giving and generosity?

Q: Is online giving really that important?

A: Evidence suggests it meaningfully affects consistency and growth. In a Ministry Brands church-giving report (2024 edition), 73% of churches reported that giving via church websites & apps increased or remained steady, and the report also notes that churches offering online giving saw a higher average giving increase than those without recorded online giving (3.49% vs 1.7% average increase in the report’s comparison).

Q: What about recurring giving?

A: Ministry Brands’ 2025 report release highlights recurring and digital methods as key levers: recurring gifts account for large shares of digital donation activity in their dataset, and surveyed churches offering recurring giving were described as more likely to see increased giving.  Even if your church remains committed to in-person generosity practices, the data supports offering multiple ways to give without “replacing” traditions. 

How does a website help with events and community connection?

A well-structured website reduces “announcement drift” by providing a single authoritative calendar and event detail pages (what, when, where, who it’s for, how to register). Church platforms commonly treat events as a first-class feature because consistent event information is essential for community formation. 

Why should church leaders care about SEO and local search?

Q: What is SEO in plain language?

A: Google frames SEO as helping search engines understand your content and helping users decide whether to visit your site via search results.  For churches, that often means “When someone searches ‘church near me’ or ‘Easter service times,’ can they find accurate details fast?”

Q: What influences local visibility?

A: Google’s Business Profile guidance says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and prominence—and that completeness of business information helps Google match you to relevant searches.  This is one reason a church website should clearly display name, address, service times, and ministry categories—and keep them updated.

Why does accessibility belong on a church website checklist?

Accessibility is hospitality expressed in design. W3C defines web accessibility as designing and developing sites so people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web.  W3C also emphasizes accessibility benefits beyond disability—helping people on mobile devices, older adults, and those with situational constraints (like bright sunlight or slow internet).  For pastors and leaders, this is a practical ministry question: “Can everyone in our community access the same information and next steps?”

What is The Church Co

What exactly is The Church Co?

The Church Co describes itself as a “complete digital platform” for churches, combining a website builder with church-specific features (giving, sermons/media, prayer, events, groups, livestreaming) and integrations with common church systems.  It also repeatedly emphasizes a distinctive service promise: they build church websites for free as part of subscriptions, and they’ve been doing so since 2015. 

What products and features does The Church Co highlight?

From The Church Co’s own product pages and feature listings, the platform emphasizes:

A drag-and-drop custom church website builder designed so “anyone” in the organization can maintain the site. 

A church-focused feature set that includes sermons/media, events, online giving, prayer requests, small groups, and “Church Online” livestream engagement tools. 

A Members Portal, positioned as a way for members to log in, update personal/household info, manage giving details, and access private pages—while keeping people on the church’s domain (“instead of linking away”). 

A synced church app concept: The Church Co’s app page describes the app as “100% in sync with your website,” listing synced modules such as sermons, sermon notes, events, forms, prayer requests, giving, groups, and livestreaming.  (This app is tied to higher-tier/on-demand offerings per their FAQ.) 

Stripe-powered giving is referenced in The Church Co’s feature messaging (“Stripe powered online giving system”). 

What templates and design options are mentioned?

The Church Co’s plan description pages reference “a wide range of customizable templates” so a church can choose a design aligned with its identity.  Their pricing/plan materials also reference “instant redesign,” implying template-based redesign flexibility.

What integrations does The Church Co support?

The Church Co strongly highlights integrations—especially with Planning Center. Their features list includes Planning Center plus other tools (examples on their features page include Google Analytics/Tag Manager, Facebook/Instagram, Intercom/Drift, and several church tools). 

For Planning Center specifically, both The Church Co and Planning Center describe a workflow where churches can use Planning Center–powered blocks (events, registrations, groups) inside the website builder, and updates in Planning Center automatically update the website. 

The Church Co’s Members Portal also notes syncing with Planning Center Online and Church Community Builder.

What support model does The Church Co present?

The Church Co points users to help docs and chat-based support (their church website builder page explicitly directs users to use the chat widget for help from their Customer Success team).  They also maintain a help center collection specifically for Planning Center integrations, which signals ongoing documentation and support for that ecosystem. 

Who is The Church Co aiming to serve?

Their language consistently targets pastors, church staff, and volunteer teams—people who need a platform “anyone” can maintain, and who prefer to spend ministry time on people rather than web maintenance.  The “free design included with every subscription” message particularly fits churches that don’t have a designer on staff. 

Why churches should consider The Church Co compared with alternatives

Where does The Church Co appear strongest?

Q: What’s the clearest value proposition for pastors?

A: The Church Co emphasizes a low-friction path to a modern church website: subscription + free design/build included, with a builder meant for non-technical staff and volunteers. 

Q: What ministry features are most differentiated?

A: Compared with general-purpose website builders, The Church Co bundles church-specific modules that churches otherwise stitch together (sermons/media handling, prayer requests, church online/livestream interface, small groups, a members portal).  This reduces the “plugin puzzle” and volunteer upkeep.

Q: Who benefits most from The Church Co’s integrations?

A: Churches using Planning Center appear to be a primary fit. Planning Center’s own integration directory describes The Church Co as supporting a custom website and app with church-specific features and “full integration with Planning Center,” including PCO-powered design blocks and automatic updating as Planning Center changes. 

What tradeoffs should leaders name upfront?

The Church Co’s app offering is presented as tied to the on-demand/upper-tier approach; their app FAQ says you need the “on-demand team” for the app (not the basic or premium plan).  So, if a church’s strategy depends on launching an app immediately, leaders should evaluate the specific tier required rather than assuming the entry price includes everything.

Pricing pages also show add-on costs related to setup/migration options (beyond the “simple” free migration), and other pages reference rush services—these may be worthwhile, but they should be budgeted deliberately.

How does The Church Co compare with major alternatives in plain terms?

Against Tithely Sites: Tithely’s builder is also church-specific, highlighting church templates, built-in sermon library/events/giving/prayer, and a “Plan Your Visit” tool, at $19/month for the website builder.  The Church Co’s differentiators are (a) its repeated promise of free design built into subscriptions and (b) ecosystem-specific integrations (notably Planning Center + member portal syncing). 

Against ChurchSpring: ChurchSpring markets itself as an all-in-one church growth platform (website builder + giving + custom app + church management), with strong emphasis on volunteer-friendly editing and integrated tools.  ChurchSpring’s disclosed pricing starts higher (annual plan shown at $71/month for “Sprout”), which may be justified if a church wants that broader bundled set (and/or its included support options), but it changes the affordability conversation for smaller churches. 

Against general builders like Squarespace/Wix: General builders can be excellent for design polish and flexibility, but churches often need to add giving, sermon hosting, event workflows, and member communication through a combination of embeds, third-party tools, and volunteer processes. Squarespace itself notes plan pricing starting around $16/month and acknowledges pricing can vary by location; it excels as an all-in-one mainstream platform, but it’s not church-specific out of the box.  Wix positions itself as an all-purpose platform with built-in SEO tools (including an integration with Google Search Console via a “site inspection” concept), but again, churches must assemble ministry-specific workflows themselves. 

Starting price and pricing tiers for The Church Co

What is The Church Co’s current starting price?

As of Feb 28, 2026, The Church Co’s own materials describe the platform as starting at $29/month (with references to billing annually on their pricing pages and “starting at $29” on a homepage variant). 

What pricing tiers are shown and what do they include?

The Church Co’s publicly accessible pricing table (on a pricing page variant) lists these tiers:

Basic — $29/month, billed annually. Includes hosting, unlimited pages/blogs/storage, sermon & media library, and events manager (described as “a basic website”). 

Premium — $49/month, billed annually. Adds church online/livestream interface, members portal, digital prayer wall, small groups, sermon notes, live chat rooms, and integrations (including Planning Center + PushPay), plus people/members features. 

Ultimate — $199/month, billed annually. Positioned as “best value” for connecting members, adding a custom mobile app and an on-demand team model (web design/content/strategy support, unlimited revisions/requests, assistants, AI sermon transcription). 

Google Ads — $499/month, billed annually. Includes the broader feature set plus a managed ads component (including a stated $10,000 in ad spend and campaign creation/monitoring with reports). 

Are there setup, migration, or rush fees?

The pricing page variant includes “migration package” options beyond the free simple migration (examples shown: Essentials $299; Tailored $799; Custom $999).  Separately, The Church Co’s “Free Church Website” page describes a standard completion timeline and a paid rush option ($299) for a faster turnaround. 

Best church website builders

The “best” builder is the one your team will actually maintain with excellence. The table below mixes church-specific platforms (built around sermons/giving/events) with mainstream builders (strong design ecosystems but typically requiring more configuration for church workflows). Pricing is stated as published on the cited source pages and should be rechecked for your region and billing cycle at purchase time. 

Step-by-step checklist tailored to pastors and church leaders

A church website project goes best when it’s treated like ministry communications, not “just tech.” This checklist is intentionally role-friendly: it assumes you’ll delegate parts, but still gives you pastoral oversight points.

Clarify the mission of your website (before you pick a tool).

Decide your top three “wins” for the next 90 days (e.g., “Help first-time guests plan a visit,” “Make online giving simple,” “Stop calendar confusion”). Data suggests many people engage religion online (searching for info, using apps/websites for Scripture), so a clear next-step pathway is not “marketing”—it’s wayfinding. 

Choose a domain name you can say from the pulpit.

Pick something short, memorable, and stable (usually your church name + city). Consistency matters for local relevance signals and trust.

Decide on your build approach.

If you want church-specific tools (sermons, prayer, groups, ChMS sync), a church-first platform may reduce complexity and volunteer load. If you choose a general builder, plan in advance how you’ll handle giving, sermon hosting, and your calendar.

Build the minimum set of pages that answer real questions.

Most churches don’t need 50 pages—they need clarity. Common essential pages: “I’m New / Plan a Visit,” service times + location, beliefs/values, kids/youth safety basics, contact, sermons, events, giving, and prayer request. (Church platforms explicitly elevate these “front door” needs.) 

Set up giving with low friction and high trust.

Ministry Brands’ research indicates digital giving through websites/apps is growing and is associated with improved giving outcomes when online giving is offered.  Use clear language (“secure giving”), keep the form simple, and include options people actually use (one-time and recurring; consider digital wallets if your provider supports them). 

Make events authoritative.

Create one “source of truth” calendar. If your church uses a system like Planning Center, prioritize workflows where updates sync automatically to the public website to reduce double-entry and errors. 

Do basic SEO and local search hygiene.

SEO exists to help real people find you. Google describes SEO as helping search engines understand your content and helping users decide to visit your site via search.  For local discovery, Google says local results rely mainly on relevance, distance, and prominence—so completeness and consistency of information matter. 

Build accessibility in from the beginning.

W3C defines accessibility around enabling people with disabilities to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web—and notes the broad benefits for mobile users, older adults, and situational limitations.  In practice: high-contrast text, descriptive link text, alt text on key images, keyboard-friendly navigation, captions for videos, and clear headings.

Assign volunteer roles so the pastor isn’t the webmaster.

A healthy pattern is a small “communications care team,” for example: a Content Steward (updates weekly), a Calendar Owner (events), a Sermon/Media Uploader, and a Pastor/Leader reviewer for theological clarity and tone. Platforms that emphasize volunteer-friendly editing are responding to this real ministry bottleneck. 

Launch, measure, refine.

After launch, watch: “Plan a Visit” submissions, giving page visits, sermon plays, and event registrations. Keep improving clarity and reducing steps.