Designed & developed by a pastor
Church website design & development
I design and build custom church websites, one church at a time, from your own photos and your own words. You see a free concept of your new homepage before you agree to anything. Once you say yes, I develop the whole site on fast, modern code your church owns, and you can keep it current by chatting with ChatGPT or Claude.
I'm Elijah Desent, pastor of Westview Baptist Church in Warren, Michigan. I've designed more than a hundred church websites.
See church websites I've builtOur work
Church websites I've designed, live right now.
Every one of these is a real church, and every link goes to the live site. Small rural congregations, a bilingual church in Houston, a church that signs every service for the deaf. None of them share a template.
And on a phone, where most visitors see them first.
Church website design
Designed for the person who hasn't visited yet.
Your members already know where the church is. The website is for the family that just moved to town, the person who drove past your sign, the grandmother checking what time the service starts. I design for them.
- Your church, not a theme
- I start from your own photos, your own wording, and the feel of your congregation. A country Baptist church and a bilingual church plant in Houston should not look like the same template with the logo swapped.
- The first five seconds
- Someone looking you up wants to know when you meet, where you are, and whether they'd fit. Those answers go on the first screen, ahead of the announcements and the verse of the day.
- Designed on a phone first
- Most visitors find a church on their phone, so that's where the design starts. Big type, a menu that opens, and a tap-to-call number and map link.
- Written for the visitor
- Church sites tend to be written for the people already inside. I write the Plan Your Visit, kids, and beliefs pages for the person who has never been, and keep it in your voice.
Church website development
Built properly underneath, so it keeps working.
A good-looking church website can still be slow, hard to update, invisible on Google, or one expired plugin away from breaking. Development is the part that decides whether the site still works well three years from now.
- Custom code, no page builder
- Every site is hand-built on Next.js, the same framework behind many of the fastest sites on the web. No WordPress plugins to update, no theme to break, and pages that load almost instantly.
- Sermons, streams, and giving
- A sermon archive from your YouTube channel or podcast, your live stream on your own site if you stream, and the giving service you already use connected to a clear Give button.
- Events that take themselves down
- Events leave the homepage once they're over, so October visitors don't land on an Easter banner.
- Built to be found on Google
- Church schema markup, clean page structure, and a name, address, and phone number that match your Google Business Profile, so you show up when someone in town searches for a church.
- Your domain, moved carefully
- I move your existing domain with no downtime, keep your church email working, and redirect old page addresses so links in old bulletins and search results still work.
- Edit it by chatting
- Your site connects to ChatGPT or Claude. Type "move Christmas Eve to 6 PM" and the live site updates in about 30 seconds, with every change undoable. Or text me and I'll do it.
Curious how the chat editing works? Here's the AI church website editor in detail.
How it works
You see the design before you pay for it.
- 1
A free concept, about 48 hours
Tell me about your church. I'll pull from your current site, Facebook, and YouTube and design a working homepage with your real photos and words. No payment details, no commitment.
- 2
We shape it together
You tell me what's right and what isn't. I change it until it looks like your church. If you don't like it, you owe nothing and keep your current site.
- 3
Launch, usually within a week
Once you say yes, I build out the remaining pages, bring over the content worth keeping, connect your domain, and go live. Most churches launch within a week.
- 4
It stays current
Update it yourself by chatting with ChatGPT or Claude, or send me what needs changing. Hosting, backups, and the security certificate are handled.
From the churches
What pastors say afterward.
“I have used several others in the past, and when I selected Eli it was from a referral. He is the best I have ever used and really understands the needs of churches. I would give him my top recommendation.”
“We had a new visitor this past Sunday — only one week after our new website went live — and when I asked him what brought him to our church, he said it was our new website.”
“He's easy to work with and he really listened. He took our old site, built something fresh, and made it happen in a timely fashion. The look is clean and clear and says exactly who we are.”
“The editing software is unbelievable. It's like magic.”
Common questions
Church website design questions.
- What does church website design include?
- The look of the site, and the decisions behind it: which pages you need, what goes on the homepage, how a first-time visitor finds service times and directions, and how it works on a phone. I design from your own photos and words, and you see a free concept of your homepage before you commit to anything.
- What is the difference between church website design and development?
- Design is what the site looks like and how it's organized. Development is building it so it actually works: the code, hosting, sermon archive, giving, forms, live stream, moving your domain, and making sure Google can read it. Many church website companies do one and outsource the other. I do both, so nothing gets lost between the designer and the developer.
- How much does a church website cost?
- There's a one-time cost for the design and build and a monthly hosting cost, and you get both in writing before you agree to anything. The monthly rate never goes up. For what the rest of the market charges, from free builders to $20,000 agencies, see my church website cost guide.
- How long does it take to build a church website?
- You see a free concept of your homepage in about 48 hours. Once you say yes, most churches launch within a week. The design is done before you commit, which is why it goes quickly.
- Is this a template or a website builder?
- Neither. Each site is designed for one church and hand-built in code. There is no drag-and-drop builder underneath, so it loads fast, has no plugins to keep updated, and doesn't look like the thousand other churches on the same theme.
- Can our staff or volunteers update the website?
- Yes. Your site connects to ChatGPT or Claude, so updating it means typing what you want changed, like "add the Thanksgiving dinner on November 23." The change is live in about 30 seconds and can be undone. If you'd rather not touch it, send me the change and I'll make it.
- Can we keep our domain name and church email?
- Yes. I connect your new site to the domain you already have with no downtime and leave your email working. Old page addresses are redirected so existing links don't break.
- Will you move our sermons and content from our old website?
- Yes. I go through your current site and bring over the sermons, pages, photos, and documents worth keeping. PDF newsletters can become real web pages that Google can read.
- Can you set up online giving and our live stream?
- Yes. I connect the giving platform you already use, such as Tithe.ly, Pushpay, Planning Center, or PayPal, or help you choose one. If you stream on YouTube or Facebook, the live service and past services can show on your site. If you don't stream, there won't be a "Watch live" button that leads nowhere.
- Do you design websites for small churches?
- Yes, and most of the churches I build for are small congregations. A small church needs a clear, welcoming website as much as a large one does, and often more, because a visitor has less to go on.
- What denominations do you work with?
- Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Church of God, non-denominational, and independent churches, plus bilingual congregations, deaf ministries, Christian schools, and church plants. I'm the pastor of a Baptist church in Warren, Michigan, and I write in your church's voice, not mine.
- Who owns the website?
- Your church does: the site, its code, and the domain. Nothing is locked to me. If you ever want to leave, you take all of it with you.
- Will our church website show up on Google?
- It's built for it: fast pages, church schema markup, real page titles, and a name, address, and phone number that match your Google Business Profile. Google decides rankings, so no honest designer can promise a position, but a well-built site gives you the best chance.
- What if we don't like the concept?
- Then you owe nothing and keep your current site. The concept is free, and you only pay once you're happy with the design.
Before you choose anyone
- How much does a church website cost?
What builders, freelancers, and agencies charge in 2026.
- The best church website design companies
Fourteen options compared, several of which I'd send you to over me.
- What the best church websites do
Twelve traits, live examples, and a ten-point self-test.
- Score your current church website
A free check of the site you have now.
From one pastor to another
See your church's new website this week.
Tell me about your church and I'll design a free concept of your homepage within about 48 hours, using your own photos and words. Then you can decide about something real. No payment details, no commitment.