A New Welcoming Parish Website

St. Columbkille Parish in Parma, Ohio, has a new parish website that we launched in time for all the Christmas visitors. We used an eCatholic template, “Bethany,” which I helped to design a few years ago. The design is geared toward creating an evangelizing website–that is, a website that addresses the questions of visitors upfront while being welcoming and engaging. Here is a look at their home page.

The current “Ordinary Time” Home Page has a variety of elements. The items in bold are essential to an evangelizing parish website in my opinion.

In the header they have the parish logo, name and tagline (Worship God, Serve Others, Form Disciples); the search box, links to Mass Times, Contact Info, Bulletins and their social media sites. This same header appears on every internal page.

Below the rotating photo gallery where seasonal images can be added throughout the year, there are four areas that St. Columbkille wanted to feature: Sacraments; Join Us; Eucharistic Adoration and the Catholic School. There is an inviting caption under each image. These images link to the corresponding pages.

The lower half of the home page includes: a brief welcome message from the pastor; Mass and confession times; Today’s Readings (automatic), Quick Links, Calendar Items, News Items and this week’s video by Bishop Robert Barron (automatic). These various elements can be moved around or replaced very easily.

The footer contains: the complete parish name and address with zip code and the phone number with area code, plus a link to Google Directions. This footer is also on every internal page.

To see the website live, click here: https://www.stcolumbkilleparish.org

Your comments are welcome!

Special thanks to pastor Father Anthony J. Suso, staff members and parishioners who provided content and direction for the site and to the eCatholic team who were very helpful throughout the process and will continue to be there for us.

Learn more about eCatholic websites here. (FYI: I am an affiliate of eCatholic and will receive a commission if you create a website from this link.)