Every designer interviewed repeatedly acknowledged the pressure churches face in the quest for visibility. Ironically, many churches who pour money into establishing a unique graphical identity simply ask their designer to follow the latest trends. Matt Adams expressed frustration at churches “who claim they ‘want to be unique, just like X.’ It’s terrible. So many young pastors want instant church plant success, and rely on stealing or borrowing from other pastors, or dropping as much pop/tech culture as they can into their web site and church. Just the other day I ran across a church web site promoting Wi-Fi access right in their church tag line.”

The consensus is that business strategies can peacefully exist within church culture without compromising core values or tainting the role of the designer. As all the designers expressed, priority #1 is authenticity – an honest reflection of the church values that skew trendy for more than just trendy’s sake.

As their designs reflect, many Christian churches of the last few decades are emerging as diverse, evolving organizations who see great value in staying current. It’s undetermined how much cutting-edge design is affecting the size of congregations, but existing congregants have a whole new breed of gorgeous, feature-rich web sites to connect them with their community

The consensus is that business strategies can peacefully exist within church culture without compromising core values or tainting the role of the designer. As all the designers expressed, priority #1 is authenticity – an honest reflection of the church values that skew trendy for more than just trendy’s sake.

As their designs reflect, many Christian churches of the last few decades are emerging as diverse, evolving organizations who see great value in staying current. It’s undetermined how much cutting-edge design is affecting the size of congregations, but existing congregants have a whole new breed of gorgeous, feature-rich web sites to connect them with their community