The Episcopal Church website – www.episcopalchurch.org – has undergone a complete transformation and redesign into a welcoming, eye-appealing, easy-to-navigate, experiential site.
Launched on December 28, the new website features a motif of stained glass windows, each of which holds a small piece of our contemporary church. Taking direction from newcomer research, the design is steeped, but not mired, in tradition. The beloved shield and words, The Episcopal Church Welcomes You, have an updated look as well.
The new website provides many avenues to experience the Episcopal Church, its beliefs and its many ministries.
“We are offering many new features, many new opportunities to be in community,” noted Anne Rudig, Director of Communication. “Newcomers to the Episcopal Church as well as all our members will enjoy experiencing the Episcopal Church on the new site.”
Key to the new website is the many opportunities for dioceses, congregations, provinces and Episcopalians to post videos and photos of local mission in action. “The new website enables sharing and conversation,” Rudig added. “It has an open source content management system and very powerful search function.”
And, the website is available in Spanish and English.
Sections to scan
To begin, a click on each stained glass window opens a video, photo, multimedia offering, artwork and more from across the Church.
The site contains five main areas:
What we believe: including categories on Baptismal Covenant; Book of Common Prayer; Music; Spiritual Growth; Weekly Bulletin Inserts.
What we do: including pages on Public Policy; Young Adult Service Corps; World Mission Sunday; Good Friday Offering; Mission Priority; Rebuild Our Church in Haiti; Sudan.
Who we are: including Our Congregations; Emergent Church; Religious Orders and Faith Communities; The Anglican Communion; Presiding Bishop; House of Bishops; President of the House of Deputies; House of Deputies; General Convention / Executive Council; Archives; Organizations associated with The Episcopal Church; Seminaries; Episcopal Marketplace
Ministries: including Adult Formation & Lifelong Learning; Asiamerica, Black, Children’s, Federal, Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic and Young Adult/Campus Ministries; Companion Relationships; Domestic Poverty/Jubilee; Ecumenical/Interreligious; Eco-Justice; Episcopal Migration Ministries; Lesson Plans that Work; Stewardship; Transition Ministry; United Thank Offering; Ministries.
Multimedia: Video Programming; Live & On-Demand Worship; Social Media.
Calendar: up-to-date listings with listings of events around the Church
New Features
The prayer for the day: from the lectionary and liturgical calendar.
Worship: with live and on-demand services.
Prayers of the people: where readers can submit prayer requests and know that a community is praying for and with them.
Find a church: with rapid access to Episcopal churches in many ways, including through zip codes.
Today: latest updates from the office of Public Affairs.
Panorama: blogs from across the Episcopal Church
Social media: who’s blogging and tweeting in the Episcopal Church.
“There are so many new features in the website – I invite everyone to join us as we embark on a new era in evangelism,” Rudig said.
The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations. The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org
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