7 Best WordPress Church Themes 2023
Part of running and keeping a church is the business side of it. Your church needs to have a website that will help new members of your congregation find all of the information they need and feel that your worship house takes your message seriously.
Think of your website as a first impression. You want to show a strong online presence to invite new members to attend your church.
You don’t have to know how to code, nor do you need to hire a web designer. You only need to take a look at some of the best WordPress themes so you can build a significant site for your church all by yourself. There are dozens of great themes to choose from. We’ll look at seven of the best today.
What are the Best WordPress Themes for Churches?
WordPress themes are user friendly. Designers want people who know nothing about coding or web design to craft the perfect website. These themes ask for some sort of annual plan so your website can be updated and supported.
You will likely need to shell out some cash to keep your site up and running. The money you spend is worth it, though, as many of these plans offer valuable support.
Keep in mind that your website is the first impression you have for some of your new congregation members. You want a theme that is easy for you to use, and that draws in new members.
Here are the 7 Best WordPress Themes for Churches
- Astra – Recommended
- Ultra – Most User Friendly
- TheGem – Most Templates
- ChurchHope – Best Features for Churches
- Avada – Most Popular
- Beautiful Pro Theme – Easiest to Use
- Benevolence – Best Support
Astra – Best Overall
Astra is a WordPress theme designed to suit any kind of website. It includes hundreds of demo sites for you to try out. Its advantages are that it is a fast and lightweight theme, making it easy for different browsers to load it.
It’s also easy to set up, which is excellent if you don’t have any web design background or coding background. Customization is good for page building. You can even import outside plugins and use them inside of this theme.
Another advantage is that Astra has built-in search engine optimization. Built into it is Schema.org code, and Astra is Native AMP ready. These features help your website become a top search result when a congregation member searches through Google or another search engine.
Pros:
- Built-in SEO optimization
- Can import plugins
- Hundreds of demo sites
- Integration with payment methods
Cons:
- Have to pay for premium support and more options
Ultra – Easiest to Use
Ultra is a theme created by the team at Themify. Themify is a known and trusted maker of themes for WordPress. It comes with a free version at no cost, but paid versions include extra features. It’s worth it to go for a paid plan if you can. The additional features will make your site look and feel more professional.
The free version offers no technical support. Themifiy’s Lifetime master option comes with a higher upfront price but gives you lifetime access to all themes, updates, photoshop, PSD files. These are useful for creating a site that stands out.
Ultra comes with premade demo sites and skins. These skins help you design your website quickly in just minutes. You’re able to display videos in the background of your site as well as animate text.
Like other themes, Ultra allows third-party plugins and add ons. Overall, Ultra keeps things simple by allowing you to select from useful templates.
Pros:
- Skins help you design a site in minutes
- Pre-designed layouts
- Pre-made site demos
- Affordable, made by a trusted maker
Cons:
- High price for lifetime master support
- Free option offers no support
TheGem – Most Template Options
TheGem is an adaptable and straightforward theme designed by the team at CodexThemes. It is a theme for the creatives out there.
With TheGem, you’ll have access to over 400 premade templates to choose from. You’ll have no shortage of options to design your ideal site. You can view the download page to see what kinds of websites are possible with the many different site skins. You can do all of this and not have to write any code.
You can customize this skin with external plugins. However, you’ll have to get high quality hosting like that of BlueHost, before you can use TheGem. The premium version of TheGem does require payment, but it connects directly to theme upgrades.
Pros:
- Over 400 templates to choose from
- Compatible with different plugins
- Simple and adaptable
Cons
- Requires hosting
ChurchHope – Best Features for Churches
This theme is brought to you by Themholics and is quality checked by Envato.
With ChurchHope, you can use pre-built page layouts specially designed for critical features for a church website. These pre-built page layouts to help you develop your website quickly. You have space for special sections your site visitors will want to see.
Your site visitors can view sermons through video, audio, or PDF. You can display your schedule clearly with your set Church times or calendar events. There is also a special place for speakers where you can include pictures and short bios for pastors.
These features highlight all of the essential parts of a church website. They provide a place to display your information clearly and in a design that looks professional. New church members will want to see how your church works and what your ultimate message is. This theme helps you put together a website that communicates these crucial details.
Some reviews say this theme does not offer support with the latest version of WordPress. However, developers met these comments with responses that the theme supports the newest version, and you have to make sure that you have the most updated version WordPress downloaded.
Pros:
- Quality checked by Envato
- Offers theme hosting
- Special layouts for churches
Cons:
- May have trouble with support for the latest version of WordPress
Avada – Most Popular
This theme is the number one best selling theme in the largest WordPress theme marketplace.
Created by the team at Theme Fusion, Avada focuses on versatility. You can use it as a layout for multiple kinds of websites. Though highly customizable, no coding knowledge is necessary. The drag and drop tool helps you intuitively create sections for your content. You’ll find that you can create a website that may match a professional web designer’s work if you make the right design choices.
Avada comes with a growing number of pre-built websites and individual page templates. The layout supports background videos. There is also support for popular plugins, like WooCommerce and gravity forms.
Currently, the site has 49 website demos. Though it is highly customizable, some reviews say that Avada may feel like a software piece that you have to learn how to use. The tools take time to learn. Maximum potential comes from understanding how to utilize each of the features best.
This theme is best for someone willing to learn how to use all of the site-building tools and work with the customization options. This theme’s real strength is its options for just about all of its features, but only for those who have the time to sit and learn how to get the best results.
Pros:
- #1 bestselling theme
- Highly customizable
- supports outside plugins
Cons:
- Not as intuitive
- Requires time to learn and use well
Beautiful pro Theme – Easiest to Use
Beautiful is a theme that focuses on ease of creation. This theme is from Pro Theme Studio Press. You can begin to create your website with just a few clicks.
There are ten widget areas for a simple design to save you time. It comes with premade templates for your use. The theme is mobile responsive, so it will run well when booted up on the phone.
This theme is our recommended quick and easy theme option. Though it is not as customizable as some other themes, it allows you to design a site without learning a lot of software to make your website look and feel professionally done.
Beautiful Pro Theme is best suited if you need a website for your church without the hassle of going through unlimited amounts of options. It is a fast yet reliable theme that will give your website the edge it needs. One drawback is the high price for the theme, but the money upfront can save you time if you’re looking for that.
Pros:
- Simplest design
- Mobile Responsive
- Saves time
Cons:
- Highest price
Benevolence – Best Support
The Benevolence theme is designed especially for churches and nonprofit organizations. A key asset to this theme is that its optimization for speed. Its advantages are the integrated features for multiple payment methods. These are methods like Paypal and credit cards.
It is currently sporting a 5-star customer rating with high praise for excellent support. It comes with 18 widget areas, 11 custom post types, and unlimited color options. Another asset to Benevolence in its SEO optimization. The theme responds automatically to adapted resolution. So whether the customer is viewing the site on a computer or a mobile device, the theme will respond and look great too.
Benevolence has the fastest page load speed for a non-profit site. Its speed grade is A90+. This speed will help your website stand out among other top results that might get looked over due to slow startup speed.
The theme works great for fundraisers as you can track donations. There are also features to support sermons in audio, video, or document formats.
Benevolence reviews praise the high quality of support that backs the theme. Users are incredibly happy with their service.
Pros:
- Designed for churches and nonprofit organizations
- Consistent 5-star customer ratings
- Optimized for site speed
- SEO Friendly
- Low yearly price
Cons:
- High price for Lifetime access
- Lifetime access is quite a step higher.
How to Choose a WordPress Church Theme
Apart from our seven themes, there are hundreds of themes that you can choose from. The truth is that most of these themes do the same things. They are website designs that you can control to design a site to your liking for your church.
Though they are quite similar, it’s up to you to focus on what your Church needs. In most cases, you don’t need a site with a lot of fluff to make it look nice. You need the information that new and current members of your church are looking for to stand out.
Much of the decisions you’ll need to make are your personal preference. Keep in mind that the impression that your website gives will give the visitor an idea about what your church is all about. You want your new church members to see your site and become aware of how your church runs and what your church deems to be the most important.
When you look for the right theme, there are several factors to keep in mind.
Some of these factors to think about are technical for websites. Things like speed and SEO will help your website maximize user experience.
Clarity of information and collections and donations are content-based pieces of your website that you must also consider. Think of the core values of your church. You want those values to be clear to any new site visitor.
Think through these factors to get the best possible site for your church.
Clarity of Information
The message your church has must be made clear on your website. Choose a theme that is easy to read. You want a first time visitor to find everything they need to know with no hassle. Your website viewers should find your church schedule, calendar, and sermons on the front page.
Select or design your layout with crucial information in a place that users will find with just a glance. The point of your site is to help users find out about how they can get involved.
Collections and Donations
Most people understand that churches remain up and running with the help of donations and periodic collections from the congregation. Your website can help your church get the assistance it needs.
You will want a theme that allows you to display how your church does collections. Each church handles its collections a little differently. If someone has found your site with the hope to donate, make doing so a convenience and not a scavenger hunt.
Plugins or built-in options make it, so your website is compatible with credit card payments or Paypal. Consider if the theme you’re getting has these plugins or features available. It will make donating much easier for churchgoers.
Speed
You want to choose a theme with a fast site speed. That means after your website is found and clicked, the website should load in full in just a few seconds or less.
In a world of speed, your site’s loading speed could be the difference between someone visiting your church or finding another one. With all the different churches out there, it’s difficult enough to get a visitor to your site. In terms of speed, faster websites will win more visitors.
Accompanied with this is the idea that your theme should look good across all web browsing platforms. Whether someone views your website on a desktop, a laptop, or through a mobile device — your theme has to look great. Make sure you choose a theme that is fully functional across these platforms to maximize your visitor potential.
Price
Pricing is something to consider too. These themes offer support for their users. The free plans save you money, but you will lack the means for a professional look and feel. Your site doesn’t have to be fancy in any way, but it must have a presence that shows your church is a real business.
You want a plan with support, especially if you don’t know code or web design. It can get a little expensive with higher-tier packages. This support is your maintenance if anything goes wrong with your website.
SEO Ready
Finally, you also want your site to be SEO or search engine optimized. This optimization will make your website one of the first ones when someone does a google search or search engine search for churches. SEO is powerful because it makes it, so your website is the easiest to find. If you pair speed with excellent website content, you can count on more members clicking your site.
Seven Best WordPress Themes for Churches Roundup
- Astra – Recommended
- Ultra – Most User Friendly
- TheGem – Most Templates
- ChurchHope – Best Features for Churches
- Avada – Most Popular
- Beautiful Pro Theme – Easiest to Use
- Benevolence – Best Support
Final Thoughts
Astra is our recommended theme for your church. It’s a fast, reliable, and SEO ready theme that gives you plenty of options for designing an excellent site for your church. As runner up, we recommend the Benevolence theme for its support. Both of these are trusted themes that have won high praise in WordPress’s marketplace. You won’t go wrong with either one.
Websites help your business by providing all the information your customers or new church members need. A simple website that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use will allow your church members to find all they need to know.
FAQs
Which theme is easiest to use?
If you want a theme with simple tools, we recommend the Ultra theme. It is compatible with a drag and drop tool to make things easier for you. Building the website will be fast and easy — even fun with this feature. You can try out as many options as you like until you have just what you need.
For a super easy to use theme, we recommend the Beautiful Pro Theme. Though it is a little pricey, you will save time. You’ll also have confidence with a great layout and a high-performance website.
Can I use a free theme for my church website?
The short answer is “yes,” you certainly can. However, there are some major drawbacks to using a free theme plan compared to even the cheapest package for that theme.
Oftentimes, free theme downloads will lack support. They will also lack customization features and may not update appropriately over time. A lack of support could cause your site to underperform, and ultimately, your options will be limited.
You may not want to get a lifetime package right away. These are the most expensive packages. Perhaps you want to see how you like the theme before deciding that it will be the one you use for life. Cheaper packages will allow you to experience some more customized options, and they usually come with support for your site. In the end, it’s worth it to go for a paid plan. The assets available for a fee will help your site immeasurably.
Which theme has the best templates?
Many of the themes here come with beautiful pre-built templates for you to use with your website. We recommend Astra, Avada, and ChurchHope for the best themes. Both Astra and Avada are trusted themes with numerous options for customization. You can select a template and tailor it just to your liking.
ChurchHope has specialized features for churches and nonprofit organizations. You might want these to help information on your website standout.
How long will it take for me to design my page with a Church Theme?
The time it takes to design your page will mostly be based on how long you want to spend customizing it. Some themes here make it so you can create a website in just a few minutes. These have premade layouts and drag and drop tools. You can make a simple and functional website with only these tools.
Some of the themes here focus on giving you options for detailed customization. You can spend as much time as you want, making sure you design every website’s detail. The great thing about these themes is that designers made them so you can create great sites without knowing any kind of programming.
