Running a church is not just about what happens in the church building itself. It’s also about keeping your members informed and trying to attract new people to the church. This is where having a website for your church can be extremely useful. WordPress is excellent for almost any type of website, including churches. Here I look at seven of the best WordPress church themes.
Table of Contents
- Features to Look for in WordPress Church Themes
- Best WordPress Church Themes
- FAQ
- Which is the Best WordPress Church Theme for You?
Features to Look for in WordPress Church Themes
There are several features to look out for when considering which WordPress theme to use for your church website.
- Is it free? If your church is short on money, you might be unable to afford a Pro WordPress theme.
- Does it have event management? If your church regularly has events, you might want to display these on your website so your visitors know what events are coming up.
- Does it have a responsive design? Many people view websites on their phones, so it’s best if your church website displays well on any device.
- How customizable is it? Some WordPress themes are compatible with popular page builders such as Elementor, which means you can drag and drop elements onto the page as you like.
- Does it have eCommerce features? You might want the option of selling products on your websites, such as bibles, crosses, or products made by your members.
Best WordPress Church Themes
After looking at various WordPress church themes, I have narrowed them down to these. I hope you find a church theme here that suits you.
Astra’s Church and Charities templates
🏆 Best for those looking for plenty of customization options.
Astra claims to be the most popular WordPress theme of all time. It’s easy to see why, as it is so versatile. You can use it to create almost any website, including a church site, thanks to the readymade Church demo site. Install that and then customize it to suit your preferences.
However, that demo site is only available with the Pro version of Astra, which starts at $47 per year. If you are using the free version, you could try the Charities demo site, which you could easily modify to be a church site. In fact, because Astra is so customizable, you can modify any of the 230+ other demo sites available.
Astra also has WooCommerce integration, so if you want to sell things on your site, you can easily do that. For example, you might want to raise money for the church by selling products made by your members.
Key features:
- It comes with two readymade church-style sites.
- Over 230 other demo sites to choose from.
- Visual theme customizer.
- Header and footer builder.
- It works well with page builders such as Beaver Builder, Elementor, SiteOrigin, Visual Composer, Divi, etc.
- WooCommerce integration.
Pricing:
- Free version with limited features.
- Pro version starts at $47 per year.
Pros:
- Powerful multipurpose theme.
- Pre-built Church theme.
- Many other pre-built websites to choose from.
- Light and fast.
- Lots of customization options.
Cons:
- The Free version doesn’t have as many features as the Pro version.
- Church theme is only available in the Pro version.
Jupiter X’s Church Priory and Lysithea templates
🏆 Best for those looking for powerful eCommerce features.
Jupiter X’s biggest selling point is its powerful integration with WooCommerce, which enables you to set up an awesome online store. However, this WordPress theme comes with hundreds of readymade demo sites, and two of those are for churches. So, you can use Jupiter X to create a very professional-looking church website.
- Church Priory template.
- Lysithea template.
But if you are not 100% happy with the two church templates, you can customize them almost any way you want. Alternatively, you could look through the more than 400 other templates and go with a different starting point. But then, if you DID want to sell things on your website, you can easily do that too.
Key features:
- Live drag-and-drop layout editor.
- 230 Elementor widgets.
- Dynamic content, such as for events.
- Popup builder.
- One-click installation of ready-made templates.
- WooCommerce integration.
Pricing:
- $59
Pros:
- Two ready-made church websites to choose from.
- Over 400 other demo sites in case you want to go for something different.
- Awesome Elementor integration for full drag-and-drop page editing.
- Highly customizable down to very detailed controls for individual pages.
- WooCommerce integration means you can sell things on your site too.
Cons:
- No free version is available.
The Church Lite by Grace Themes
🏆 Best free WordPress church theme.
Grace Themes are known for creating awesome WordPress themes. On Trustpilot, they have an overall score of 4.7 out of 5 from over 220 reviews, with 91% of those reviews being 5 stars. When you look at their Church theme’s demo site, it’s easy to see why they are so highly rated. It is beautifully designed, with many places for images and plenty of white space. I particularly like the animation effect, where sections spring into view as you scroll down the page.
This theme comes in both free and Pro versions. Of course, as you would expect, the Pro version has more features. However, the free version looks like it could still do the job nicely. So, if your church is short on money but wants a lovely-looking website, you could certainly do worse than this WordPress theme.
Key features:
- Compatible with drag-and-drop page builders.
- Compatible with Contact Form 7, WPForms, Yoast SEO, and newsletter plugins.
- Custom widgets for the footer and sidebar.
- Social media integration and contact information.
- The choice between full-width and boxed layout.
- Full-screen slider for displaying images.
- WooCommerce integration.
- Built-in events manager.
Pricing:
- Free.
- Pro version: $29.
Pros:
- Beautiful design that’s perfect for a church or other religious site.
- Easy to set up and customize.
- You can get a professional-looking church website for free.
Cons:
- Not all features are available in the free version.
OceanWP Church template
🏆 Best for an awesome-looking church site that can receive donations.
OceanWP is a fantastic WordPress theme that comes with many great-looking, readymade demo sites, including an awesome Church site. Unfortunately, although there is a free version of OceanWP, the Church template requires the Premium version, which starts at $54 per year for three sites. In fact, most of the useful features of OceanWP require the Premium version.
But take a look at that Church site. It’s superb! And the great thing is you can easily customize it. Plus, like many WordPress themes these days, it includes WooCommerce integration, which could be useful if you want to raise money by selling bibles or cakes, for example.
Key features:
- Readymade church demo site to get you started.
- Fully customizable without coding skills.
- 7 customizable header styles.
- 9 blog post elements.
- Built-in donations section.
- WooCommerce integration.
Pricing:
- Starts at $54 per year for 3 sites.
Pros:
- Church demo site looks fantastic.
- Works well with Elementor page builder.
- Easy to customize.
Cons:
- No free version of the Church demo site.
Blocksy Charity template
🏆 Best if you’re looking for a fast-loading website.
Blocksy comes in free and premium versions, so it’s ideal for those on a tight budget who want to get their first website up. This WordPress theme does come with some ready-made demo sites, but not as many as other themes, although they do seem to all be available in the free version.
There is no specific church template here, but you could easily modify the Charity site to make it into a church site.
Key features:
- Works with page builders Gutenberg, Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Brizy.
- Customize layout, header, footer, and sidebar.
- Advanced typography, including Google Fonts.
- WooCommerce integration.
- Search engine optimized.
- Readymade starter websites.
Pricing:
- Limited free version.
- Premium version with more features starting from $49 per year.
Pros:
- Fast loading.
- Many customization options.
- It comes with many plugins.
Cons:
- Not as many starter sites as some other themes.
- No specific church starter site.
Endurance
🏆 Best for a clean and clear free church site.
Endurance is a free WordPress theme that you can use to make a church website with a clean and clear design. As you can see from the demo, there is plenty of white space but also some clear places for images and featured pages.
Of course, the fact that it’s free is a big plus, but there is one negative thing I have to say about it. When you install the theme, it doesn’t come with demo content such as images and text. Instead, you need to set everything up yourself, which some people could find time-consuming. But if you don’t mind doing that, Endurance could be a good choice for a free church WordPress theme.
Key features:
- Large top image slider to feature images of your church.
- Section for three featured pages.
- Calendar for upcoming events.
- Recent Posts section.
- Clear the top menu.
Pricing:
- Free.
Pros:
- Fully responsive — looks great on all devices.
- Clean and clear design.
- A calendar feature would be useful for scheduling church events.
- Eye-catching DONATE button in the menu.
Cons:
- It doesn’t come with demo content.
Prayer
🏆 Best for churches that want to provide online sermons plus details of upcoming events.
The Prayer WordPress theme has a bit of a different look from other church themes. It has a boxed layout rather than a full page with contrasting colors. There is a section for sermons, so you can provide recordings of your recent sermons for visitors to watch online. There is also an eye-catching Events section so visitors can see what church events are happening soon.
Prayer could be a good choice if you are looking for something a bit different for your church website. However, there is no free version, so it will cost you at least $34.30 per year.
Key features:
- Built-in sermon post type for you to present your sermons to the world.
- Events post type for promoting your church events.
- Compatible with popular page builders such as Elementor and Beaver Builder.
- Multilingual ready.
- SEO ready.
Pricing:
- Starting from $34.30 per year.
Pros:
- Large image slider for displaying images with inspirational quotes.
- The recent Sermons section allows visitors to replay recent sermons.
- The clear Events section makes it easy to see the events that are coming up.
- The Eye-catching News section will enable visitors to keep up-to-date with the latest news.
Cons:
- No free version is available.
FAQ
Yes, WordPress is good for any website, including churches. The great thing about WordPress is it is powerful and flexible, so it really depends on which WordPress theme you use.
First, you will need to buy web hosting. Then, you will need to install WordPress. Once you have done that, you can create a church website by installing one of the themes reviewed here.
WordPress itself is always free. However, to create a WordPress website for your nonprofit, you will need to buy web hosting.
Well, that depends on what you are looking for. For example, are you looking for a free WordPress church theme? Or are you happy to pay for a high-quality theme with lots of features and options? Also, will you need eCommerce features to allow you to sell products on your website? Please see below for more details.
Which is the Best WordPress Church Theme for You?
There are various factors that determine which is the best WordPress church theme for you. The main factors are whether it’s free, whether it’s good for scheduling church events, how customizable the theme is, and whether it has good eCommerce features. Here I have made it simple for you by listing the best church themes for each of these scenarios:
- Best free WordPress church theme: The Church Lite.
- Best church theme for events: The Church Lite.
- Best church theme for customization: Astra with Church template.
- Best church theme with eCommerce features: Jupiter X with Church Priory or Lysithea templates.
