Every Nation GTA was one of the first churches to use the Resurrect theme when we launched a few months ago. Located in downtown Toronto, the theme’s urban-inspired design is suited to their church’s personality. They have done a fine job organizing their content and giving their website a polished look with the insertion of their logo and the use of quality photography.
Today you will meet the men responsible and hear how they utilized WordPress and our theme for their new church website.
We’ve had great feedback from those within our church and even those not part of a church at all. It is a stylish, yet simple design… Richard Kidger, Associate Pastor
Meet Richard Kidger and Gul Murjani
Please tell us a little about yourselves and your church.
Richard: I am one of the associate pastors at Every Nation Greater Toronto Area (ENGTA). ENGTA is a church situated in downtown Toronto with people from all over the GTA. We exist to help people encounter the unconditional love of God, find purpose and follow the call. Our church is made up of students, young professionals, and families.
Gul: I’m responsible for all the technical aspects of the church website — hosting, email, podcasts etc. I also provide recommendations to the pastoral team on the best web tools available (e.g., WordPress, MailChimp, etc.)
Why did you choose our Resurrect WordPress theme for your church’s new website?
Richard: We had wanted to upgrade our website for some time. We saw the Risen theme in ThemeForest and liked that it was tailored specifically for churches. When Resurrect was released, we immediately made the change as it had a more urban and edgier look for us than Risen.
What has it been like using the Resurrect theme? Any favorite features?
Richard: We love Resurrect! We’ve had great feedback from those within our church and even those not part of a church at all. It is a stylish, yet simple design; the responsiveness is very impressive; sermons linking to podcasts is also handy.
Gul: I like how fluid and responsive the theme is across different devices from desktops, to tablets and smartphones. That’s a key feature as I’ve used many “responsive” sites that were not truly responsive.
What do you hope visitors to your church’s new website will benefit from?
Richard: We hope their first impression of our church is a positive one and that our website reflects that. That the information is helpful, the navigation is intuitive, and that there is some value-add for them visiting our site again.
Gul, having a background in programming, do you have any thoughts on how Resurrect is built?
Gul: You’re coding style is an inspiration – clean, so well documented, so well thought out! That’s the kind of coding I like to see and like to use. I do admire your resolve to stick within the prescribed standards defined by WordPress. It serves well in the long term.
Would you recommend churchthemes.com to other churches and why?
Richard: Absolutely. Again, the design and functionality has churches in mind, which a lot of other themes don’t cater for.
Final Thoughts
Thank you Richard and Gul for sharing with us how you utilized Resurrect and WordPress for your church’s website.
One thing that stands out to me about Every Nation GTA‘s website is that it is tidy and professional. One reason for this is that quality photography was chosen and the content has been thoughtfully presented. I am also thrilled to see churches using sermon podcasting (learn how), which is a feature built into our Church Theme Content plugin.
Hopefully Every Nation GTA’s use of the Resurrect WordPress theme will serve as inspiration to you. If your church does not have an urban flavor, consider our upcoming Exodus theme. We’re striving to make something to match every church.