Last year we set out to update our main website, which is the digital home of many of our ministries. Today we’re pleased to bring you the new site, with several significant changes that we hope will serve the Lafayette community, Biblical Counseling community, church members, and others better than ever. Here are the main things we set out to do to serve you better:
Show the faces and places of Faith and Lafayette
We wanted to eliminate nearly all stock photography from the site and replace it with actual images showing the people who are serving, being served, worshipping, learning, and living life together. Now when you see our site, you’re seeing what Faith is like.
Go Mobile
Half of our traffic comes from smartphones and tablets, so a responsive site was mandatory. Even our editor experience is mobile-friendly, to help our team keep the site up to date on the go.
Use terminology and organization that makes sense to people who don’t work here
It’s easy for organizations to organize their websites around how they think and speak internally; but that’s not how to serve visitors well. We went back to the drawing board for our site organization, and tested navigation and terminology to make sure people understood it. You’ll find that a lot has changed, and a lot has stayed the same.
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Make events easier to find
There’s a lot going on around here, and we want you to be part of it, which starts with getting you info about when and where everything is happening. We’ve brought more visibility to live and upcoming events and opportunities, and created calendar pages (which integrate with our centralized calendar by Tandem) and event promotions throughout the site, like on the main events page.
Help people understand what Faith is, and what we offer for them
Faith is a big ministry. Or a lot of ministries. Or both. Our main homepage and our global footer give an organized overview of all that Faith has to offer so that the Lafayette community and extended faith community can connect with us. Our “Faith For Me” pages provide a high-level overview of what we offer across all our ministries for kids, families, teens, young adults, adults, and seniors.
Keep navigation focused on what you came for
If you’re on the school site, the navigation is almost entirely focused on the school. The same is true for our 20+ sites. We found that prominently placing global Faith Ministries navigation at the top of all pages confused people. So while we provide ways to jump from one site to another (we know that many of you do this, such as school parents that attend Faith Church and are members of the gym), we make it much easier to stay on the site you came to visit.
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“Promote” ministries that have grown
Ministries such as the Faith Community Development Corporation have grown to the point where they needed to be more accessible and have sites of their own. We pulled some of those ministries up in the hierarchy so they have more space and prominence.
Improve the sermon experience
The preaching of God’s Word is—and always will be—the most important thing we do. A redesigned sermons page allows you to access the sermon preview on the weekends, the live stream on Sundays, and the archives afterwards—all from the same place. We’ll also show an announcement bar across the church site anytime a live sermon is being streamed, so that you can easily jump in without looking for the live sermon page.
Serve prospective church visitors well
We paid extra attention to what a new church visitor wants to see and find, so that we could answer their questions when they’re deciding whether to visit.
Thanks to all who have been involved—especially those who who participated in interviews, testing, and surveys to help drive how this site was built. We're still working to make this site better for you and more effective for ministry, so keep the feedback coming! (To give feedback, click on the "SEND FEEDBACK" tab sticking up from the bottom-right side of every page.)