Web Design Spotlight: First United Methodist Church, Middletown, Ohio

First Church Middletown is located in Middletown, OH. They are United Methodist community of Believers who has been serving their community and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ since the 1800’s. They understand the value and importance of living in community as a way to reach those outside their church and support those within.

Back in 2012, they partnered with OurChurch.Com to build a custom website.

A few things I want to point out about the original design of their site.

1) Unique Design. They decided not to go with the common, clean cut, sharp edge look that is seen on many websites. Instead, they wanted a torn edge look; textured backgrounds; and warm tan and brown tones to go with the red of their logo.

2) Quick links. They used quicklinks to the right of their homepage image slider to make it easy for both church members and visitors to find the information most commonly requested.

3) Online eNewsletter. The integration of an online eNewsletter where those in the church can sign up to receive it via email, allows members to easily keep current on upcoming events, news, and serving opportunities by just checking their email. It also helps save the church on printing and postage.

4) Online giving. First UMC Middletown understands the importance of meeting people where they are, which includes how people prefer to give. They have integrated the service of paytrace.com (an online giving processor) to make giving directly from their website simple.

All of these design elements allow First UMC Middletown to accomplish their mission online.

Jaime Albaugh from First UMC Middletown said the following about working with OurChurch.Com…

“Working with OurChurch.com to create a new custom website sparked an entire image overhaul for us! We found that to develop our web presence we needed to establish a current definition of who we are, where we are going in ministry, who we want to connect with in our community and who we want to reach on the web and in person.

The staff at OurChurch was extremely supportive and patient with us throughout this process as it took us longer than we thought to do it with genuine purpose. They took our thoughts, history and mission and made it into a digital website that really reflects our ministry. As a result we are so satisfied with our new digital look and feel it represents us as we go forward.

Thank you, OurChurch!”

First Church Middleton has our Custom Pro Package which includes Church SEO services to help them reach their community through search engines and a free redesign every 3 years.

You can read more about OurChurch.Com’s custom web design services, and if you are interested in discussing how OurChurch.Com can help you live out your your mission online, fill out the form below.

We invite you to visit First Church Middletown at http://www.myfumc.net.

This is Story #6 in our series 25 Stories from 25 Years. Click to read the stories of more organizations we’ve been blessed to partner with over the last 25 years.

Comment and Discuss

• What do you think of First Church Middleton’s website and the design choices made?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.