Stoke SDA Church

CLIENT

Stoke SDA Church

SERVICES RENDERED

Social Media, Front-end Web Development

PROJECT URL

www.stokesdachurch.org

DATE COMPLETED

March 2018

The Stoke-on-Trent Seventh-Day Adventist Church project was a deeply personal and rewarding experience. It gave me the opportunity to design and build a modern digital presence for the church I attend — something not many designers can say they’ve had the privilege to do.

This was one of my earliest charity projects, completed voluntarily, and it played an important role in shaping my approach to purpose-driven design. Originally launched in 2017, the website aimed to provide the church with a professional online platform that could serve both members and visitors alike.

The church needed a complete digital refresh. Their existing online presence lacked clarity, structure, and visual appeal, making it difficult for users to:

- Find service times and location information
- Access sermons and live stream content
- Learn about ministries and church beliefs
- Connect with the church community

Additionally, the website had to be:

- Fully responsive across desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Simple enough for non-technical church administrators to manage
- Welcoming to first-time visitors while still serving regular members

The challenge was to balance warmth, faith, and community with clean UI and modern usability.

I began by understanding the needs of both primary user groups: church members and first-time visitors. From there, I focused on creating a clear information hierarchy and an intuitive navigation structure. My process included:

- Defining key user journeys (new visitors, returning members, media viewers)
- Designing a calm, approachable visual identity aligned with Adventist branding
- Creating responsive layouts to ensure accessibility on all devices
- Structuring content around real user needs: beliefs, ministries, media, and contact
- Integrating live streaming and media galleries for remote worship
- Designing a logo refresh and cohesive brand styling across the site

The design leaned heavily into clarity, simplicity, and accessibility — ensuring that anyone, regardless of age or technical ability, could comfortably navigate the platform.

The finished website delivered a modern, welcoming digital home for the church. It became a central hub for:

- Online worship and live channels
- Ministry updates
- Media content
- Visitor information

Despite being created as a volunteer project, the site stands out as one of the strongest Adventist church websites in the UK — something I remain incredibly proud of. It also strengthened community engagement and gave the church a professional online presence that reflected its mission and values.