CRC Rings In New Year with New Website

CRC Communications is ringing in 2007 with a new denominational website for the Christian Reformed Church.

The January re-launch of www.crcna.org also will coincide with the start of the CRC’s celebration of its 150th anniversary as a denomination.

Henry Hess, director of CRC Communications, described the new design as clean and attractive, with features that make it easier for users to find information and resources. 

It includes a welcome center for newcomers or casual visitors, as well as a broad range of news and resources for church leaders and members in an expanded church-at-work section.

“This website will bring you the latest news about our church’s work in North America and around the world and provide ready access to a host of online resources, including worship and devotional materials, financial resources for church treasurers, and sermons from CRC pastors, as well as enhanced online giving and a host of new features,” Hess said.

When the makeover is complete, it will also for the first time bring all the denomination’s agencies and specialized ministries under one Internet roof. 

Hess said that’s important because it will provide access to the full range of CRC news and resources in one place. “People shouldn’t have to understand how the Christian Reformed Church is organized in order to find the things they need,” he noted.

Although the denominational site has long been the Internet front door for CRC information and resources, most of the agencies have had separate websites. 

Hess said the new design is based on months of research, feedback, interviews and analysis, taking into account current best practices in web design as well as the expressed needs of users.  Preparations for the launch included testing by user groups to find any potential problem areas.  “Thankfully, the user tests showed that we were on the right track and only needed to do some minor tweaking,” he said.

He paid tribute to the work of Dean Heetderks, the CRC’s director of Product Services, who directed the design and technical side, and to David Raakman, web coordinator for CRC Communications, who worked on the structure and content for the new site while also maintaining the existing site.

The Christian Reformed Church is a denomination that has about 275,000 members in 1,000 congregations across the United States and Canada.