10 of the best WordPress church plug-ins

As the world continues to go digital — especially since COVID-19 made social distancing a thing — it’s interesting to watch how various businesses and organizations are adjusting. Remote work, video conferencing, even virtual workplace lunches and networking events have become the norm.

But what if your organization is a church or place of worship? With a community that’s typically all about in-person gathering, how can you stay organized and keep your congregation involved and engaged online?

Open-source website creation software like WordPress, a free platform for both building and hosting websites, can help. With the help of plug-ins, WordPress lets you customize your church website to meet both your church’s and your congregation’s digital needs — from tithing and calendar features to video sermons and virtual Bible studies.

Here are 10 of the best WordPress plug-ins for any faith-based website.

1. The Events Calendar

As the top calendar plug-in for WordPress, The Events Calendar lets users easily add their church’s event schedule to their website in minutes. Whether you’re managing your weekly church service, monthly prayer meetings, or biannual potlucks, the easy-to-use plug-in helps you stay organized. It even allows you to save the venues you regularly use so you can post about them quickly in the future.

2. Jotform

The final WordPress church plug-in on this list is Jotform, an online form building tool. Using Jotform, you can create forms for prayer requests, christening invitations, and Vacation Bible School registration, either from scratch or by using one of the more than 500 church form templates available. You can then embed forms into your website, making it easier than ever for your congregation to find and complete them — and for you to collect the information you need.

Not only is Jotform simple to use and navigate, it’s also a completely customizable and code-free tool for building and sharing beautiful, professional-looking online forms. You can also manage all your form submissions in one place with Jotform Tables.

Though building a church website with WordPress may seem overwhelming, the right software and plug-ins can make it easier.

3. GiveWP

Because tithing and fundraising are such important activities (particularly for keeping churches afloat), donation plug-in GiveWP is a must-have for your church website. By allowing church members to safely, securely, and regularly donate online — even when they’re unable to attend your church service in person — you can reinforce the significance of tithing while providing flexibility and convenience for your congregation. 

And the best part? Unlike other platforms, GiveWP doesn’t charge a monthly fee, allowing churches to collect donations free of charge.

4. Church Content

Another great WordPress church plug-in is Church Content, the one-stop church management tool. (Keep in mind, to get the most out of this specific plug-in’s features, you’ll need to use one of the website themes from Church Themes.) 

With Church Content, you can create a sermon archive with sermons in text, audio, and video formats; manage events including date, time, and location details; and even build and organize profiles for church and staff members — all from one centralized dashboard.

5. Sermon Manager

With church plug-in Sermon Manager, your congregants never have to miss a day of church, even if they’re sick or out of town. With this plug-in, you can quickly and easily publish written sermons, attach and embed audio and video files, and organize your sermons based on topic or date for quick searchability. Plus, thanks to its built-in podcasting support feature, Sermon Manager is ready and available if you ever decide to enter the popular world of podcasting.

5. Slider Revolution

If you’ve ever been impressed by a website’s vibrant, visually pleasing layout — specifically an attractive slideshow section — then you’ll love content creation and display tool Slider Revolution. It’s versatile, easy to use, and designed to help make your church website look like a million bucks. What’s more, Slider Revolution is completely code-free, allowing you to add stunning visuals and animations without any coding or software development experience.

6. Event Tickets

With Event Tickets, another WordPress church plug-in, your congregants can easily RSVP and buy tickets to any upcoming church event or fundraiser. Plus, like GiveWP, Event Tickets is free to use, enabling you to organize events and sell tickets without paying any hidden costs.

7. Yoast Local SEO

If you’re struggling with your online presence — particularly if you’re new to your area — Yoast Local SEO can help. By adding all your church details to your website (including hours and location), updating and optimizing your contact page, and embedding Google Maps and a route planner, Yoast Local SEO gives you the tools you need to boost your ranking in local search results.

8. Faithlife Reftagger

Because no church website would be complete without scripture references sprinkled throughout, Faithlife Reftagger is the answer to your website creation prayers.

What’s more, this WordPress church plug-in doesn’t just allow you to include Bible references, it actually searches for them on your site and creates links to the specific verses on Biblia.com, improving the reader experience. With Faithlife Reftagger, all your congregant has to do is hover over the reference, and the link will appear in the form of a small pop-up.

9. Prayer Engine

With web-based, customizable prayer wall Prayer Engine, your entire congregation can submit their prayer requests and pray for others using your church website. Prayer Engine also gives you the ability to share prayer requests on your social network channels. 

First, try making a list of everything you’d like to include on your site. Then, add the necessary WordPress church plug-ins to let you add that functionality. With this list as a resource, you’ll be well on your way to creating a site your entire congregation will use and love.