St Martha-on-the-Hill and St Thomas’ Chilworth are two churches that were brought together in early 2016. They are geographically close to one another but St Martha’s stands isolated on a hill, deep in the countryside whilst St Thomas’ is in a bustling village.
Although there was a lot of work behind the scenes between the two churches to bring the two congregations closer together and deeper into the community, only one of the churches had a website.
Efforts were made to incorporate both churches in the website but as the site had started by belonging to one of the churches, its name and content made the one appear to be dominant over the other which was not the impression that the united churches wanted to give. So the team started enquiring about websites and were recommended to Church Edit by their Diocesan Office.
The Diocesan Office recommended Church Edit as website provider who could offer a website that the church could maintain themselves, whilst having the security and high level of support at a very reasonable cost.
St Martha’s and St Thomas’ Chilworth were very keen for the website to represent both churches equally so they decided to have a unique banner designed for them from the Church Edit design team.
It was essential that the banner conveyed the message of an equal relationship between the two churches and the characteristics of one being on a hilltop and the other in the valley. Following encouraging sermons when the churches were moving towards unification, where the theme of illumination was picked up on, they wanted the churches to be illuminated in the banner to express an illumination both actually and spiritually. St Martha is floodlit on special occasions, becoming the ‘Beacon on the Hill’ and St Thomas’, due to its unique structure, looks like a lantern in the dark when it is lit up inside and so is, appropriately,‘The Lantern in the Valley’.
Symbolism is an important tool used time and time again throughout the Bible because it makes a vision more readily understood by others. So conveying this vision was very important to the project.
In talking with the team at St Martha’s and St Thomas’ Chilworth about the website and their banner design, they told us that “It was very easy working with Church Edit and their designers. They were responsive and patient and the way that they brought the brief to life with such ease was a real achievement. We would unhesitatingly recommend Church Edit due to the warm and prompt communications, reasonable charges and all the technical support. Thank you for making the whole experience of building a new website so enjoyable.”
The PCC passed on the following comments too:
“Thank you so much for bringing us all together in this way. The two churches are now well and truly on the map together”.
Another said, “The Beacon and Lantern are now truly shining bright. It is a very friendly website that encourages me to keep looking.”
And a member of the congregation added that “the new website looks great and I love the banner!”
You can visit the website of St Martha and St Thomas Chilworth by clicking here.
If you are looking for a new church website or you already have a website and you would like to enquire about our banner design service then our team are happy to talk with you. You can call us on 0121 651 1120 or email hello@churchedit.co.uk