Church Content – Sermons, Events and More

by Steven Gliebe

Description

The Church Content WordPress plugin provides an interface for managing sermons, events, people and locations. Please be aware that a compatible theme is required for presenting content from these church-centric post types in a tightly-integrated manner.

Who this is for

This plugin is intended for a very specific audience. If you are not one of the following then this plugin will not be useful to you.

Users of official themes from ChurchThemes.com
Users of third-party themes made specifically for this plugin
Theme developers improving data portability for church sites

What it does

It provides post types, taxonomies and fields for sermons, events, people and locations to be shown by a compatible church WordPress theme.

Experienced WordPress developers agree that functionality like this does not belong in themes since themes are intended only for controlling the appearance of a WordPress site. Content that users might expect to take with them if they switch themes should “live” in a plugin in order to avoid theme lock-in. Similarly, our approach is not to present content using the plugin since themes offer more control for that purpose. This is why a compatible theme is required.

See the Plugin Details on ChurchThemes.com for a tour of features. Read the User Guide for instructions.

Compatible Themes

A compatible theme is required for presenting sermons, events, etc. added with the plugin.

Official themes provided by ChurchThemes.com
Third-party themes at churchthemes.com/third-party-themes

Church Content Pro

Church Content Pro is an add-on that provides additional features.

Sermon Podcasting (iTunes, Google Play, etc.)
Recurring Events (e.g. “every Monday and Thursday”)
Event Date Exclusions (holidays, weather closings, etc.)
Enhanced SEO (schema.org Structure Data using JSON-LD)
Location Memory (autofill and select previous event locations)
Wording Settings (e.g. rename “Sermons” to “Messages”)
Agency Mode (simplify license management for clients)

Developers

Please see the Developer Guide on ChurchThemes.com for notes on developing themes that use this plugin. A couple benefits are that you will save time and be helping to accomplish better data portability among church websites powered by WordPress.

You can follow development on GitHub.

Translations

Several translations are available, including English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Serbian and Slovak. See the Translations section in the plugin’s user guide for a more complete list. Also see translate.wordpress.org.

Visit ChurchThemes.com for compatible themes, add-ons and help
We’re on Twitter, Facebook and have a Newsletter
Lead developer: stevengliebe.com

Note: This plugin was previously named “Church Theme Content”.

Installation

Log into your WordPress admin area
Go to Plugins > Add New
Search for Church Content
Click Install Now for the plugin
Click Activate Plugin after installation

Please see our Plugin Installation guide for additional information.

Screenshots

Sermons
Add sermon
Sermon topics
Events
Add event
Locations
Add location
People
Add person

Faq

Can I use this plugin with any theme?

No, a theme made specifically for use with this plugin is necessary for displaying content. Please see Who this is for in the plugin description.

Can I make a theme that uses this plugin?

Yes, please see the Developer Guide.

How can I make an event recur in a special way?

Install the Church Content Pro add-on for recurrence like “every two weeks” and “third Sunday of every month”.

How can I make content show differently?

Please contact the maker of your theme. This plugin handles the management of content in a way friendly to both users and theme developers. The presentation of content is handled by a compatible theme.

Reviews

Great support

By Rick (Murlyn) on March 3, 2020

They have great support and I would also like to say that from start to finish it took me a little less than 6 hours to convert the site from the old risen theme to a new one using this plugin, thank you for making it so easy!

Regular Updates...Great Support

By dan12781 on January 4, 2020

I appreciate the regular theme updates, but even more so the great support. The few times we've run into issues, we receive prompt, helpful, and polite replies from Steven.

Customer support is top notch

By deepprpl on March 23, 2020

I've been using churchthemes.com themes for a little over 4 years now. I was a novice when I started. Steven and crew are amazing about answering questions and responding to emails

Themes and Support

By jeanne0327 on October 3, 2019

I love the variety of themes available. I use "Saved" for my churches web site. It is wonderful and easy to work with. I am NOT a coder! When I run into a wall, I know all I have to do is send an e-mail to support. I am continually blown away by the high level of personal support I receive! It is nothing short of awesome. I usually receive a response within minutes. They will stick with you until my problem is solved. Always professional. Always prompt. Thank you!

Great Themes And Support

By dsglenn1 on March 28, 2019

We have been using the Exodus theme for over 3 years now. It gives an excellent simple web site for a small country church. The Church Content Pro plug-in makes maintaining the web site very easy and gives us the flexibility to change themes easily should we decide to. The custom reoccurring events feature of Church Content Pro makes handling our church calendar a breeze. Support has been excellent when needed. Thanks for all the hard work.

Great Themes and content tools

By lynda barbieri on October 31, 2018

We started on the Risen theme in 2014 and switched to the Saved Theme earlier this year. We are super happy with it and even happier now with the Church Content Pro plugin features added. Love how it looks and operates on mobile platforms! When we implemented the Risen theme we did quite a few modifications to the look to match what our designer had come up with and so we had a child theme in place. This time around, we've been deliberately working within the theme's options to simplify things and besides simplifying the update process, it has actually helped us define the function of some of our website features. Support has been helpful and reliable.

Great Products and Support

By bradleyd00 on October 9, 2018

I have been using products from churchthemes since 2015, but needed support for the first time recently. Not only was my question addressed quickly and thoroughly, they went above and beyond to make it super easy for me! Highly recommended.

Amazing support- excellent resource !

By mozartk488 on October 2, 2018

No matter how big or small my issue or question, Church themes support is unmatched in attention to detail and depth of knowledge. After 2 complete website builds and many questions, the support has been such a vital resource. I never feel like I am bothersome and always get a solution in a timely matter! Without hesitation I 100% recommend churchthemes.com! Thanks for everything! Matthew in PA

Maranatha Theme

By joshuascott74 on September 7, 2018

This is one of the best themes I have have ever worked with. It is fully featured and really well supported.

Easy to customize and new themes keep it fresh!

By DebbieInTX on April 7, 2018

We moved our church's website to WordPress and churchthemes.com Exodus theme in 2015 and got some professional help to automate the transfer of our existing sermon records from our old (drupal) site into the new site, and since then it has been smooth sailing. This past year churchthemes.com came out with the new Saved theme, so when our license for Exodus expired, we switched to Saved. It was super-easy to make the switch and since the sermons plugin is separate from the theme, nothing needed to be done to them. It's funny how quickly themes "age", so I'm glad that churchthemes.com keeps it fresh! And since the sermons are just a custom post type (and it bears repeating that the sermons plugin is separate from the theme), we could even switch to a non-churchthemes.com theme without losing any data. I expect that churchthemes.com will continue to provide great themes at good prices though, so I'm hoping that will not be a concern for a long, long, long time.

Changelog

See releases on GitHub.