Parish Guide

Home Page — How It Works

Your parish's front door on the web — what visitors see, and how staff shape it.
A simple, step-by-step guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave

At a glance

Every parish on Nave gets a living home page — not a static brochure. It greets each visitor in their own language, shows what's happening today (the next Mass, the day's place in the Church calendar, a fitting scripture verse), and surfaces the latest announcements, events, and ministries. Most of it fills itself in. Staff customize a handful of things — the parish's name and story, its colors, a photo, and the announcements — and the page keeps itself current after that.

1 · Visitor arrives→ 2 · Sees "Today" — next Mass & liturgical day→ 3 · Daily scripture verse→ 4 · Announcements, events, ministries→ 5 · Acts — give, register, get in touch
Self-updating by design. The "Today" card, the next-Mass countdown, the liturgical season and feast, and the daily verse are all computed from the date — no one types them in. They're correct every morning with zero upkeep. The parts staff do control are covered in Part B; advanced touches are marked Advanced.

Who does what

Parishioners & visitors

Just visit. The page reads in their language and shows what matters now — when to come to Mass, what's happening, how to get involved or give.

Parish staff

Set the parish info, pick a look, add a photo, and post announcements. Write in English only — other languages translate automatically.

What's on the home page

Sections appear automatically when there's something to show (and when the parish has that feature turned on). A parish never ends up with an empty section.

Hero & welcome

The parish name/tagline, the languages Mass is offered in, quick-action buttons, and a "New here?" welcome card. First impression.

Today at the parish

The date, the liturgical day & season, the next (or in-progress) Mass with a countdown, today's confessions, and a link to the daily readings.

Scripture of the day

A one-line verse chosen to match the season — Advent looks to the Lord's coming, Lent to repentance, Easter to the Resurrection.

Announcements

The latest parish notices staff post — with an optional category label.

Events & ministries

A preview of upcoming events and a few ministries, each linking to the full page.

Story, schedule & bulletin

The parish's heritage and pastor, the full Mass schedule, a stats band, and a link to the bulletin.

Part A · For parishioners

What a visitor sees and can do the moment they land on the parish home page. Everything is multilingual, so each person is guided in their own language (English or Spanish, and every other language your parish offers) — set once, remembered after.

Use case 1 · Know when the next Mass is

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Find out when to come to Mass — without hunting through a schedule.

  1. Open the parish home page. The "Today" card shows the date and either "Happening now" (a Mass currently underway, with how long ago it started) or "Next · Mass" with a countdown.
  2. The time is shown with the parish's time zone (e.g. "5:00 PM PT") so it's never ambiguous.
  3. If there are no more Masses today, the card points to the next day that has one.
  4. Today's confession times appear right below when offered.

Result: A glance tells you exactly when to be at church next — no calendar math.

Use case 2 · See today's place in the Church year

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Know the liturgical season, feast, and the day's readings.

  1. The "Today" card names the season and week (e.g. "Easter · Week 5"), the day's feast or celebration (with its rank), and a one-line theme.
  2. A colored bar reflects the day's liturgical color (green, violet, white, red, rose). Holy Days of Obligation get a badge.
  3. Tap Readings to open the day's Scripture readings.

Result: The parish website quietly keeps everyone in step with the Church calendar — automatically, every day.

Use case 3 · A verse to carry with you

Who: Anyone.   Goal: A moment of inspiration that fits the season.

  1. The scripture band shows a short verse chosen to echo the current liturgical season.
  2. It rotates day by day, so a return visit brings something new — with no one updating it.

Result: A small, fitting word of Scripture greets every visitor, in their language.

Use case 4 · Take action — give, register, watch

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Do the thing they came for, fast.

  1. Quick-action buttons in the hero jump straight to common needs — Watch Mass live, Mass Intentions, Give online (or Offertory when per-Mass online giving is on), and Prayer Request — showing only the ones the parish offers.
  2. New to the parish? A welcome card invites you to register; already a parishioner, the same spot links to update your info.
  3. If the parish is streaming right now, a red "Live now" banner appears across the top.

Result: The most common next steps are one tap away — no menu-digging.

Use case 5 · Catch up on parish life

Who: Anyone.   Goal: See what's new and what's coming up.

  1. Scroll to Announcements for the latest notices (each with an optional category like "Liturgy").
  2. The Events strip previews what's coming — with date, time, location, and an RSVP or Add to calendar button.
  3. The Ministries preview shows a few ways to get involved, linking to the full directory.
  4. Learn the parish's story, meet the pastor, see the full Mass schedule, and open the bulletin — all further down.

Result: One page is enough to feel caught up and connected.

Part B · For parish staff

You shape the home page from a few admin screens. The golden rule: write in English only — Spanish, and every other language your parish offers, is filled in automatically, so you never maintain more than one copy of anything.

Use case 6 · Set your parish identity

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Tell visitors who you are.

  1. Open Admin → Parish info. Set the name, a tagline (the big hero headline), and your Our Story blurb.
  2. Add city, diocese, and founded year — the founded year becomes a "years serving" stat on the page.
  3. Add the pastor (name, photo, biography) and the patron / patroness (name, photo).
  4. Tap View public page any time to see the result.

Result: Your name, story, and leadership appear across the home page — in every language you offer.

Use case 7 · Contact details, links & socials

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Make it easy to reach and follow you.

  1. Still in Parish info, set address, phone, and email, plus your time zone (all Mass and event times display in it).
  2. The Give online button points at your built-in Ways to Give page; if you turn that feature off, set an online giving link (Pushpay / Stripe / diocesan page) in Parish info and the button uses that instead.
  3. Add Facebook and Instagram links to show social icons in the footer.

Result: The right buttons and links appear automatically wherever they belong.

Use case 8 · Add the patronal feast countdown Advanced

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Build anticipation toward your patronal feast.

  1. In Parish info, set the patron / patroness name and the patronal feast day (month and day — the year is ignored).
  2. The home page then shows a countdown to the next occurrence ("12 days until …"), and a special note on the day itself.

Result: A warm, recurring countdown to the parish's namesake celebration — set once.

Use case 9 · Choose your look (colors & fonts)

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Match the site to your parish's identity.

  1. Open Admin → Design and pick a theme preset — a growing palette that today includes Cathedral, Marian Blue, Sage, Royal Purple, Slate, Rose, Byzantine Teal, Harvest, and Sanctuary.
  2. Fine-tune the accent color and choose a typeface. Classic (Cormorant) and Elegant (Playfair) pair an elegant serif headline with clean body text; Modern (Inter), Geometric (Outfit), Rounded (Manrope), and Warm (DM Sans) set your whole site in one contemporary sans.
  3. New themes and typefaces are added centrally and simply appear here for you — nothing to install. Anything you don't change keeps a tasteful default, so you can't make it look broken.

Result: A polished, on-brand look applied to your whole live site in seconds — chosen from an ever-growing design library, always with safe defaults underneath.

Use case 10 · Choose your home page design

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Arrange the home page the way that suits your parish.

  1. Still in Admin → Design, pick a Home page design — a set of ready-made layouts (Classic, Cathedral, Sanctuary, Modern, and more). Each uses your same content — the welcome hero, Mass times, story, news, events, ministries — composed differently: a centred or full-bleed welcome, events as a carousel, grid, or list, and so on. A small preview shows each one at a glance.
  2. Prefer to keep your look but change the order of sections? Use the Section order picker just below to lead with, say, Mass times or announcements instead of the default flow.
  3. It's purely presentational and always safe — you're never editing content, and Classic is the original design. Switch any time; changes apply to your live site instantly.

Result: A home page that fits your parish's character — the same content, a different feel — chosen in seconds with nothing to build.

Use case 11 · Add a hero / church photo

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Give the page a sense of place.

  1. In Parish info, upload a hero / church photo (and a square logo for the header).
  2. In Design, set the Hero style to Photo to show it behind the hero — or Gradient for a clean color backdrop instead.
  3. The same photo also appears in the heritage section and behind the scripture band.

Result: A striking, parish-specific hero — text stays readable thanks to a built-in scrim.

Use case 12 · Post announcements

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Share timely notices on the home page.

  1. Open Admin → Announcements and add one: an optional category (e.g. "Liturgy"), a title, and a body.
  2. Write in English — Spanish and every other language your parish offers are translated automatically.
  3. Use the up/down controls to reorder; the home page shows the first few in the order you arrange (newest first within ties), and the rest live on the announcements section.

Result: Fresh notices appear on the home page in every language, in the order you choose.

Use case 13 · Trust the parts that run themselves

Who: Parish staff.   Goal: Know what you don't have to maintain.

  1. The "Today" card (date, season, feast, color, next-Mass countdown, confessions, readings link) is computed from the date and your Mass schedule — never typed in.
  2. The daily scripture verse is chosen automatically to match the season and rotates each day.
  3. The stats band and section previews fill from your existing data (years serving, Masses per week, ministries, languages).

Result: The page stays current on its own — your job is the parish info, the look, and the announcements.

Quick reference

Where do I edit the parish name, story, and contact info?Admin → Parish info. Tagline, Our Story, pastor, patron, city/diocese/founded, address, phone, email, time zone, giving link, and socials all live here.
How do I change colors or fonts?Admin → Design — pick a theme preset, tweak the accent color, choose a typeface (a serif-headline classic or a whole-site modern sans), and set the hero to Photo or Gradient. The preset and typeface lists grow over time and new options appear automatically — no update needed on your end.
Can I change how the home page is laid out?Yes — Admin → Design → Home page design offers ready-made layouts (Classic, Cathedral, Sanctuary, Modern…), each arranging the same content differently. A separate Section order picker changes which sections lead. Classic is the original design; switch any time — it never touches your content.
How do I add the big hero photo?Upload it under Parish info → Hero / church photo, then set Design → Hero style to Photo.
Where do home-page announcements come from?Admin → Announcements. The home page shows the first few in the order you arrange (newest first within ties).
Do I have to translate everything?No — write English only. Spanish and every other language your parish offers are translated automatically for the tagline, story, pastor bio, announcements, and more.
Who updates the "Today" card and the next-Mass time?No one — it's computed from the date and your Mass schedule. The liturgical season, feast, color, and Holy Days are calculated automatically.
Where does the daily verse come from?It's picked automatically to match the liturgical season and rotates each day. No CMS entry needed.
Why is a section (events, ministries, bulletin) not showing?Sections appear only when there's content and the feature is turned on. Empty sections are hidden so the page never looks bare.
Why is a time zone shown next to every time (e.g. "5:00 PM PT")?Nave always labels times with a time-zone — clearer for a multilingual, multi-region audience. Set your zone in Parish info.
How does the Give button appear?The Give online button uses your built-in Ways to Give page — or, if you turn that page off, the online giving link you set in Parish info.
The big idea: the home page is your parish's living front door. Nave keeps the time-sensitive parts — the next Mass, the day's feast, a fitting verse — accurate on their own, so staff only tend the few things that are truly yours: who you are, how you look, and what you want to announce.

Home Page — How It Works · A guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave