The Story Behind Our New Website

We knew we needed a new digital “front door.” 

So, we set out to create something beautiful and inviting. ​

The new website is an attempt to cultivate something of a visual evangelization – we’re trying to tell the good news of Jesus Christ and what God is doing at our parish. ​

At the same time, we want the website to accompany non-parishioners, even non-Catholics, so that the website helps them find what they’re looking for on their path. 

In other words, we’ve tried to do something rather difficult. ​​

We’re trying to create a site that is appealing to two audiences – one that is welcoming to the “outsider” and informational for the “insider.” 

You’ll notice that the menu bar on the top of every page on the new site has been simplified. All of the essentials about the parish, including news, bulletins, and our Youtube channel, can be found under “About.” You can easily navigate to offerings for adults and for youth under the tabs labeled as such. Finally, those who know St. Gertrude know about our commitment to the sacraments and to fostering authentic worship. So, we’ve dedicated a whole section of our website just to these key facets. As a final note, we’ve included a helpful footer on each page that includes key links, a search bar,  and information about how to donate to St. Gertrude. 

We were blessed to collaborate on this project with Briana Miller. Briana is a friend of Brad Bursa’s from college at Franciscan University and she was the Pastoral Associate at St. Dominic’s in Washington, DC under the pastorship of Fr. George. Briana is an independent contractor and she skillfully crafted the new site. We also partnered with Nick Staresinic, a freelance videographer and son of the parish. Nick’s video work, drone footage, and photography skills have helped to make the new site a visual masterpiece. 

Launching the new site is just a first step. In the coming months, we’ll be developing and filling out the new digital space – our new home on the web. 

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