Brandon A. Cox

Case study ยท Diocesan website system

The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta: a website as publishing hub and communications center.

An ongoing WordPress and Divi retainer relationship that began with a redesign and grew into communications consulting, publishing support, and system stewardship.

ClientThe Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
PlatformWordPress and Divi
RoleStrategy, web design, development, publishing systems, ongoing communications consulting

The challenge

The Diocese of Atlanta needed more than a redesigned website. It needed a public communications system for a large, active diocesan ecosystem: churches, clergy, staff, resources, documents, stories, events, newsletters, and Bishop Rob Wrightโ€™s teaching and podcast work.

The real problem was not simply visual. It was organizational. A large amount of information had to become easier to navigate, easier to publish, easier to reuse, and easier for different audiences to act on.

What had to come together

  • A redesigned WordPress and Divi site that could support a large diocesan information architecture.
  • A church finder experience for helping visitors locate churches and ministries.
  • The Clergy Connect system for supporting clergy-facing information and relationships.
  • A flexible news model that can treat feature stories differently from shorter releases.
  • Support for photo-rich stories, embedded media, video, and larger editorial presentations.
  • Tight relationship with Bishop Rob Wrightโ€™s For People podcast and related teaching content.
  • Newsletter pathways that allow content from the site to feed ongoing communication during the week.

The design and publishing approach

The site uses a multi-column news presentation so the communications team can distinguish between major feature stories and smaller updates. A larger story can carry more weight, more photography, richer media, and a more editorial treatment. Smaller news releases can still move quickly without forcing every item into the same visual mold.

That distinction matters for a diocesan communications hub. The site has to serve as both an archive and a current publishing surface. It has to make a major story feel important without burying routine announcements that people still need to find.

The system outcome

The resulting site became a communication machine: a central publishing hub where news, resources, church information, podcast pathways, and newsletter content can work together. It gave us a repeatable model for diocesan websites: structure first, design in service of navigation, and publishing workflows that support the communication rhythm of the organization.

The relationship did not end at launch. Ongoing retainer work continues around communications consulting, content decisions, site improvements, and the evolving systems behind diocesan publishing.

What changed

The site became easier to navigate, easier to publish, and more useful as a communications center.

Information made findable

Resources, documents, ministries, staff pathways, news, and church information were organized around how people actually look for them.

Publishing gained hierarchy

Feature stories and short updates no longer had to look or behave the same way. The site can scale from quick release to major editorial package.

Content could travel farther

The site became the source for ongoing newsletters and wider diocesan communication, not just a static destination.

Screenshots

A few surfaces from the larger system.

Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta feature story screenshot
Feature stories can carry more editorial weight, imagery, and context than routine news releases.
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta church finder screenshot
The church finder helps visitors move from diocesan identity to local parish connection.
For People podcast screenshot
For People extends Bishop Rob Wrightโ€™s teaching voice beyond the diocesan site while remaining part of the broader communications ecosystem.

Need a site that works as a communications system?

Start with a clarity review. We will look at the message, the site structure, the publishing flow, and the systems behind the public experience.