Custom Church CMS Development

Project: Custom Content Management System, 2026

The Challenge

Mount Auburn Church needed a website that could keep up with everything happening across its ministries, events, and community programs.

Higgens Media had redesigned the church's WordPress website in 2025, introducing a more modern design and improved functionality. WordPress had served the church well for years, but as its needs expanded, managing the different systems behind the website became increasingly complicated.

The event calendar was a particular challenge. Even after investing in a premium calendar plugin costing approximately $600 annually, managing events remained cumbersome. The plugin generated numerous event pages, added complexity to the website, and contributed to slower loading times.

Other features, including staff directories and integrations, required additional plugins or custom development. Each new feature introduced more code and another component to maintain, often affecting performance even on pages where the functionality wasn't needed.

The church was also pursuing the Google Ad Grant, which provides eligible nonprofits with access to search advertising. Despite efforts to optimize the existing website, performance remained a challenge during the application process.

Higgens Media explored alternative plugins and church website platforms, but none offered the combination of flexibility, performance, accessibility, and content management capabilities the church needed.

Rather than continuing to fit the church's needs around the limitations of individual products, we decided to build a more integrated solution.

Our Approach

Building Around the Church's Needs

Over approximately four months, Higgens Media developed a custom content management system using Laravel, a PHP framework designed for building modern web applications.

The goal wasn't to recreate WordPress or develop another generic website builder. It was to bring the features Mount Auburn needed into one streamlined system while keeping the editing experience approachable for people without technical backgrounds.

Mount Auburn became the first organization to use the new platform, providing a real-world environment for developing and refining the tools.

A Faster, More Flexible Event Calendar

Events are central to how Mount Auburn connects with its congregation and the surrounding community, so improving the calendar was a priority.

We developed an integrated event management system that allows events to appear throughout the website without relying on a separate, resource-intensive plugin.

The calendar loads quickly, and events can be featured on relevant pages across the site, helping visitors discover upcoming activities without having to search through multiple sections.

For the church's communications team, managing events became a more straightforward part of the publishing process rather than a separate system requiring additional maintenance.

Making Website Updates Easier

A church website needs to be manageable even when the person responsible for updating it isn't a web developer.

We created a streamlined content editor that makes it easier to add and update pages while maintaining a consistent design throughout the site.

Fonts, colors, and other design elements are managed centrally, reducing the need to remember styling details or manually recreate layouts each time a page is updated.

This consistency helps the church maintain a professional appearance while allowing communications staff, interns, and future team members to make updates with less technical training.

The new system also improved Higgens Media's own publishing workflow, making it faster to transfer, upload, and maintain content on behalf of the church.

Building Accessibility and SEO Into the Foundation

Accessibility and search engine optimization weren't treated as optional additions to be addressed after the website launched.

The new CMS was developed with accessibility considerations incorporated into the website itself, rather than relying on an accessibility overlay to modify the experience for visitors.

Built-in publishing tools also help identify missing image descriptions, manage search-related information, and handle URL redirects when content moves.

By incorporating these capabilities into the CMS, Higgens Media reduced the need for separate plugins while providing a more consistent approach to website management.

We also developed Google Ads integration features that support conversion tracking, helping the church prepare for the reporting and measurement requirements associated with its Google Ad Grant.

Moving to the New Platform

While the CMS was being developed, we built Mount Auburn's new website design alongside it.

Once the platform and frontend were ready, Higgens Media migrated the church's existing content from WordPress to the new system in approximately one week.

The migration preserved the church's content while moving its management into a more streamlined environment.

The new website launched in October 2026.

The Results

Google Ad Grant Approval

One of the most significant outcomes came shortly after the new website launched.

Mount Auburn had previously encountered difficulties gaining Google Ad Grant approval while using its WordPress website. After moving to the new CMS, the church's application was approved.

The new platform addressed several of the website performance and technical concerns Higgens Media had been working to resolve, while also providing built-in tools to support conversion tracking for future advertising campaigns.

Although the approval process considers multiple factors, the successful application marked an important milestone for the church.

A Better Experience for Visitors and Editors

The new website provides a faster event calendar, consistent page designs, and a more straightforward editing experience.

Features that previously required multiple plugins are now incorporated into the platform, reducing maintenance complexity and eliminating recurring licensing costs for some of the tools the church previously depended on.

The result is a website designed to support the church's communications without making everyday updates unnecessarily complicated.

A Foundation for Future Growth

Because the CMS is built with Laravel, Higgens Media can continue developing integrations and features as Mount Auburn's needs evolve.

The project also created a foundation for technology that can eventually benefit other churches and nonprofits facing similar challenges.

For Mount Auburn, it means having a website that can evolve alongside its ministries and communications needs, supported by a technology partner that understands how the organization operates.

Finding the Right Solution

WordPress continues to be an excellent platform for many organizations, including other websites managed by Higgens Media.

But no single platform is the right answer for every situation.

For Mount Auburn Church, the combination of event management, content editing, accessibility, performance, and integration requirements called for something more specialized.

By developing a custom CMS around those needs, Higgens Media helped the church move beyond managing a collection of separate tools and toward a more connected, maintainable website.

Sometimes the right solution is an established platform. Other times, it's recognizing when something new needs to be built.

Project Highlights

• Custom Laravel CMS: Developed over approximately four months with Mount Auburn as its first deployment.

• One-Week Content Migration: Moved the church's existing content from WordPress to the new platform.

• Google Ad Grant Approval: The church received approval following the website migration after previously encountering difficulties.

• Integrated Event Calendar: Faster event displays with the flexibility to feature upcoming activities throughout the website.

• Simplified Content Management: Streamlined editing and centrally managed design elements.

• Accessibility & SEO: Built-in accessibility considerations, image alt-text reminders, URL redirects, and SEO management tools.

• Reduced Plugin Dependencies: Replaced several separately maintained features with integrated functionality.

• Future-Ready Development: Laravel-based architecture that supports additional integrations and enhancements.

Services provided: Custom CMS Development · Laravel Development · Website Design · Website Migration · Search Engine Optimization · Web Accessibility · Google Ad Grant Technical Preparation · Website Hosting & Maintenance