Derek Castelli

River Valley Church

· nonprofit, faith
Type
Design & Development
Context
Agency
Partner
Apollos
Time
4 weeks

Brief

River Valley Church is a multi-campus ministry founded in 1995, now reaching nearly 10,000 people each week across campuses in Minnesota and internationally. Apollos brought me in as they rolled out a new app integration for the church—the website needed to match that digital investment with a fresh front door that could serve first-time visitors, longtime attenders, and a growing number of locations.

I started with a homepage design and expanded it into the full site: extending the visual system across every page, then building the complete Webflow experience. The church team walked away happy with a site that finally felt like the in-person experience they work so hard to create.

Problem

River Valley was investing in Apollos as their digital platform, but the existing website was not keeping pace. A sprawling multi-campus church needs more than a brochure site—people need to find the right location, see service times, discover what's happening, and take a next step without getting lost.

The old site could not complement what Apollos was bringing to the table. River Valley needed a unified web experience that worked alongside the app—not against it—and gave their team confidence in every digital touchpoint.

Solution

I took the homepage design direction and built it into a full site system in Webflow: extending typography, layout, and component patterns across campus pages, connection paths, events, and leadership content. The result is a cohesive digital front door that scales with River Valley's growth.

The site works in concert with Apollos—helping people plan a visit, stay connected between Sundays, and move deeper into community. Clear location browsing, service time visibility, and purposeful CTAs keep the experience simple for newcomers while giving returning attenders what they need without hunting through menus.

Specific work

  • Webflow development for the full site redesign
  • Expanded homepage design into a complete page and component system
  • Multi-campus location architecture with service times and campus-specific content
  • Site built to complement River Valley's new Apollos app integration
  • Connection, events, and next-step pathways across the full visitor journey
  • Collaboration with Apollos as agency partner and platform