Diocese Launches New Website
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
JOHNSTOWN, PA – [Diocesan Chancery] The long-awaited launch of the newly re-designed website of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America has taken place as the time of the XXVth Diocesan Council – Sobor draws near.
The newly designed website was made possible through a collaborative effort between the ACROD Information Technology Apostolate and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Internet Ministries. It is the result of more than two years of prayer and reflection on the living history of the Diocese.
The graphic design is vibrant and warm and designed to change its color palate in keeping with the changing festal/liturgical seasons of the Church Year. Unlike the previous website, it is optimized for mobile devices using responsive design technology. The new site has a vastly improved and simplified navigation menu to make finding resources more efficient.
In navigating the site, those familiar with the previous design will notice when viewing the home page a deliberate simplification in content, and a more visually appealing and less compressed layout. Also to be noted is that the site navigation is organized into six tabs, down from the ten primary and seven secondary tabs of the previous site.
Some items to keep in mind when navigating the new site is that the home page is designed to be a brief overview of the website content, not a detailed view of all news and events, ministries and programs offered by the Diocese. Viewers will now choose to enter the Diocesan life section to read detailed press releases, complete details of coming events,,. Viewers are urged to take time to fully scroll down the entire homepage to familiarize themselves with the content and its placement.
The newly designed website, in the words of His Eminence, Metropolitan Gregory, is designed to serve as a “windowed, front door to the Diocese.” In offering his blessing to launch the new website, His Eminence expressed to the staff of the Information Technology Apostolate his excitement with the new design and that he was “..looking forward to it being a useful tool of communication, not only for the people of our diocese, but also for those outside our diocese including inquirers of Orthodoxy”.
Our newly re-designed diocesan website offers our Diocese an exciting opportunity to preach the unchanging Gospel of Christ, in a creative and innovative manner. To this end please note some significant enhancements to the Orthodox Christianity Section of the website with specific targeted resources for inquires and catechumens. In the coming months, more content will be added here, especially in the area of basic catechetical resources for youth, young adults and all interested in deepening their knowledge of the Faith.
It is anticipated that the strategic re-design of our Diocesan website will now serve as a catalyst in the Diocese for more collaborative resource creation and sharing to meet the educational and spiritual growth needs of our faithful. We hope, as well that it will serve as the launch pad and hub for an ACROD mobile device app to make the content more immediately accessible to our youth and young adults.
As we launch the new website, the Diocesan Apostolate for Information Technology and Communications asks for your feedback on the redesign. Please let them know what you think and especially if you encounter any navigational difficulties, broken links, etc by emailing them at infotech@acrod..
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The Diocesan Apostolate for Information Technology and Communications is responsible for identifying, developing and integrating digital communications and information technologies that are suitable for use within the ministries of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA. It oversees the development and expansion of the Diocese's presence on the Internet and the World Wide Web.