9 Embers About

From Simple Beginnings to Bold Purpose

Compass began as a clean, simple theme for Rock RMS. With Compass: Urban Hope, we’ve taken that foundation and evolved it into something stronger, bolder, and more aligned with the unique identity of churches that thrive in urban and industrial spaces.

Our goal is simple: to help your church strengthen its identity online.

Your website isn’t just a digital bulletin board—it’s often the first impression for visitors, seekers, and your community. Urban Hope is designed to reflect the grit, creativity, and hope of churches rooted in the city. Every design choice—from the bold typography to the animated line movements—was made to capture attention, spark curiosity, and communicate purpose.

Modern Tools, Simplified for You

We’ve equipped Urban Hope with the latest technology:

Bootstrap 5 Framework: Think of this as the sturdy scaffolding behind your website. It keeps your site fast, mobile-friendly, and flexible for the future.
Accessibility Strategies: We’ve built with inclusivity in mind, so your site is usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.
Announcement Banner Zone: A dedicated space above your navigation for site-wide messages— perfect for service updates, special events, or urgent notices.
ShareThis Buttons: One-click sharing to help scale your site traffic. Smart Share Buttons detect your visitors’ geolocation and automatically customize the sharing options based on the most popular services in their region.
Font Awesome Pro Icon Library: A modern, Sharp-style icon set that reinforces the industrial, contemporary look of your site. A license is required (currently $120/year, purchased directly from Font Awesome, subject to change).

Built with Intention by 9 Embers

At 9 Embers, we believe that good tools shouldn’t be out of reach when you’re doing good work. That’s why we created Urban Hope as a free theme—so every church, regardless of budget, can have access to a modern, professional website design.

We built this theme with two audiences in mind:

Your congregation and visitors: A clean, engaging, and accessible experience that makes it easy to connect with your church.
Your staff and volunteers: A content management experience that minimizes code maintenance, so you can focus on sharing your message instead of troubleshooting your site.