Effective Church Communications

From our vault: Everything you need for Easter: Templates, strategy, inspiration and encouragement for all your Easter communications

1 February, 2023 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

This is one of the Easter Invitation Templates. You can link to dozens more from this article.

Effective Church Communications has dozens of Resources, including articles, podcasts, and FREE Templates you can use for all the Easter communications you need for before, during, and after Easter.

These are from our Template and Podcast vaults--we will be creating new ones for 2023, but I know many of you want to get started on Easter planning and many of these designs and the strategy linked to them are timeless.

The FREE templates have all the work of communications done for you: the design, layout, choice of type, and copyright-free artwork is all done saving you many hours. The Templates are in both ready-to-print PDF format (which you can personalize on the back) and easy to modify, MS Publisher files. Please let others know about these resources. Following is the link to all of them:

All Communications Easter Templates
http://wp.me/PDky9-6Qx

We have much more than the Templates themselves because if you are going to be truly effective in your use of them, you need a wise strategy underpinning what you do. The podcasts, article links that follow, and the Church Communications Training course (link at the end) will give that to you.

Podcasts:

Last minute helps before Easter

In case you missed these—Essential Easter Communications Templates, ready to print and use
https://wp.me/pDky9-7b9

Last minute checklist for Easter Sunday to assure visitor connections
https://wp.me/pDky9-5pu

Social media images for Easter with challenging messages
https://wp.me/pDky9-8

Communications Before

Great card to motivate your congregation to invite and pray!

Why it matters if you invite your friends to Easter services
http://wp.me/pDky9-6YB

Free Church Bunny Easter Invitation to encourage children to be inviters
http://wp.me/pDky9-71c

GIS: Innovative way to invite people to Easter services: "Egg" your neighborhood!
http://wp.me/pDky9-3dI

We've got a great selection of invitations for you for Easter!

Easter Invitations and how to use them effectively
http://wp.me/pDky9-6Il

Effective Easter Outreach: Door-hangers, an invitation you can't ignore
http://wp.me/pDky9-2n0

No time? Little money? Essential Easter Communications Panic Pack to the Rescue!
http://wp.me/pDky9-7b1

Communications During

Last minute checklist for Easter Sunday to assure visitor connections
http://wp.me/pDky9-5pu

Bookmarks and Bulletin inserts that explain what you do regularly for Easter Visitors to return
http://wp.me/pDky9-75C

Effective WEBSITE strategy for Children's Ministry Easter follow-up
http://wp.me/pDky9-ip

Expect and encourage questions at Easter, PLUS ways to answer them
http://wp.me/pDky9-1gQ

FREE Easter Jelly Bean Prayer for Children's Ministry
http://wp.me/pDky9-1dn

Resurrection Cookies, a Free recipe that will teach children and parents about Easter
http://wp.me/pDky9-1dD

Make it OK for visitors to reject Jesus at Easter
https://wp.me/pDky9

Don't expect unchurched people to feel the same way about Easter as you do
https://wp.me/pDky9-7t

You have to get information from people to be able to contact them and invite them back--our connection cards will do that!

Connection Cards, why they work best to get people back to church after Easter
http://wp.me/pDky9-79t

Recipe for Greek Easter Bread, an outreach treat for Easter guests
http://wp.me/pDky9-2oK

Communications After

Easter Follow-up: postcards, email messages for coffee & conversation, latte with the pastor
http://wp.me/pDky9-7cq

Post-Easter communication evaluation tips to help your church grow
http://wp.me/pDky9-7cq

Follow-up after a church holiday outreach event: speed dating or relationship building?
https://wp.me/pDky9-27s

Overall Strategy

Look inward before you reach outward: make sure your church is ready for holiday and special event outreach guests
http://wp.me/pDky9-2Sc

What can happen if you if you work hard on your event, but don’t work on event communications
http://wp.me/pDky9-2T6

Clarify the meaning of Easter in all your communications
http://wp.me/pDky9-5H8

Make it OK for visitors to reject Jesus at Easter
http://wp.me/pDky9-5H5

Tune Up your church technology for Easter—FREE PDF download of Ministry Tech Cover Story by Yvon Prehn
http://wp.me/pDky9-740 [Read more...]

FREE Valentines Day Backgrounds and How to Create them Using the Canva A.I. feature

31 January, 2023 By Yvon Prehn 2 Comments

Free Valentines Background and how to create them — This is just one of over 3 dozen free background images you can use for Valentines Day. Download as either a ZIP file or link to Canva, use and modify.

The following backgrounds were all created in Canva, using their A.I. image-generating feature and they were then modified in Canva with some of their filters and image editing tools.

I have three sets of images for you with both links to the Canva files and also to download a ZIP file of 1080 x1080 px, jpg images. You can modify and use them however you want.

Before the images is a short video on how I created them using the Canva "text to image" or their A.I. image generation program. I'll be doing some additional videos about it, but I wanted to share these with you for Valentine's Day.

Following the video are the three sets, first with the images, then the Canva Link and the jpg file link for each set below the images.

AI Valentines Day Backgrounds, set #1

1080x1080 px

Here is the link to the Canva File: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFXher_1o8/USvnVN3RGXGzQoBI6lxuBg/edit?utm_content=DAFXher_1o8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Here is the link to the ZIP File of the jpg images: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AI-Valentines-Day-Background-set-1.zip

AI Valentines Day Backgrounds, set #2

1080x1080 px

Here is the link to the Canva File: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFX43UGuNo/on8fUbCli-6Ve7q4ujWkSg/edit?utm_content=DAFX43UGuNo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Here is the link to the ZIP File of the jpg images: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AI-Valentines-Day-Background-set-1.zip

Valentines Day Backgrounds, set #3

1080x1080 px

Here is the link to the Canva File: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFZRrgtXbQ/ELmgA-ZQZ3joY1PMQftCfg/edit?utm_content=DAFZRrgtXbQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Here is the link to the ZIP File of the jpg images: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AI-Valentines-Day-Background-set-1.zip

Don’t forget to say “Thank YOU!” to your Christmas volunteers—cards done for you to help you do that PLUS a new PRINTABLE!

7 December, 2022 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

I'm sure all of your Christmas special programs are going to be an incredible success—thanks in large measure to the hard work of your many volunteers.

And I'm sure you want to take time to thank all of them, but have little energy to do it.

Effective Church Communications can help in that I have a set of Christmas Thank-You cards, illustrated in the gallery below. The main message is on the front and on the back all you have to do is write a short note in the half of the card across from the address.

After an event is over, often you are exhausted, and I recommend, if you can that you could print out, personalize, and have them ready to go right after the event. People will be immediately encouraged and you can relax.

A new free image in PRINTABLE formats

In addition to the cards, I added a PRINTABLE FOR YOU. This is from the Bibleverse Shop. The downloadable file has 12 different formats from social media images to images in every size and high resolution from 5x7 to 8.5x11 to 24x36 that will reproduce well on office printers as well as printing services. After printing it you can put your images into frames from the Dollar Store or similar places. It's a great way to creat gifts for your volunteers who work so hard during the Christmas Season. In addition, through the Bibleverse Shop you have permission to reproduce as many copies as you want for $1.99--but an even better buy is a year's membership in the Bibleverse Shop which is only $36 a year and you can download as many images as you want. To download, either click on the image or THIS LINK.

Additional cards that can be used to thank volunteers

I know you don't want one more thing added to your list, but please do take the time to do this. It's wonderful for your volunteers and pleasing to our Lord who commands us, "In everything to give thanks" (1 Thes. 5:18).

Below is a gallery of the cards. Use however you want. Below the images is the FREE ZIP file to download all of them.

CLICK following to download the ZIP FILES: christmas-thank-you-cards

After GIVING TUESDAY—my gift to YOU—dozens of FREE CHRISTMAS Templates!!!!! No strings attached…..really FREE

30 November, 2022 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Effective Church Communications has gifts for you! — Effective Church Communications has gifts for you--totally free templates for all occassions.

I do love the idea of Giving Tuesday but I must admit many of the ministry requests for giving in the midst of the crush of buying demands for Black Friday often felt like one more case of financial badgering.

I understand the need to raise funds whenever possible. When I was senior editor at both Compassion International and Young Life, I wrote many of those fund-raising appeals myself.

I thought about doing a plea for support for the Effective Church Communications Ministry. But I just couldn't add one more to an already lengthy list of the appeals you received from ministries doing truly important kingdom work. Then I realized......