Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Free Microsoft Clip Art and how to make the most of it

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The Microsoft website has some of the most incredible clipart available or use in your church communication projects and it's all FREE! In addition to the free clipart, it has one of the most useful and fun to use search engines that allows you to find similar clipart, either in style or subject matter.

Both of these features are demonstrated on the video that follows.Below the standard resolution video is an HD video for Effective Church Communication Members.

Following are links for material related to the video, just click on the title to go to them:

Clip Art Money and Time Saving Tips for Church Communications

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Images add another layer of meaning to our communications and in other videos I've shown you how to find lots of free ones. This video gives you a strategy for how to make the most of the images that you get for free. It shows you how to modify them and gives you advice on planning ahead for using them.

Following are links for material related to the video, just click on the title to go to them:

Below is the video in standard resolution and following that the video in HD for ECC Members.

[Read more...]

Simple Bulletin Cover with a clear explanation of what is going on in the service

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A simple bulletin with a clear service explanation
A simple, but clear bulletin that explains the service.

Here is an example of a very simple bulletin cover, that has a clear explanation of what is going on in the church service. Any church could create a cost-effective piece like this, though it would be especially appropriate for a church plant or one that is reaching out to unchurched people.

It would work well because it explains what is going on in a very friendly welcoming way and without jargon. It also doesn't look overly churchy. This is from an actual church bulletin and was given to me by a generous church communicator.

Following is information on how we created the image as well as the seeker and visitor friendly text for the bulletin cover.

How we created the image is illustrated in this video: Image editing excerpt from the video: Money and Time Saving Tips for Church Communications

Below is the text from the Bulletin that you can copy and use in your communications and below that is a ready-to-print PDF and editable MS Publisher template.

Welcome!
Thanks for
joining us today!

Here is what you can expect:
Our Worship Service: We will begin with about 30-40 minutes of singing. Feel free to sit, stand, sing, dance or just listen as we express our worship to God using all of our heart, mind, soul and body. If you don’t know the songs, hang on, we’ll sing them a couple of times-and don’t worry, we didn’t know them at first either.

The Message: A time of practical teaching from the Bible.

The Offering: This is a time for church members to share with the church financially how God has blessed them. If you are a visitor, don’t feel you have to contribute- the only gift we’d like from you is your Connection Card. Consider this service our
gift to you!

Prayer Time: there will be people up front after the service to pray for any needs you may have. Please come up if interested!

Refreshments: Join us for coffee, lemonade and munchies in the lobby after the service.

Questions? Lots more information about our church,
Jesus, and the Christian faith:
www.churchwebsite.com; www.facebook page;
twitter, email address

Ready to Print PDF and Template

Click on the image below to download the ZIP file that has a ready-to-print PDF and a modifiable MS publisher template.

A simple bulletin with a clear service explanation

 

Don’t try too hard to be cool, what a kid’s video teaches us all

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My initial purpose in sharing this was to introduce you to Worship House Kids, a wonderful resource for multimedia resources for children's ministry. But as I was looking around the site, I found this video (CLICK HERE to go to the link--it is a FREE download) and can't encourage you enough to look at it.

Yes,  it has a great message for children, but an equally important one for all church communicators about the importance of simply being yourself, loving Jesus and doing your best to communicate Him to your world. We can make ourselves crazy trying to copy one trend or another, one graphic style or another, getting the latest technology tool or whatever else we think we must do to be a successful communicator when we forget to make sure the website is  updated, that people know childcare is provided for the small groups, and the multitude of not-exciting, but essential details we need to include to make sure people actually connect to life-changing church events.

Don't worry too much about your communications reflecting the latest cool style, but pray without ceasing that they reflect the love of Jesus.

Enjoy the video and do check out the website: http://www.worshiphousekids.com/--lots of great stuff there for your children's ministry (and us big people too).

How to get the best quality images for PowerPoint-based videos

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Here I'm sharing some of the lessons I've learned as I prepare videos for this training site.

I used to think that since the final result would be shared online, I could save the images at a low resolution--wrong conclusion as this video shows.