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Don’t forget the people left behind in the rush to make all things digital

11 October, 2020 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Yvon's note: I admit, I was a bit cranky when I wrote this. Well, not so much cranky as sad, but I know I can come across cranky at times when I want to cry but end up yelling (ask my husband). I wanted to acknowledge that and ask for your forgiveness if the following comes across too harshly. I seem to be over-reacting a lot these days or maybe it’s an appropriate reaction to the over-the-top stresses of these days. I’m not sure, but I trust the following gives us thoughtful pause as we work to adapt to changing challenges while serving “the least of these.”

It’s been a wild ride in church communications and it isn’t going to smooth out any time soon as we try to figure out what to keep, what to modify, what new things to try, and what old ways of doing things we can toss out. Much well-deserved emphasis and discussion have been on new ways to conduct worship online and that will continue as churches work to figure out how to juggle the challenges of meeting physically together (while properly social distancing apart) and continuing an online ministry for those who cannot meet together.

While these discussions are going on, I’d like some recent thoughts.

Imagine you are older; imagine your health is compromised in some way and staying home is a necessity. Most likely this has been an extremely fearful time.

If you weren’t entirely comfortable with technology, it might have been a challenge to figure out how to participate in an online Bible study or watch a Sunday service.

Imagine that despite your fears, you are just now starting to feel comfortable taking communion with crackers and juice at home and singing along with the worship team on the computer. But on Sunday you are told this will stop. Well, maybe not stop entirely, the church will try to “stream” the service as they meet back in the building, but they are letting people know ahead of time this might not be the same and they made stop doing the online service. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Covid19 Communication Related Tagged With: challenges of covid for church communicators, multi-channel communication, remembering the least of these

Why everything sinful about Halloween makes it perfect for Outreach!

2 October, 2020 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Halloween outreach
How to take what is evil about Halloween and turn it into a reason to share about Jesus!

Lots of churches don't do outreach events at Halloween because they think they are sinful--but this brief video shows you how the very things that make Halloween sinful and repulsive to many church people--the focus on death, the supernatural and similar things are what make Halloween a PERFECT time for outreach.

We can use these topics and the interest people have in them as bridges to conversations about Jesus. The video here shows you how the Apostle Paul did that and how we can use this time of year to do it in our communities.

CLICK HERE TO go to LINKS to motivation and tools to help you share the good news about Jesus at Halloween

Filed Under: Fall Festival and Halloween Tagged With: Fall Festival and Halloween, Halloween evangelism, Halloween outreach

Church Halloween Celebrations: why simply having fun and not sinning is not the point of why we do what we do

1 October, 2020 By Yvon Prehn 4 Comments

Halloween is about more than fun, it's an opportunity to share the gospel
If the reason for your Halloween outreach is only about kids having fun and getting lots of candy, you've missed a great opportunity to share the gospel.

Is having fun what defines a Christian? Is FUN what makes a church even worthwhile? Is fun why we do what we do (whatever it is) in the Christian life?

When you look at many church communications, you'd assume the answer was "yes." A recent scanning of material on the web as I was researching alternative Halloween events overwhelmingly advertised events or promoted activities where the FUN promised is promoted as the primary reason people should attend. Though the focus of this article is on the combination of Halloween communications and the emphasis of FUN (intentional shouting with the all capital letters), the same concerns and cautions apply to our communication of many church outreach events.

How fun becomes the primary motivation for Halloween alternative events

Much of the thinking process behind many of these "Christian" alternatives to Halloween on the web seems to go something like this:

  1. Halloween is evil.
  2. To take part in a traditional secular celebration of Halloween is evil and sinful.
  3. Christians shouldn't do evil and sin.
  4. Instead Christians should have good, clean fun.
  5. Therefore our church will do a fun event for Halloween.
  6. People will see we are Christians by our fun.

I don't have a problem with the list up to #3—much of traditional Halloween celebrations are evil. Maybe not as evil as some timid folks fear, but probably not activities that would fall into the class of edifying Christian activities. Dressing up as demons and witches and glorifying magic is not what Christians ought to be doing. Sending your kids out alone to beg for candy in most areas today isn't safe. But the alternative to fighting evil or working to fulfill the Great Commission is not to simply have safe fun. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evangelism & Outreach, Fall Festival and Halloween Tagged With: Alternative Halloween, Church Halloween, Is Halloween evil?, Trunk or Treat

Fall Festival and Halloween Resources, invitations, registration cards, encouragement flyers, lots more

14 September, 2020 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Resources for Fall and Halloween church outreach
This is a great time of year to reach out to your community and these will help you do it effectively.

Lots of good stuff here!

Some new, some a few years old, but all for you to use as you'd like.

Just click on the link below the title. Please pass on to other churches and friends.

A non-scary way to share your faith at Fall Festivals and Halloween
https://wp.me/pDky9-8h4

Was Jesus a zombie—NO irreverence intended, but an honestly asked question and an answer
https://wp.me/pDky9-8gP

FREE TEMPLATES for Fall Registration Cards, Invitations, Halloween Evangelism
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/templates/templates-harvest-festival-and-halloween/

Halloween, a great time for evangelism…..really!!
https://wp.me/pDky9-6xB
Older card, good article [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fall Festival and Halloween Tagged With: connection cards, FREE Halloween Church materials, Free Halloween invitations, Free Harvest Festival Materials

We could all use good news now and here is the best news—all about salvation in Jesus

27 August, 2020 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Good news is found in Jesus
When so much of the world is filled with bad news, there is good news to be found in Jesus. Check it out and be encouraged!

Pandemic, crazy weather, racial injustice, and political turmoil—wherever we turn, bad news fills our world. There is one place the news is good—in the good news about Jesus. Many call this the gospel.

There are two reasons why it’s essential to explore the gospel now. First, for those of us familiar with the gospel, we do well to remember what great news that is, no matter what else is going on. And for those who aren’t familiar with it, this news has implications for you far beyond the hysterical headlines that currently fill your news feeds. The gospel is good news, the best news ever.

Why the gospel is GOOD NEWS

Good news. That is the dictionary definition of the term gospel. The question to answer next is, of course, “What is the good news?” or “Good news about what?”

The best answer to that question is in the Bible, where John 3:16 tells us that: “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

The good news is that God didn’t sit up in heaven, watching humanity make a mess of their lives and their world. He did something about it with extraordinarily important implications for people both now and eternity. To explore the good news in more detail, let’s look at our situation and what God did for us.

Without God, making a mess of our lives is pretty much what we do.

It doesn’t take unique insight to know our world is a mess right now. But now, let’s look away from the world. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Christianity defined, Spiritual Tagged With: Communications, Evangelism resources, how to become a Christian, Jesus, Religion, yvon prehn

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