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.

Bulletin inserts and Flyers for Fall Backpack ministries

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Back pack supplies ministry
Getting supplies for children who can't afford them is a wonderful ministry. Help your church do that!

One of the best ministries at this time of year is for churches to assemble backpacks for kids that need them.

Following is an assortment of designs from past years that you can freely reproduce. You can use them as is or modify them to fit your church or community.

At the end of the article are two NEW sets of PowerPoint and Instagram images you can use to remind people and promote your backpack ministry.

You can click on the link below the images to download the ZIP file that has:

  1. PDFs of all the designs
  2. Editable MS Publisher files
  3. The design above in MS Word file
  4. Text for the flyers

****One more important note:

At the same time you recommend that your congregation buy supplies for backpacks, remind them that this is a great time to stock up on great buys on school supplies for Christmas shoe box ministries!

Gallery of the flyers/bulletin inserts

To download the ZIP file containing all the materials above, click the following link: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Backpack-Ministry-Bulletin-Inserts.zip

For additional materials to promote Backpack Ministries:

PowerPoint Slides for Backpack Ministry to remind and motivate your congregation to give: https://wp.me/pDky9-88N

Instagram Images for Backpack Ministry to remind and motivate your congregation to give: https://wp.me/pDky9-898

My personal motivation for Backpack ministry—my memories and prayers about crayons and little kids in need

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Contribute to back to school ministries.
Few things were more exciting to me as a child than a new box of crayons--and we have opportunities to share that joy with needy kids.

Remember the smell when you opened a new box of crayons? Waxy and warm with a bit of paper mixed in.

Remember what it was like to see all those new crayons? Sometimes there were new colors. The metallic crayons seemed magical. I almost hated to use them, to turn the neat, sharp points into smushy stubs.  But there was always another year to look forward to, another start of school and a new box of crayons.

Crayons were just the start—pencils, notebooks with lines unfilled, sometimes a new lunch box.  Back-to-school was my favorite time of year. I hated summer. I didn't particularly like to play kid's games, especially outside. I wanted to be left alone to read.

We moved every year (my father was in the military and that's what they did then) and the first place I would try to find in any house was some quiet corner to read. My very favorite was at the end of a long closet where there was a window. In front of it were some packing boxes just big enough and at just the right height for an 11-year-old girl to with a book and read and look out the window. Clothes were in front of the boxes, effectively shielding me from the outside world. Still, my mother would find me and make me go out and play. I was obedient, but I didn't like it. [Read more...]

Summer Recipe Card, a great way to connect with visitors and invite them back to church

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This is a wonderful summer recipe you can print up and give you to church guests. Put information on the back as a reminder of and invitation to your church.

Everybody loves recipes, especially if they are good ones! This one is fantastic! It is for a BBQ Beef Brisket that will literally melt in your mouth.

It comes from a wonderful Texas cook I knew in the past who has now gone home to be with the Lord. But before she left she passed on a number of incredible recipes.

You can print up this card as a gift to connect with visitors at who summer events at your church. On the back of it you can add church information, time, programs etc. and invite people back to visit you anytime.

You never know when someone might decide to come back to a church and if they have a yummy recipe card to remind them, food for the tummy may become food for the soul.

CLICK on the link here to download the PDF and print out the cards: PDF BBQ recipe card

For more on how to connect with visitors

Please check out the link to this article about successful summer outreach: Why it isn't enough to be a community-friendly, free event-providing church

 

Why it isn’t enough to be a community-friendly, free event-providing church

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Intentionally connect with summer guests
Having great food isn't enough, you need to intentionally connect with your summer guests.

With the best of intentions, churches plan community outreach events in the summer: free food and fun festivals of all kinds, free movies, and events that are tied to local summer traditions. Though they often get a large attendance and everyone has fun, we need to ask ourselves, how can they do more for the kingdom of God?

Being community friendly and providing free events isn't enough if we want to use them to grow our church and ultimately to help people come to know Jesus as Savior. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we do all the work we are doing. It's easy to fall into the habit of thinking that just doing good things will help people think kindly about our church and Jesus, but we live in a secularized world, where it takes much more than attending a free BBQ to change the eternal destiny of a soul.

To do that takes often sustained contact with your church and to move beyond a one-time interaction at a fun event, you have to be intentional in your interactions and follow-up with your guests. Here's how you can do that: [Read more...]

Chris Pratt, a Gospel presentation at MTV awards, and a challenge to us all

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Chris Pratt can preach!
We don't usually think of Chris Pratt as a preacher, but his MTV Awards speech has challenges for us all. Image by Gage Skidmore.

When the Bible tells us that when Jesus spoke, “people heard him gladly” and “the large crowd listened to him with delight,” various translations of Mark 12:37, I often wonder what that meant. This passage and others contrasts Jesus way of speaking with that of the religious leaders of the day.

Sadly, there are few Christian leaders or preachers today who people “listen to with delight.”

And then there is Chris Pratt. His job description as super star actor (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic Park, Parks and Recreation) doesn't automatically include preacher to the people—but last night at the MTV Awards he was just that.

He framed his words as his 9 Rules for Living. I’ll share them below, but I highly recommend you listen to them online, not only for the words, but more importantly for the audience reaction.

Here is what he said:

"I'm going to cut to the chase and I am going to speak to you, the next generation," Pratt said. "I accept the responsibility as your elder. So, listen up."

  1. "Breathe. If you don't, you will suffocate."

  2. "You have a soul. Be careful with it."

  3. "Don't be a turd. If you are strong, be a protector. If you are smart, be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons, so do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that."

  4. "When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won't even know they're eating medicine."

  5. "It doesn't matter what it is. Earn it. A good deed. Reach out to someone in pain. Be of service. It feels good and it's good for your soul."

  6. "God is real. God loves you, God wants the best for you. Believe that, I do."

  7. "If you have to poop at a party….(sorry I’m leaving this one off—it’s online, but this is my “G” rated blog).

  8. "Learn to pray. It's easy, and it is so good for your soul."

  9. "Nobody is perfect. People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are, you are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else's blood. Do not forget that. Don't take that for granted."

Again, listen to his speech, not only for his words, but for the audience reaction. They are clapping and cheering through it. Obviously they heard him with delight. It’s worth analyzing why. The truth statements (rules 2,5, 6 and 9 especially) are incredible distillations of biblical reality put into contemporary language—we are not perfect and we need grace, grace purchased with somebody else’s blood. When was the last time you heard a congregation clap at the mention of grace?

He does a masterful mix of humor and truth—very hard for most of us to manage, so I don’t recommend trying, but you can take his words and use them as discussion starters, especially with the younger people in your life: What did they think of it? What is grace? Why is it important to know you aren’t perfect?

#9 is an extraordinary contemporary translation of “for all have sinned” “by grace you are saved.” Discuss his challenge that we not take that for granted.

And for you and your church, can you lighten up a little bit while still being true to who you are and the respect due the gospel? How can we translate Biblical terms into the language of today so people will hear eternal truth? How can we bring joy back into sharing our faith?

I don’t know the answer to these questions, but they are challenges worth discussing. And while doing that pray for the many who heard Chris Pratt’s message that they hunger to find out more about the God who loves them and paid for them with Jesus’s blood.

Pray you will learn to share the words of eternal life in way your audience will hear you gladly.