Basic skills training, strategy, biblical challenges, and free templates from Yvon Prehn for church communicators.

Effective Church Communications

Timeless training from Yvon Prehn on church communication strategy, skills, and seasonal outreach.

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

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Free Christmas Templates
Just one of the dozens of free Christmas Templates for you to download and use.

I've had trouble not being a bit of a humbug the last few days. From the horror of Black Friday frenzy intruding into Thanksgiving to the screaming online advertisements of companies that have huge sales, or piles of links to other sales (affiliate bait), to countdowns of the deals and reminders every time you open your email that it is your LAST CHANCE for this incredible DEAL.

One of the SQUARE Christmas Business Card size templates available in our Christmas Template set.

 

Last year I bought a number of those deals and in a year's time haven't used many of them and the ones I tried didn't do what I hoped they'd do. My response this year was to delete and unsubscribe. I can't seem to keep up on all the work I need to do with the tools I have now. Humbug.

Then along comes GIVING TUESDAY

The Days of the Year Website tells us:

Giving Tuesday was created when two organizations, the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation came together in 2012, about a month before that year's Thanksgiving. Their intention was to set aside a day that was all about celebrating the generosity of giving, a great American tradition.

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Video: about ECC TEMPLATES and an overview of FREE CHRISTMAS TEMPLATES

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Christmas is incredibly busy and Templates, when you want to do something quickly without having to take time to agonize over design or legal images or what typeface to use, can be a great time saver.

Effective Church Communications has created hundreds of Templates for you that will not only save you time, but that will help you accomplish the ministry goals of helping people come to know Jesus as Savior and growing to maturity in your Christian faith.

The video here explains how and why our templates can be useful to you and gives you an overview and examples of how we put our ministry strategy into practice for Christmas.

You can download all the Christmas Templates HERE.

Here are just a few samples of what's on that page.Continue Reading

Snappa: Review and How-tos of a GREAT program to create social media graphics

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Snappa is a great program for the fastest, easiest ways to make social media and online graphics! I've used it for some time (in fact, all the graphics you see in the sidebars of this website were created with it), but I like to use something for a while before I recommend it because I'm sure that many of you have had the same frustration I have where someone does this raving recommendation of a program and with great excitement you go to it and after paying for it realize it is a piece of junk and not only that you signed up for something that keeps wanting you to upgrade or buy more junk from them. That won't happen here as we don't take any advertising or affiliate payments (often the motivation for rave reviews).

Below is my little overview of it. Coming soon: How to Use Snappa to Create Verses to share on Social Media (this is really neat) and How to create website side-bars with Snappa (all the ones on this website were created that way.)

More powerful than social media to invite, connect, share your faith—church & ministry business & invitation cards

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Mom's Morning Out Business Card
Cards like this are great to make up for members of the group to give out at playgrounds or in line at the grocery store.

Social media is powerful, but there are many times in our day and ministries where we don't have or can't use it—at a hospital visitation, in a casual conversation, times when we want to anonymously share a ministry, a resource, or hopeful advice. Business cards are the perfect ministry solution for all these situations.

Below are links to articles, two video classes, a podcast and templates.

Key article: Church Invitation Cards, business cards with an eternity-altering purpose: https://wp.me/pDky9-1tQ

Here is an excerpt from it:
How do you get unchurched people into your church?Despite all the high-tech and expensive advertising methods available today, one method remains the most effective way to get new people to come to your and that is a personal invitation. Your members inviting their friends to church beats any advertising campaign at any cost.

Key article: Why church business cards still work in the digital age, and bonus content on anonymous cards: https://wp.me/pDky9-8dp

Here is an excerpt from it:Business cards never have downtime. They're always accessible, and never have dead zones or Internet outages. Your business card can be viewed no matter where you are located, and even times when cell

Church Business cards
There are many ways to create church invitation cards and many setting you can use them in, check out the materials here for ideas!

phones and other devices must be turned off, such as on an airplane ride or in a hospital. Your business card is always working for you.

Article: How to pass sensitive ministry information for domestic abuse, drug abuse, and pornography addition help: https://wp.me/pDky9-8fh

Video class: on Church Business and Ministry Invitation Cards, go here: https://church-communications-training.teachable.com/p/church-and-ministry-business-and-invitation-cards

Part of the Church Communications Training School, a good video to share with staff on the many uses and types of these cards. Especially important is the section on how they can be used in sensitive and challenging ministry situations.

Contemporaty, square church business card
A contemporary church business and invitation card--check out the Template link for lots of unique cards.

Podcast: ECC Podcast: Church and Ministry Business and Invitation Cards: https://wp.me/pDky9-8df

An audio format with content similar to the video, but good for both preview and review of the importance of church and ministry business and invitation cards.

Video: How to modify the FREE Templates for Church Business and Ministry Invitation Cards: https://wp.me/pDky9-8ea

The templates can inspire, but they are designed for you to modify them for your church or ministry. The video link above is part of the course on the cards and the link below is to the Templates themselves.

FREE Templates: https://wp.me/PDky9-7TT

Below are samples of some--many more on the link above.

Ways to support the ECC Ministry

Why no paid advertising or affiliate links