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.

Special Event Connection Cards: Samples, Examples of MS Publisher Editable files, PDFs, JPGs

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For your Outreach or Bridge event to be truly successful, you need to connect with the people who come to it on an ongoing basis. These Connection Cards are one of the most effective ways to do that. Click here or on the image to download a PDF Preview of the Connection Cards that are in this file.

Below is the link to a ZIP file that has for the cards:

A PDF that is ready to print

If you like the images and wording, the all you have to do is open the PDF and print it out. Each of the images is one-quarter of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch page.

An editable MS Publisher File

Just open the Publisher file and you can edit the Connection Card in any way you like—change the wording,  image, or the color. If you are going to be doing a two-color printing of a Connection Card using a digital duplicator, I've found the easiest way to do it is to do a "Save As" of one color, e.g. for the Christmas one, Save a GREEN MASTER. Then do a "Save As" of black, e.g. a BLACK MASTER and then print each pass using each of these. This is makes it really simple. Be sure to save the combined file first if you ever want to print it on a copier or as one color.

JPG image

This is included for you to use if you want on your PowerPoint presentations, in your bulletin or however else you want to use them. You may want to tell your entire congregation via PowerPoint or in your church newsletter or website  that you have these cards and want people to encourage others to fill them out. You may want to use the images to do training of your volunteers for the event itself--whatever you need it for these images are there for you!

Below is a ZIP file that has all the materials described above.

How to open a ZIP file

Click on the link below and a box will come up asking if you want to "Open" or "Save" the file. You want to SAVE it. I recommend that you save it to your desktop so it is easier to find. The download will take a couple of minutes or more depending upon your Internet speed. Once the download is complete, double-click on the file. If a dialog box comes up, follow what it says, if not just double-click on the files and that will open the file that has all three forms of each Connection Card ready for you to use.

CLICK HERE to download the ZIP file that has the editable MS Publisher Files, JPGs, and ready-to print PDFs of these Special Event Connection Cards.

Connection card corrections for Canada and the world (ZIP FILE included) and the benefits of telling me what I do wrong

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A wonderful illustration of how the body of Christ works and of how desperately we need each other in all our communications work was gently shown me in an email I received right after I sent out my previous newsletter letting all of you know about the Connection Card Templates I'd created to inspire everyone and for immediate use for members.

Members, that is, unless they live in Canada or (and we have members in England, Holland, Australia, Puerto Rico)--for all of you I greatly apologize because I put on the cards "city, state, zip." Great for the U.S., not so much for those not living in states with zip codes. What really makes me upset with myself is that I have spent many, many days, weeks, goodness knows how much time in Canada. My grandfather was from Canada--you would think I would know about provinces and postal codes!

But I forgot.

And a very kind member from Canada reminded me that he had to change all of what I thought were ready-to-print materials.

One tiny change makes all the difference

A new file is added for members, at then end of this article with all the changes made. If you aren't a member—do consider joining, click here to find out more--it is the best $9.99 a month you will spend to equip yourself and your church.

All the files have  one very simple change, but that I will do for all the materials I make up in the future: I simply took out the "city, state, zip" and changed "street address" to simply: Address.

That should work anywhere.

If the kind pastor hadn't shared, I would not have made the change

PLEASE, please let me know if something that I do is not working for you, or if you have additional questions or need things—my goal is to serve all of you so that your churches can more effectively fully fulfill the Great Commission.

If possible—go ahead and put your questions in the COMMENT sections of the articles. That way when I answer, everyone will see the question and answer.

You can also always email me at yvon@effectivechurchcom.com if you would prefer to do that.

Most of all pray for me for wisdom to serve you and our Lord in ways that grow His church and give Him joy.

My blessings to you today!

{+}

Click here for the ZIP file of the 6 Seasonal Connection Card Templates.

Connect with invisible visitors: an overview of Church Connection Cards Resources

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Church Connection Cards
Here links to a video, articles, books on how to make the most of Connection Cards.

The people who visit our churches are often lost souls for whom Jesus died--we cannot let them pass through our church as invisible visitors without making a connection with them, if we are to be disciples who are working to obey the Great Commission.

It doesn't take big gestures and huge budgets to make those connections. As the song says in this and every other situation of relationship building "little things mean a lot."

One of those very important little things in building a relationship with visitors  are Connection Cards. I have experienced many times in personal ministry and have seen at many churches, I've worked with how Connection Cards can grow a church, make people feel cared for, and do more for a church growth than anything else tried at the church. [Read more...]

How Connection Cards improved visitor and prayer request response—true church story

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An encouraging email about connection cards
True story: how connection cards helped a church connect with visitors.

None of us do the work we do in communications without great concern for how it actually impacts the people we want to reach. That's why I appreciate it so much when I hear back from any of you on what worked in your church. Following is an email from Rona Heenk, a church communicator in Washington state. Thanks so much to Rona for her encouraging words to me and all of us—what you do DOES make a difference!

She inspired me to do an ECC training video on Connection Cards, click here to go to it.

PLEASE send me any stories you have of what has worked in your church so I can pass it on to others. Email to: yvon@effectivechurchcom.com.

Here is Rona's story (no editing, all her words):

Yvon,

I wanted to give you some feedback on something unrelated to the webinar, which I thought would be encouraging to you:

Based on the advice in your booklet on Connection Cards, I presented to the senior pastor the idea of a new Connection Card, putting it in the bulletin as an insert, and asking everyone to fill one out each week. He discussed it with the other pastors, and they agreed to the new card, but were reluctant to ask everyone to fill it out, so we continued to do what we were doing, which was to ask visitors to take one out of the chair back and fill it out and turn it in with the offering.

After a few months our response rate hadn't changed--maybe one visitor card turned in per month, and at most one or two prayer requests each week. About half the time we had zero cards turned in. I just kept praying about it, and waiting for a good opportunity to re-visit the idea.

 

Then, the week after Easter during our staff meeting, I mentioned that we had an attendance that was about 70 over our average attendance, yet NOT ONE visitor filled out a card. Our senior pastor sat up and paid attention, and asked if I had any ideas to improve that.... open door!! I "happened" to have the booklet and your latest article from Christian Computing Magazine with me, and presented the idea again, quoting your statement that basically said, "The Connection Card is the only real link we have to reach out to newcomers, and to be able to respond to questions and needs." That seemed to cement the idea that it was time to try something new, and he put into the minutes that our current way of handling the Connection Cards is NOT working, and suggested to the elders that they come to their meeting the next night prepared to discuss it.

Next thing I knew, they came to me and asked me to make it happen!

So, we began by sending out some email communication to the congregation about what we would be doing, and most of all, WHY. Last Sunday, May 2, we tried it for the first time, and guess what? No one complained, we got lots of responses, including TWO that were filled out by people who were first-time visitors. We got more prayer requests and people asking for information than we usually do, and I got three email addresses I didn't already have on file.

I even had a couple of cards come back with notes of encouragement to me, thanking me! (In the emails I had used a statement something like "Remember what it was like when you were the new person somewhere? The last thing you wanted to do was something that would draw attention to yourself, as if to say 'look at me, I'm a visitor!'" and I think that is what resonated with them.)

Anyway, I thought you'd be encouraged to hear how your communication ideas have been put into action! Feel free to quote me on anything here if you want to. I feel so strongly that we who are in the church need to do everything we can to learn to communicate EFFECTIVELY, and your material is one of the few resources I've ever seen that is up-to-date, thorough, and specifically addresses the unique needs of a church communicator.
Blessings!!

______________________

For more information about the book mentioned in this article: Connection cards: connect with visitors, grow your church, pastor your people, little cards, big results, click here.

Connection Cards, a wonderful example as a tool for ministry interaction

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I knew Connection Cards were great to use as a tool to reach out to visitors and to pastor your people, but one church uses them in a great way to get people involved in the various ministries of the church. A wonderful church communicator sent me this story and I wanted to share it with you.

Hi, Yvon,

I must tell you how valuable your sight has been to me.  Keep up the good work!

Plainfield United Methodist Church has been relying on Connection Cards for about a year.  What a wonderful opportunity to connect people with other people, new ministries, service opportunities as well as learn what’s on people’s minds!  They provide a wonderful way to share prayer concerns of our congregation with our prayer chain.  We keep addresses, emails, phone numbers updated through this media.  Of course attendance is registered by using these cards.

When we first began using these cards, pastors provided time during the service and we all completed the cards at the same time.  Our thinking was that if the pastor set the example and provided the time, we could encourage everyone present to complete a card.  By having our regular attendees continue to complete their cards each Sunday, it serves as an encouragement to guests to complete one.  Therefore, we have the names of our guests along with their contact information.  Most of the time, they will tell us if they are new to the community or just passing through.

The key to making the cards work is to keep the requested information current.  For instance, we have just completed a series entitled “Come Hungry”.  We asked the congregation if they were willing to reflect and share what they learned about themselves through this series.  They could write their comments on the card or they could email a pastor.  Most chose to write their comments on the card, but some indicated they would contact one of the pastors.  We also recruited teachers for our upcoming VBS through these cards.  There is plenty of room for people to make prayer requests.

On Mondays I enter all this information in a table and share that table with the pastors.  The table contains the name of the person making the comment or request, their contact information and the information that is to be shared.  Some of the information is for specific groups such as our prayer chain, our music department, some is for seeking certain information.  It just becomes a matter of copying  and pasting the information into an email addressed to the appropriate person or group of people.  We are very careful to be sensitive to confidential information.  Follow-up to requests is essential – after all, we requested the information, assured them we would be sensitive to how it is used – so follow-up is important.

I will attach two of the two-sided cards to this email for you to see.  They were created in Publisher.  Perhaps they will show better how we update them each week.  We print them here at our church on 81/2 x 11 cardstock that has been perforated in thirds by a local printer.  Having them perforated certainly saves us a lot of time when it comes to inserting one card inside each Sunday worship folder.

Again, thanks so much for all you do to guide our communication in serving.

Blessings, Sue

A second email from Sue (came a week or so later)

I just found out that the Communication Card that we’ve been using originated from a book entitled Fusion:  Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church by Nelson Searcy with Jennifer Dykes Henson.  I didn’t realize that the card is pretty much what is on page 168 of the book; however, we have personalized it for our purposes.  I thought that you would need to give credit where credit is due.

I LOVE getting stories of how church communications have worked for you. Please send your stories and samples, along with permission for me to use them to: yvon@effectivechurchcom.com. Thanks so much!