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.

Instagram Images for Backpack Ministry to remind and motivate your congregation to give

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FREE Backpack Ministry Instagram images
It is tremendous fun getting supplies for kids--and even greater fun for the kids who receive them!

There are few projects in the church as much fun as getting supplies for kids when they are heading back to school. To me it's a little like the fun of putting together the Christmas Shoe Boxes—and remember you can buy lots of supplies for them at this time.

To help your congregation remember to do this, or to start to motivate them to think about it, I created a set of FREE Instagram images for you. Below is a gallery of them and below that is the ZIP file you can download to use them. There is also a set of PowerPoint Slides that go with them here: https://wp.me/pDky9-88N

Fun aside, this is such an important ministry to children--please pass on any and all the resources linked to it so that no child in your area or in any mission you are involved with will do without.

Click the following link to download the ZIP file that goes with them: Backpack Ministry Instagram Images

Additional materials on Backpack Ministry:

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

Bulletin inserts and Flyers for Fall Back-Pack ministries: https://wp.me/pDky9-7rX

My personal motivation for Backpack ministry—my memories and prayers about crayons and little kids in need: https://wp.me/pDky9-pL

 

Print and Digital—More Powerful Together! videos and studies to show you why

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Print and Digital E-book, more powerful together! by Yvon Prehn
If your want people to respond to your communications, use every tool you can!

People are busy, stressed, and time-starved—what is the best way to reach them? Many voices would answer "SOCIAL MEDIA!"

But if that is the answer, why aren't our churches filled and every event well-attended, when social media costs almost nothing to produce and we can push it out to the world?

Part of the problem could be that we have confused the popularity of social media with effectiveness (source for this idea in the video below). We assume social media is the way most people communicate today, and though that idea is wildly incorrect for many congregations, even among those who do live glued to a Twitter feed, don't necessarily take action on what they see on social media.

What follows isn't about bashing social media

Far from it--keep tweeting, Facebooking, Pinning and Instagramming, as the Apostle Paul said, "we need to become all things to all people to win some" (1 Cor 9:22).

But consider re-introducing PRINT into a more significant place in your church communication mix. As you'll see a number of communication and marketing studies show this is the most effective way to get an audience to respond to your message.

Below are 2 videos--one a more lengthy teaching one about the effectiveness of combining print and digital for any non-profit group and the second one is a series of slides with thought provoking quotes and commentary.

Below each of them are handouts of the presentation.

Below both is PDF e-book that has the quotes, studies listed and more.

Why here, now and free to all?

As I've been working on Fall and Christmas communications I've realized that unless you understand some of the key points in the material that follows your fall outreach will not be as successful as it could or should be.

Either one of the videos would make an excellent discussion topic for your next staff meeting because communication ministry is the foundation of the success of many ministries in the church and it is far more difficult today than it was in the past when you only needed to worry about how many times you printed an announcement in the bulletin.

I'm working on a longer class and book on this topic, but I felt it was too important not to get out now what I did have ready.


CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF of NOTES for the video above: Print & Digital More Powerful Together HANDOUTS


CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF of NOTES for the video above: Slide Show of Print and Digital Quotes, HANDOUTS

Print and Digital E-book, more powerful together! by Yvon Prehn
Click on the image to download a copy of this e-book.

Social Media for Churches, where to be and how to use it

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MinTech article on Social Media
If a social media ministry is a challenge for your church, check out this article for ways to make it manageable.

Ministry Tech Magazine just published my article on Social Media for Churches and I wanted to pass on the PDF to you, CLICK HERE or on the image to download it. One of the most valuable things about this article is the advice by Holly Veturis from Saddleback Church on putting together a team of people (advocates, she calls them) to be the primary creators of your church social media.

I heard her talk about this at the Saddleback MarCom Church Communicator's conference this summer and just loved the idea. It seemed to me that it is a fantastic modern-day example of how the Body of Christ can work together. No one in the church office has time to do all the print and website work required, PLUS all the social media that is a vital part of any church communication program today.

At the same time there are people in every church who just LOVE to be on social media. They are good at it and enthusiastic in what they share. Rather than trying to add additional burdens to the people in the church office (unless they happen to be the kind who spend every break and lunch on social media), consider following her advice and putting together a social media team.

Of course you want to set up guidelines when people are putting out social media in the name of the church, just as you would for any kind of communications work volunteers do for you, but with those in place and periodic meetings to encourage and inspire, a social media team can be an effective outreach tool for your church.

Four guidelines for the challenge of ever-changing communication channels

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Digital composite of web pagesAt one time I thought technology would never get any better than the self-correcting typewriter and press-on letters. Now I'm learning to create HD videos and podcasts.  As I've researched video and podcast hosting and distribution systems, at times my brain felt like a jumble of data that would never sort its way into a linear path of what to do next. I'm getting it figured out, but as I'm working out the next steps, I reminded myself of four guidelines I've used in the past to encourage people to try computers and websites without losing the focus on the importance of fully fulfilling the Great Commission. These helped me and may be useful if you are facing new challenges in communication technology:

#1—Don't confuse the media with the message

The media, the tool you use to craft and share your message is and will be constantly changing. Media changes always seem overwhelming and they are often difficult to get through. The change from typewriters to computers for church office communications, from cut and paste layout to MS Publisher to create the church bulletin, from print only to the expectations of a website and social media communication assortment for every church, from flowers to adorn the pulpit to multi-media projection systems—all of these have taken place in the recent experience of the church. The challenge is not only in learning how to use them, but to not allow the demands of the technology to overwhelm the priority of your message. Technology can be extraordinary demanding, but it must never be your North Star. Every person, every church has a North Star which guides all your communications whether you are conscious of it or not. The only appropriate North Star for the church communicator is to fully fulfill the Great Commission—to help people come to know Jesus as Savior and to grow to maturity in Him. The media is not our message—our message is our message. If our eye is on the goal of sharing Jesus truly and completely and growing followers into disciples , if that is the core of our message, though there are many parts of it and many steps in sharing it, we won't be thrown off course when new tools appear.Continue Reading

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