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; Effective Church Communications can help.

FREE Mother’s Day Social Media, Background, and MS Publisher Templates

By Leave a Comment

I created a selection of FREE Background and then Social Media and MS Publisher templates for you for last-minute Mother’s Day invitations and here the links to the posts and previews of each of them. Many of these can also be useful anytime for Women's Ministry Communications.

Mother’s Day backgrounds that you can also use in any Women’s Ministry Communications

Canva and Template Link: https://wp.me/pDky9-9KM
YouTube video preview link: https://youtu.be/H6KzVntZMrI

Free Social Media and MS Publisher Invitations, set #1

Canva and Template Link: https://wp.me/pDky9-9JP

YoutTube Preview Link: https://youtu.be/B2uScuu5Vfg

Free Social Media and MS Publisher Invitations, set #2

Canva and Template Link: https://wp.me/pDky9-9K2
YouTube Preview Link: https://youtu.be/kYC-rXEDhD8

FREE Mother’s Day and Women’s Ministry Backgrounds, AI created

By Leave a Comment

Free editable Canva background images for Mother's Day or other times.
Free editable Canva background images for Mother's Day or other times.

The following images were created with Canva's AI image creation program. This is a small portion of the many that were not worth keeping but I liked these, some quite a lot, and wanted to share them with you. You may use them however you want and no attribution is needed. I used some of them on my free social media images set for Mother's Day.

Click the Canva link below the images to go to the files and modify them or use them to create your own communications for Mother's Day or any other event that flowers would feature well in.

CANVA AI created background Mother’s Day images, mostly flowers

Click on the image below to go to Canva and use the images.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFg5Nw0h24/MpQtf0BgjxpeCDz1M22E-A/edit?utm_content=DAFg5Nw0h24&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

 

 

We are at the half-way point with Lent and here are 40 challenging images for you to use however you want

By Leave a Comment

Lenten Set of images from Effective Church Communications
This is the first of 40 images for you to download and use during Lent or anytime to help people grow in their walk with Jesus.

Lent isn't just for Lent. What I mean by that is Lent is a specific time when we can focus on denying ourselves so we can live more fully for God.

It is about so much more than giving up chocolate or social media or whatever other external thing we choose during this time. At its best, Lent is a time for quiet self-evaluation so we can grow more deeply to become who God wants us to be.

In that self-evaluation, it's time to add virtues, practices to our lives that will help us become more like Jesus.

What I have for you to inspire you during Lent

To guide you through Lent, I created a set of 40 inspirational images and I then wrote a brief challenge or thought-provoking idea to go with them.

I put the challenges into a free downloadable journal for you, plus they are on daily Instagrams, and in my favorite form, on a daily short YouTube video (less than a minute), where I read them to you along with a challenge and prayer. Please check that out--CLICK HERE to go to the channel. [Read more...]

An assortment of Lenten Resources including an eBook for Lenten Devotions and two Lenten flyers to share

By Leave a Comment

Perhaps it is part of getting older, perhaps it is part of traveling for a longer time with the Lord, but my view of Lent has shifted from in the past where I either 1) totally ignored it, or 2) resented having to observe it, or 3) gritted my teeth at whatever I was giving up and couldn't wait until it was over.

That has changed. I now see life as a kind of retreat, a time to slow down, to take time to focus on changes I want to make in my life so that I can better serve the Lord. I look forward to how He is going to work in my life and somehow Lent seems to give me an extra strengthening to do spiritual work.

Some of this shift has taken place as I worked on the Lenten Devotional Journal I'm sharing with you. I started work on it a year ago and as I've gone over various parts of it, many of the quotes in it from Christian saints in the past have challenged me deeply. I need all the help I can get to grow in godliness and to become more like my Lord. I'll be going through the booklet as a reader this Lent and I hope you'll join me.

Lenten Devotional Journal Cover Lenten Devotional Journal

I encourage you to use it in your personal devotions and you have my permission to make as many copies of it as you want for your church. Or you can post it on your website or link to it via social media for people in your congregation to download. Click on the image of the cover here to download it.

I am terribly sorry I didn't get it to you sooner. Health and work issues have been a challenge.

Lenten flyers to give out at any time during Lent

I took two of the devotions in the booklet, modified them slightly, and make them into the single flyer below that I'm going to put with my devotional booklet to remind me of behavioral changes I need to make. Click on the single flyer to download a copy of it and again, for this and the other flyers, you have permission to make as many copies as you want to share. You can see a larger version of the flyers by clicking on them. They have white backgrounds and when you click on them, you'll be able to read them more clearly. 
Fasting to Feasting

 

 

 

Three versions of alternate ways to observe denying yourself at Lent

This flyer reminds us that there are many ways we can say "no" to ourselves and "yes" to God. To download a ZIP file of the flyers, CLICK HERE: Self Denial Options For Lent

To download a ZIP file of the flyers, CLICK HERE: Self Denial Options For Lent

 

25 years ago Gospel Light produced my first Desktop Publishing Training Video–I just found it and am sharing it

By Leave a Comment

How some things change and how others stay the same! Below are two training videos from around 3 hours of training in creating communications with the computer which was a very NEW thing when I did the videos. I recently found them and decided to share them because it amazes me how the need for BASIC Training in church communication skills and the inspiration and motivation for why we do it in the church continues to be needed.

Below are the two videos and below them are the descriptions I put on the YouTube site. I know they are lengthy, but I do think they will be well worth your time to watch.

YouTube descriptions and background of the videos

This video, How to Use Your Computer to Make Better Newsletters, Bulletins, and More was made 25 years ago but the basic design principles in it are still useful. The description that follows is the same for both PART ONE and PART TWO of the video.

I recently (August 2021) found a copy of this video set in my files and though there is some outdated content and I have no idea what I did to get my hair to look like it does in the video, the majority of the video content is extremely useful. In addition, basic skills training like what is presented here is very hard to find for church communicators.

For training, you can find lots on the latest social media channel you should be using. How to write in a way that reaches busy people, basic design principles for any media, how to manage and stay strong spiritually in this challenging work is much harder to find. All this and much more is in the two videos. [Read more...]