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.
  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • PODCAST
  • FREE PRINT TEMPLATES

When you say, “nobody reads what we write” what that really means

8 April, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

One justification church communicators often use to print less information in their church bulletin is the statement, "nobody reads what we write." The statement is often spoken in frustration and often more than a little bit of anger.

When I hear that, my first response is always, "How do your know that's true? Do people come up to you, throw the bulletin in your face and announce 'I don't read any of this!'?"

After a few deep breaths and a laugh, the true reason for that statement comes out. When church staffs say that "nobody reads what we write" what it actually means is that people are not showing up for events or paying attention to the requests for action in the bulletin.

If that is the real situation, what is the solution?

It's not what is often assumed

It's true that people have shorter attention spans today, but shorter attention spans does not mean they don't read what is important to them or respond to what appears to be of benefit to them, their families and spiritual lives. People still have an empty place inside only God can fill. Once they become a Christian, they want to grow to discipleship maturity.

And yes, people are very busy today and don't have time for events that do not seem important to them.

With the lack of time and short attention spans as the reality, the solution for many church communicators is to drastically cut the amount of material in the church bulletin, which is still the primary communication piece between church staffs and the congregation and visitors. In practical terms this often means:

  • No detailed explanations of activities, just general categories are listed, such as:  "Adult Bible Classes 9 am."
  • Complete information is not included, just overall statements about ministries are listed, such as: "Small groups are important and we urge you to be part of one, call Pastor Joe for more information."
  • Special events are simply announced: "Our church is putting on an incredible Easter Concert on Good Friday--be sure to invite your friends."
  • Using an impressive graphic and few words. This may often be well done and contemporary. However, the problem with graphic images as the primary part of an announcement is that a picture is not "worth a thousand words." That great image may have meant something to the person who picked it, but whatever thousand words it means is often lost on the person viewing it.

All of these church bulletin communication habits amount to little more than white noise. They don't say anything of significance, they simply fill the white space. They don't grab the attention of a visitor,explain what the church jargon title for an event means, or challenge a church member who sees the same thing week after week.

If the church staff doesn't care enough to craft a message of value, one that has any content that explains what is going on or gives the reader a way to find out more, why should anyone respond?

Why these kinds of information don't work and what will get a response

Just one example for now, but let's take the Adult Class announcement above. Instead of  "Adult Bible Classes 9 am." You need specific topics listed each week and reasons why people should attend. For example, instead of the previous line, this is what is needed to get a response:

Adult Bible Classes 9-10:30 am, Sunday, Room 337, Our Local Church--for all adults married or single, visitors welcome

Come at 9:00 for coffee, fruit and pastry; followed by a teaching presentation and then lively, small group discussion of the topic.

Current teaching topic (for the next 3 weeks): Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Have you silently wondered if it's true? What if an unchurched friend asks why you believe it?

The resurrection of Jesus is the core belief and foundation of the Christian faith, but truth be told, many of us don't haven't taken the time to learn why it is one of the best proved facts of history. Or maybe you don't believe it at all. Whatever place you are at, come for an in-depth presentation by one of our class members who has studied the topic and then discuss it, ask questions, interact. No homework required, all questions welcomed. Handouts will be provided with more resources for reading and website exploration. If you have questions ahead of time you want to be sure we cover, or questions about the class, please call Mary Johnson, 555-5555 or email mary@ourlocalchurch.com. Past lessons, both video and audio versions are at www.greatchurchlessons.com. (not a real site)

Yes, the above announcement takes a lot more time and work to put together and it takes more paper and ink to print it (plus time to put it on the church website as you update it). But it also respects the time and mind of your church members and visitors because:

  • It does not assume everyone knows where the class is, how long it lasts, who it's for, or even that it meets on Sunday. You must state these seemingly "obvious" facts in every announcement if you want a visitor or uninvolved member to attend. And these facts must be in every announcement about the class.
  • To simply list "Adult Class 9am" and then a website link is USELESS. People will not take the bulletin home, find the link and type it in--ALL the necessary information must be there for them to make a decision. Past lessons and additional information SHOULD be on the website, but don't rely on the web for people to make a decision to attend or not.
  • A quick Facebook or Twitter announcement is a great reminder, but it is only a reminder and should link to your website for more information. ***Remember though that visitors and newcomers probably will not be aware of your social media.
  • It is kind and lets folks know that coffee and munchies will be provided. This very important because for some people 9am on Sunday morning is really early and if they know coffee and sugar awaits, they may make it to the class.
  • It tells potential members that the class format so they can come knowing that they won't have to sit through an hour and a half lecture--there will be discussion and interaction time.
  • It states the teaching topic. When you don't tell people what a class is about, it becomes a "trust us, we know what is best for you" announcement and one few people respond to today. By stating that some people may not be convinced of the Christian faith, it opens up the class not only for church members who may have questions, but let's them know they can bring friends who are unchurched and they will be welcomed.
  • The fact that handouts and more information will be provided lets you know the teacher is serious about the topic and has spent significant time in preparation. It says that if a person attends the class their time won't be wasted.
  • It gives contact information if someone has questions.

More is more

Yes, people's time is valuable, but even more important is the destiny of their eternal souls. If you give people complete information about activities in your church, they will pay attention, they will read them, they will show up and lives will be changed.

Don't cop out by saying people don't read what you write, when you don't write anything that is useful, significant or worthy of their time to read. Pour your heart into making every ministry announcement worthy of your audience time and reading and they will respond.

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: Church Bulletins, effective bulletin announcements, writing in the church

How to create and use a church communication survey, a Webinar On-demand

31 March, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Because we all tend to communicate in ways that are most comfortable to us and because, as church leaders, we make decisions for people, in this time of changing communications, we may be totally missing out on what the types of communications our audience needs for them to hear the gospel message or our challenges to discipleship growth.

How do your various audiences take in your messages? What communication channels do they access the most?

Most of us if we are honest really don't know. This is where a survey can be extremely helpful. This webinar/video will show you how to do one for your church.

One  bit of advice--before you do the survey, pray that the Lord will make your heart open to make changes whatever the results might be. Nothing hurts your credibility more than asking people for their opinion and then ignoring it totally when they give it to you.

The PDF that goes along with the training video is below the video.

This webinar is for ECC Members only. For information on how to join, CLICK HERE

{+}


Video Survey Handouts

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: church communication planning, church communication survey, church survey, yvon prehn video

ebook: Financial Communications, special edition free for ECC MEMBERS

24 March, 2011 By Yvon Prehn 2 Comments

This special ebook contains 32 pages of great samples of Financial Communications and is a free version for Members of Effective Church Communications. Some wonderful examples of fund-raising materials and motivation are included. The link for an immediate download of the book is below. For membership information and to sign up, click here.

{+}

CLICK HERE to download the ebook on Financial Communications Special Edition for Effective Church Communication Members.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: church finances, Financial communications

Reality of church communication—challenging spiritual warfare

22 March, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Eph. 6:12-13)

Working for the Lord in church communications is hard.

The bottom-line reality is that we are in a war. And in any war, one of the first things the enemy tries to knock out the communications equipment of their opponent. You aren’t just  “doing the bulletin” or some other isolated project. You are the communication center for spiritual warfare for your church. When you got into communications work for your church or ministry you entered one of the most intense areas of spiritual warfare raging today. Satan wants to knock you out.

Troubles with hardware, software, and co-workers are to be expected. Especially people problems should be no surprise because Satan is “the accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10) and one of the easiest ways to cripple you in the battle is to get you fighting with your fellow soldiers. Don’t let him win; don’t take on his job.

Remember also that you are in a war that has already been won. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished!” When he rose from the grave, he conquered sin and death.

Because of Jesus’ finished work, our battle resembles the fighting of the resistance fighters in France at the end of WW2. The allies landed on D-Day and basically the war was over, but until Paris was liberated, the war wasn’t over for the French Resistance. The resistance army still had to fight. If you study the history of the resistance, you find that one of their primary weapons was communications. “Freedom is coming—the war is over—hold on until the victors arrive!” That was their message and ours is the same.

We may be involved in spiritual warfare, but we don’t have to fight alone. We can expect help for the battle. Our help never comes ultimately from new equipment, or a more peaceful work situation, or more considerate workers. Our help comes from our Lord and from doing our work according to his Word.

Learn to encourage yourself from the Word of God. If you don’t train yourself to look at the battle you are in as spiritual warfare, if you don’t draw your strength from Jesus, your job will be much more difficult than it should be.

God did not put you in your work to simply survive. Do your work with joy and passion, with your eyes on heaven and know that though the daily battles might be difficult, the war is over, victory is assured, and your King is coming.

from:
The Heart of Church Communications, beyond tools and techniques,
a biblical basis for creating church communications
by Yvon Prehn, available from www.lulu.com/yvonprehn

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: communication as warfare, spiritual warfare, yvon prehn

Woman in wet t-shirt on church website and why a picture may say a thousand wrong words

21 March, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Baptism Bay City
Some churches baptize in rivers, some in cathedrals, here in CA we baptize in hot tubs. But without a caption or explanation, people will not understand either the setting or the sacrament.

I was asked to look at and critique a church website. Before I could give any useful advice or comments, I asked the person who asked me to look at the website,"What is your purpose in creating the site?"

Websites can serve many purposes from outreach to disciple-making. Each purpose takes time and few churches have time to do all of them. Because of that I didn't want to critique the site unfairly. The person who asked me to critique the site said that they wanted primarily to attract and inform unchurched people about the church.

I clicked on the site and on the home page was one of the large format of scrolling picture boxes across the top. The images displayed were of a young woman being helped out of the water of a hot tub, a close up of her smiling with a wet  t-shirt clinging tightly to her; then a shot of her as she is  hugged by a couple of  guys.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry before I commented on the website.

How images that are meaningful to us, may be confusing to others [Read more...]

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: captions for images, church website, inappropriate content for church website, Picture worth 1

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • …
  • 39
  • Next Page »
Link to Easter Templates of all sorts

Seasonal Templates

  • OVERVIEW of TEMPLATES for Church Communicators, please read first
  • Valentine’s Day Templates
  • Lenten Templates
  • Easter Templates
  • Mother’s Day Templates
  • Father’s Day and Men’s Ministry Templates
  • Graduation Templates
  • Summer-related Templates
  • 4th of July, Canada Day, and GRACE for All Nations
  • See You At the Pole
  • Harvest Festival and Halloween Templates
  • Christmas Templates

Recent Posts

  • Social media images for Easter with challenging messages
  • From our vault: Everything you need for Easter: Templates, strategy, inspiration and encouragement for all your Easter communications
  • Why just “Come to Easter at Our Church” isn’t enough–FREE invitations with short, but powerful messages
  • ESSENTIAL Christmas Communication advice and free tools to implement it
  • A Free Template of the Christmas Story and short gospel presentation based on “Hark the Herald Angels Sing!”

Most read posts

  • Father's Day Power Point Slides and Videos of inspiring quotes and verses
  • A Prayer for Graduates, Free flyer, bulletin insert
  • The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do this year—read through the Bible in Chronological order—and I'd like to help you do it
  • Q&A: How to report church financials in the weekly bulletin
  • Bulletin inserts or social media content for Father's Day; poetry, challenges, encouragements
  • Six Steps to Simple filing
  • Church Connection Cards

Misc. Church Communications Templates

  • Church Connection Cards
  • Business/Invitation Card Templates
  • Back to Church for Kids in the Fall Templates
  • Church Bulletin Template
  • Volunteer and Encouragement Templates
  • 2-page Senior Adult Print Newsletter Template
  • Misc. Church Templates
FREE Bible Verses and Sayings in both print and social media format at Bible805Images.com
FREE Bible Verses and Sayings in both print and social media format at Bible805Images.com
  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • PODCAST
  • FREE PRINT TEMPLATES

Copyright © 2025 · Enterprise Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in