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.

Organizations to support, in obedience to the book of Amos and Matthew 25:31-46

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There are many great ministries doing wonderful things in our world today. Here are some we support.

In a recent lesson for my Bible805 ministry, in going through the Bible I did a lesson on the book of Amos. The book is both a scathing inditement of the religiously active, but morally bankrupt Israel of the prophet's day and a challenge to all of us to be sure that our lives reflect the compassion and justice of God.

Many can do things personally, but many cannot but most of us can give something to support organizations who are doing incredible things for the Kingdom of God. Below are some of the organizations I recommend. Just click on the name to go to a description of what they do, their website, and my comments about them.

These are just a few of the many that are doing wonderful things—I also HIGHLY recommend that you go through your denomination when looking who to support. Many of the larger ones have reputable, long-established aid organizations.

Your local food banks, the prison ministries of your church, and outreach to the homeless and less fortunate, all of these need our help and support.

I encourage you on your church website and periodically in your handouts or bulletins provide a list like this and encourage your people to give generously to the many ministries that serve the "least of these."

Ministries Recommended by Yvon Prehn and Effective Church Communications

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Introducing the Effective Church Communications Library! A 24/7 online resource for church communicators

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Over the many years I've worked in church communications, the materials created in Effective Church Communications have helped many church communicators grow their churches in numbers and their people in spiritual maturity.

To make these materials accessible, I'm in the process of building the Effective Church Communications Library. There is MUCH more I am going to be adding to it and telling you about, but I wanted to get an initial video on it out to you. Here it is:

To go to the ECCLIBRARY, Click the following link: https://www.payhip.com/ECCLibrary

Again, much more about this is coming!

One incredibly helpful thing is that we will be collecting the fantastic articles Gayle Hilligoss wrote over the years for church administrators into eBooks. I'm personally very excited about how this will equip one of the most hard-working groups in the church.

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

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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

 

Free excerpt of the ebook Halloween, a great time for evangelism

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Halloween & Fall Festivals
This book has articles and advice on how to make the most of this time of year for evangelism.

One of the core teachings of Effective Church Communications is that we can take any seasonal celebration and use it as an opportunity to share the gospel.

It might seem that one of the more challenging holidays to apply that teaching is Halloween but in reality, it is one of the easiest ones. That's because this is the one time of year when people are thinking about the afterlife, of life after death. Granted the secular view of this is distorted, but it does make a great bridge to a discussion about the reality that we are eternally existing souls.

Most people believe they will live forever, but the question is, if we are going to live forever, what neighborhood will we live in?

Halloween acknowledges there is a neighborhood of hellish horror and evil. Though people might make fun of it, they can't help but wonder what truth there is to the existence of demons and everlasting punishment. Along with that is the almost universal belief or wish, if you will, of an afterlife of light reunited with loved ones.

But how can you be sure?

Halloween gives Christians the opportunity to share why they believe that Jesus is the only Savior who conquered death and who can give us eternal life and peace and a home in the neighborhood of joy if we trust Him as Savior.

The book, Halloween, a great time for evangelism is filled with ideas, tips, plans, and communications that will help you do that.

For a free download of an excerpt of the book, click the following link: Pages from Halloween & Fall Festivals

The complete book is part of the Effective Church Communication Library; click the following link to sign up for the ECC Library and download it: https://payhip.com/b/mqoWE

See You at the Pole—challenges for the church to pray—bulletins, flyers, social media images

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Pray for our students while they pray at the pole
Though the pray at the pole is an event organized by and for students, we can pray for them. Here are social media images and printable flyers to help you do that.

Let’s be honest, it would be terribly scary to pray in public around the flagpole of your school. But that is what the organizers of See You at the Pole are hoping that thousands of students will do on Wed. Sept 22, 2021. For one of the previous years, the organizers of the event challenged churches with this:

Did you have the courage as a teenager to meet early one morning outside your school and pray?

Would your courage be strengthened if you knew a group of adults had planned, prayed, and supported you in every way possible for weeks leading up to this day?

Though the organizers of See You at the Pole are adamant and rightly so, that the events of the day should be totally student-led and student-organized, those of us adults who love the students in our churches and communities can support them by prayer. We can pray that they are brave in identifying as people who believe in God, fearless in sharing that prayer is important, and that God uses their prayers to help bring many to know Jesus.

At the end of this post are files of social media images and printable flyers or bulletin insert images you can download and use to inform members of your congregation about what the students will be doing and to remind them to pray for the students while they are praying for their world. [Read more...]