Effective Church Communications

Communication is one of the most challenging church ministries because it is often the gateway to the entire church. To do it effectively requires more than the latest images, social media, and technology tips.

You need a timeless strategy, inspiration, and Biblical challenges that work no matter what tech tools and channels you use, the size of your church or age of your audience. You'll get them in the Effective Church Communication Podcast.

PODCAST: Strategy for Summer Communications

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Summer Communications
The summer communications from our churches should be clear and kind and this podcast will give you some tips on how to make them more effective.

Whoever wrote that song, "Summertime and the livin' is easy" did not work in church communications.

The pace and type of activities change in the summer, but with Bible camps and special events, there is a lot of work to be done.

Hi, I'm Yvon Prehn and welcome to the Effective Church Communications Podcast.

In our podcast today I'll give you some tips for more effective summer communications. CLICK HERE for FREE TEMPLATES of communications that you can use for effective outreach this summer.

For the original article that forms the basis of this podcast, go to: https://wp.me/pDky9-7pK

ECC PODCAST: Father’s Day—Beyond celebration—how to make the ministry most of it to grow Dads spiritually

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It's easy to look at Father's Day as just another holiday to do up a special bulletin and social media for and to say a few nice things about Dads during the church service. But did you know you can do so much more as communicators for Jesus?

We need to constantly remind ourselves in the crush of trivia and distraction that our job is not to be a holy version of Hallmark where our goal is to have the most appealing Father's Day social media and PowerPoint ever, but that our primary job in communications, as in all of life if we are followers of Jesus, is to grow as his disciples and to share his message of salvation—in other words, to fully fulfill the Great Commission. Below is our podcast where we explain how Father's Day can be used to grow men in their faith and following the podcast are notes from it and links to the resources mentioned in it.

You might wonder why a church communication article starts out by reminding you of the importance of discipleship, but as followers of Jesus that is the most important aspect of our lives and our work as church communicators is simply the arena in which we carry it out.

Ephesians 5:16-17 reminds us of this and challenges us in this way:

So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to.

At Effective Church Communications, my goal is to remind you to "make the most of every opportunity for doing good" and to give you practical opportunities to do that. [Read more...]

PODCAST: Mother’s Day–Make the Most of the Untapped Potential for Evangelism and Outreach

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Mothers Day Outreach opportunitiesWhen we think about Mother's Day we think about doing special things for the moms in our churches and that's wonderful, but we can do something for them that makes flowers and chocolate pale in comparison.

We can help their kids and spouses who may not know Jesus have an opportunity to hear about him and connect with the church to find out more. But to do that, we need to realize that Mother's Day has the big attendance it does (just behind Easter and Christmas) not because of all the moms who are there because they are there every week or because random moms show up for the goodies. The visitors on this day are unchurched children and spouses who show up to make mom happy and we need to tailor the message and what happens that morning with them in mind.

This PODCAST talks about how to do that and the FREE TEMPLATES at the following link will give you the tools you need: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/templates/mothers-day-templates/

You can listen to the PODCAST below and you can sign up for it on iTunes or many other podcast sources.

PODCAST: Make it OK for visitors to reject Jesus at Easter

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If you have done a good job at outreach and you have lots of unchurched visitors on Easter, make it easy for them to connect and continue to answer questions.

What are your expectations for Easter at your church? Especially for those that are visiting for the first time and who may be totally unfamiliar with the Christian faith?

In answer to that question, I'd like to propose that you Make it OK for visitors to reject Jesus at your Easter Service and in our podcast today I'll tell you why.

Before you consign this podcast and the blog that goes with it to me being a total heretic who thinks  "everybody gets saved in the end, no matter who or what they believe in" —be assured nothing could be further from my intention. I take very seriously the truth that if people do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ (and only Jesus Christ, no other savior) they will spend eternity in endless suffering separated from God. That's why I want to share 5 reasons why you need to make it OK for visitors to reject Jesus at Easter.

Be assured, we won't stop at their rejection, but I'll give you suggestions on how to move that rejection into exploration and ultimately acceptance. While you are planning ways to invite people and your PR for Easter, keep these ideas in mind and realize that Easter is just the start of a relationship with unchurched people.

As you begin, you probably need to lower your expectations on getting a significant spiritual response from guests at Easter. Yes, you plan and work to perhaps get a great response in numbers, but in our post-Christian world today, it takes time to make a spiritual impact.

Don't be surprised, shocked, or upset if visitors don't immediately respond to the gospel message you present at Easter and remind yourself and your congregation that this is a natural rejection to any new and challenging thought. Following are some observations and suggestions that will help you respond positively that will ultimately help people accept Jesus as Savior. [Read more...]

PODCAST: Was Jesus a Zombie? Consider this question before you finalize your Easter Sermon

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Jesus is AliveWas Jesus a zombie? Please understand, there is no irreverence or shock value intended with this question. It was an honestly asked question from someone who was totally unfamiliar with church.

After I got over my shock of being asked this question (and a short time later I was asked it from someone else), I did a podcast that coincided with Halloween, but I think it is also appropriate for the Easter Season so I am re-recording it for Effective Church Communications.

The rest of the podcast is primarily directed towards people outside the church, but I'm sharing it with church communicators and I hope with Pastors and those who prepare sermons for Easter to help you remember that if you did a good job on outreach to get unchurched people to come to your church for Easter, you need to think carefully about the audience you'll have. Many more people than those of us who grew up in the church can imagine did not grow up with ANY exposure to the church or the Bible. The implications of that reality are vast. You can't count on them knowing anything about the true story of Jesus, but they will come into the church with many pop culture ideas about life after death. I can't tackle them all, but now I'd like to tackle just one aspect of it—the question of........

 

Was Jesus a Zombie?

When you think about it calmly, if you are someone who doesn't go to church regularly, it really is a very good question because the only conception many people have today of a person who has come back from the dead is a zombie. So when someone hears Jesus came back from the dead, that's immediately what they think about. Easter is all about Jesus coming back from the dead, but as we'll see in the podcast today, how Jesus came back from the dead is very different from coming back as a zombie.

So what do we know about Jesus coming back from the dead?

[Read more...]