Effective Church Communications

The Effective Church Communication ministry from Yvon Prehn provides inspiration, training, and resources to help your church create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. It focuses on Bible-based and timeless principles and strategies that work no matter what digital or print channel you use to create your communications. The site has links to many free TEMPLATES and other resources, plus links to free TRAINING VIDEOS, and a RESOURCE LIBRARY for church communicators. 

The Effective Church Communication ministry from Yvon Prehn provides inspiration, training, and resources to help your church create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. It focuses on Bible-based and timeless principles and strategies that work no matter what digital or print channel you use to create your communications. The site has links to many free TEMPLATES and other resources, plus links to free TRAINING VIDEOS, and a RESOURCE LIBRARY for church communicators.

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: What can happen if you work hard on your event, but don’t have time to work communications FOR the event

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Easter joy and links to free Eastertemplates Will you get the same number of people the Sunday after Easter that you have on Easter Sunday?

We know we won’t, but in Today’s podcast we’ll talk about how you can increase the response by what you do on Easter Sunday.

Today we’ll talk about…….What can happen if you work hard on your event, but don’t have time to work communications FOR the event

This is a true story.

Though the specific event discussed is Easter, the lessons learned from it can apply to any event. In addition to applying to any event, we can all identify with the situation here. The challenges of ministry are so huge, it is very easy to get overwhelmed in one area and totally forget another one. May the Lord have mercy and help us all.

In one of my seminars, at the break, a lady literally came running up the aisle to talk to me.

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” she said, “Now I understand what went wrong.” [Read more...]

PODCAST: Connection Cards—What really works best to get people back to your church after Easter is one of the least impressive things you do

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Easter Connection Cards
This is one of a downloadable set of Connection Cards for Easter. They are one of the most effective tools to make sure people come back after a special service.

Following is a text version of the PODCAST

Many churches go all out for Easter celebrations: special music, drama, free food, an Easter egg hunt or petting zoo for the kids. Though all these things are fun and may impress visitors with the ability of your church to put on a special event, there is one thing they probably won't do—get people to return to church the next Sunday. Almost every church experiences disappointment the Sunday after Easter because few of the visitors return.

It doesn't have to be this way. Following are 3 Reasons why big, special, Easter events won't get people back next Sunday. That's the bad news. The good news is that one of the least impressive things you do, the lowly communication tool of a Connection Card, can do what the big events can't. The big events might get people there on ONE Sunday, but it's the quiet link the Connect Card provides that will help them come back.

What follows is a little bit brutal, but done to shake us from our complacency. We have an opportunity to change the eternal destiny of people who visit our churches on Easter Sunday and we need to be honest with ourselves why they often don't come back.

Reason #1: Your special activities weren't very special to your unchurched audience

A painful reality check is necessary here. In the days when many people lived on farms and TV options (if you had a set) were limited to three choices, the music and special events put on by the church were a big deal in the community. In the days when no one had attended a live concert or watched a streaming one, the Living Nativity Scene (complete with animals) at church was awe-inspiring and the Easter Musical was magical.  Not so much today. [Read more...]

PODCAST: Beyond the Easter Egg Hunt—ways to involve children in Easter outreach and evangelism

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Church Bunny Invitations What are you planning for children at your church and community this Easter?

In addition to fun, have you thought about how the children themselves can be involved in Easter outreach and evangelism?

Hi, I’m Yvon Prehn and welcome to the Effective Church Communications Podcast!

I’ve got some ideas for how you can do that in today’s podcast:

Beyond the Easter Egg Hunt—ways to involve children in Easter outreach and evangelism

Following are notes from the Podcast, along with links to the free templates talked about in it. [Read more...]

PODCAST: Why just “Come to Easter at Our Church” isn’t enough in your Easter Outreach materials

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We have an opportunity to challenge people with the real meaning of Easter from the start with our invitations--this podcast has some messages you can use in your invitations and other communication resources.

What do you think it is in your Easter Outreach materials that will draw people outside the church to your Easter Services?

We know many people will visit our churches for Easter events—how can we connect them not only with the church, but with a relationship with Jesus?

I'm part of several church communication discussion groups and recently people have been sharing their outreach ideas for Easter. They all look great, but I am concerned that many of them simply say something like "Easter at whatever the church is." Now there is nothing wrong with that if you go to the church and want your people to know what time your services are being held. But there is a challenge with an invitation like that if you want to use Easter as a time to reach out to your community.

This podcast will remind you that many unchurched people have no idea why Churches celebrate Easter. They think it's all about bunnies and brunch; chocolate and Spring. We have a great opportunity from the time we send out our first invitational materials to remind them that Easter is about so much more.

[Read more...]

What Tesla can teach us about successful church marketing

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What Tesla has to teach the church about advertising
Yes, a Tesla is a great-looking car, but did you know they outsell EVERY other luxury car brand WITHOUT any advertising? The church can learn something from how they do it.

Did you know that Tesla sells more luxury cars than any other company?
I think the challenge of that question is so important, I did both a blog and article on it. Below is the podcast and then the continuation of the blog:

I was surprised when I read that statistic, but even more interested when I read how they did it. Let me share the terlerati.com comment on it, a chart that illustrates their success, and then I'll talk about how this inspired me about discipleship and church marketing. Then I've got some spiritual challenges for you and then at the end of this some practical tools you can use to put into practice to make your seasonal marketing more successful than ever.

Quickly, name one advertisement you’ve seen recently from Tesla Motors themselves? OK, name any advertisement you’ve seen from the company, ever? Tesla’s marketing strategy is as disruptive as its business model. It lets you and I advertise for them, for free. . . . . Tesla does not spend millions of dollars in a traditional ad campaign. They let you and me discuss it, rave about it, hate on it, or rejoice in the spirit of going electric in a Tesla, be the catalyst to a viral and brilliant marketing campaign. At the end of the day, Tesla advertising is free.

[Read more...]