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.

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...]

The different preaching styles of Peter and Paul and why it matters for Easter follow-up

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CLICK on the image to download the FREE ZIP file that give you a PDF and an editable MS Publisher file of this handout to help people explore the Christian faith after Easter.

When people come to your church at Easter for some of them it may be the first time they hear that Jesus died on the cross so they could be forgiven of their sins and be at peace with God. This is not an easy message to understand if you have not grown up in the church. That's why using these bulletin inserts (now postcards or social media) that encourage them to continue an exploration of the Christian faith is so important.

The Apostle Paul preached to an audience with much in common with many of the people who will come to your church this Easter. They were part of a world that held many religious beliefs; they may have even heard of Jesus. But again and again you find the same pattern in the book of Acts—Paul would preach a sermon, but then he followed it with extensive discussions as Acts 18: 4 tells us: "every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." He didn't just preach and leave, he reasoned, he taught, he got into arguments and debates. [Read more...]

Resurrection Cookies, a Free recipe that will teach children and parents about Easter, and it’s something you can do at home now

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Res Cookie Bunny Verstion
Resurrection Cookies are a wonderful way to remind both children and parents of the real meaning of Easter--the Resurrection of Jesus. Plus it's a fun and yummy project!

For a great strategy to teach children about Easter, involve parents, and provide an outreach tool, NOTHING beats Resurrection Cookies.

When you make the cookies, you visually illustrate Jesus suffering, burial, death and resurrection. Because you are doing it with cookies, it is much less intimidating for people who don't go to church to be involved with it.

In other years you can do this with friends and neighbors. This year with everyone staying home it is a wonderful activity for a family.

Below are pictures of a variety of designs for the Recipe. To see larger images of the pages, click on the first image and a larger slide show will come up. The file below them has both PDFs and MS Publisher files for you to download.

Various designs for Resurrection Cookies:

To download the Resurrection Cookie File, click the following link: Church Bunny Resurrection Cookie Files

Later in this article is the text for the handouts, including the introduction, recipe, and Bible verses if you choose to create your own verses of the handouts or if you want to put the material on your website or in a church newsletter. You have my permission to use it freely. The text is the same for all of them—choose a style that suits you best or use the text below to create your own version. [Read more...]

FREE Door Hangers for Valentine’s Day Outreach, plus why they work so well for outreach including 5 reasons you may not have thought of before!

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Valentines Door Hanger Templates
Door hangers are an effective and low-cost way to reach your community with a reminder of God's love.

Door Hangers continue to prove themselves as a low-cost and effective way to increase awareness of your church and invite your neighborhood. Below are TEMPLATES for Valentine's Day that remind people that God loves them. The Templates have room for you to personalize them for your church. In addition, on the back of the door hanger you can include more information about your church and/or invitations to specific events.

Following the images is a downloadable ZIP file that contains PDFs of the images and editable MS Publisher files.

After the images are excerpts from the article "Five Secrets to Door Hanger Marketing" that will give you added incentive to create this form of communication for your community. It will give you some useful ideas on how to use this inexpensive tool.

Combine distributing the door hangers with a Prayer Walk for your community

Distribute them in teams of two and pray specifically for the people in the homes, the neighborhoods, that God would touch hearts and make them open and willing to connect with your church and hear the good news about Jesus. Door hangers are a tangible way to advertise and walking the community to distribute them and pray is a much more personal and involved way to do outreach than impersonal Facebook or other digital advertising. I'm not saying local Facebook or other digital advertising is bad, but our outreach needs to get out from behind the computer periodically for maximum impact.

Door Hangers to personalize for your church for Valentine's Outreach

To download the ZIP file of the door hangers, click the following link:  MS Pub Valentines Door Hangers [Read more...]