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.

Fall Event Registration Cards to make sure people come back to church after your outreach event

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Fall Event Registration Card
A registration card like this for a door prize will help you get in touch with people after your Fall Outreach Event.

Fall outreach events typically get large turnouts from your community and here is a tool that will help bring them back to church after the event.

More than a connection card, which people have little reason to fill out at a fun, outreach event, this card is a REGISTRATION for a DOOR PRIZE.

For fall you might fill a big pumpkin with lots of candy and other goodies or a basket of local treats. Do something that is colorful and impressive and have it at a table as people come in, consider using eye-catching table runners, at CV Linens you can find table liners cheap products. Invite them to fill out the card for a drawing. Don't make them have to stay for it if you are doing the drawing at the end of the event and you'll get more cards filled out.

The content on the card is designed for unchurched people and here is what it says:

We are so glad you’re here! Please take a minute to fill out this card so you can be entered into our door-prize drawing and so that we have a record of your attendance and a way to contact you about future events for your family. Be assured this information will not be shared or used outside the church office and you can have your names removed from the list at any time by calling the church office.

It lets them know you will be contacting them again, assures them it is for church use only and lets them know they can have their name removed from your list at any time. At the same time you get all the information you need to follow up with social media or postcards.

Below are a set of designs FREE and are ready to download, print, and use.

The ZIP file below contains a ready-to-print PDFs, editable MS Publisher files and jpeg files of each design. If you aren't a Member of Effective Church Communications, you won't be able to see the download. CLICK HERE for Membership Information or to sign up.

CLICK the link following to download the ZIP FILE for Fall Registration Cards: Fall Event Registration Cards

Essential website housekeeping and updating for Fall

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Cleaning up your website
You wouldn't go for years without cleaning your car or your house. Be sure your digital church life is as tidy as your physical church.

Just like we often clean the house before a special event, we also want our digital church home to be tidy. With your website and social media, going into fall is a good time to make certain that essential house-keeping tasks are taken care of for your website. Though not as exciting as creating special materials for special events, these tasks are essential for a church to have the most basic credibility. Some of these  for social media overall include:

Updated and complete bios of your staff

People want to know who your leaders are their background, education, why they do what they do. In an age when almost all business leaders have Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts and almost everything else you can imagine for maximum exposure, for your church leaders to not have at least an updated and complete bio on your website does not communicate a positive image of your staff.

Updated links to staff blogs, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

Visitors today expect to get to know church leaders through social media. If the church leader is not able to do this for him or herself, as is often the case when the leader is a baby-boomer who went to seminary before the days of the personal computer, assign a "web buddy" or editor, or co-writer to update or create this content. This is a wonderful expression of how we can serve and support one another in the church. It is important to be honest about this. This is also a good time to drop links if the staff person isn't using them.

Church Facebook pages should be more than photo albums

Yes, it's very nice to have pictures of your latest fun event, but if you don't also have some commentary about what's going on, why you do what you do, and have comments that make it clear the material is for people outside the church, your church Facebook page will look like an insider photo album only for the people already attending. In the same way that you need captions for pictures for them to make sense to anyone besides the person who takes them, you need captions on the Facebook images you share.

Your website also needs some house-keeping and following are some suggestions for that:

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Summer ministry opportunities—ideas from many churches

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Summer outreach
There are so many fun festivals your church can do to reach out to your community. Pick one from this article and do it!

Communicating with scores of ministry assistants throughout the country, I’ve learned many churches are using the exceptional evangelism and fellowship opportunities of the season to full advantage. Said one, “God’s work through our church does not take a sabbatical when it gets hot out.”

Some of their summertime activities:

  • Mega yard sale. All church members contribute; the community is invited; church music provided; free lemonade; brochures about church activities distributed; members mingle.
  • Day trips for parents and kids. Church bus used to take group to art museum, zoo, and other local attractions. On the ride: skits and sing-alongs.
  • A huge sprinkler party on church grounds each Saturday. Teens hand out flyers throughout the close neighborhoods—along with free snow cones—on the Wednesdays before.
  • Dads and kids cook out and camp out at a local park. Extra “Dads” are provided for kids whose parent is not available. Our church member Dads circulate and make sure everyone feels connected.
  • Outdoor tournaments. Softball, volleyball, horse-shoes, basketball, bocce—all can be organized as tournaments. Members serve as coaches, making sure everyone gets an opportunity to compete.
  • more......

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Make the most of your Father’s Day Connection Cards

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Make the most of Father's Day Connection Cards by including options for information on ministries related to men.

The selection of Connection cards that follow for Father's Day includes some cards that not only have the standard information on them, but that give men the opportunity to request information about ministries that may be of interest to them.

These include: Service Projects, Men's Group, Habitat for Humanity Build, and Children's Ministries. Having these on the card is one way of advertising these ministries that men may not even know go on at the church. In addition, asking on a card directed primarily to men on this Father's Day that includes asking for information about children's ministries, lets men know that the church is aware that many men today participate actively in child-rearing. More men than many churches are aware are single dads and greatly appreciate it when a church is aware of this and actively works to minister to them.

Below the gallery of Connection Cards for Father's Day below is a link to download a ZIP file that has ready-to-print PDFs and editable MS Publisher files.

To download the ZIP files that contain the MS Publisher and PDF files, click on the following link: Fathers Day Connection Cards

Men’s Ministry Business Cards you can modify and adapt

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Men's Ministry Business Cards
One of the business cards you can use to launch or advertise your Men's Ministry.

Father's Day is a great time to kick-off or start a Men's Ministry and the following cards may be useful for inspiration if you are just starting or want to try something new.

On the opposite side of the card you can have your meeting times and work or service projects listed. These are business card size and are great for you to make up enough of them to give them to the men of your church to use as invitations to neighbors or the men they work with.

Below are pictures of the cards and below that is a link for a ZIP file that has both ready-to-print PDFs and editable MS Publisher files. CLICK HERE for more about the Templates and to see others available.

To download the ZIP files that contain the MS Publisher and PDF files, click on the following link: Men's Ministry Business Cards

For a very useful and challenging article on starting a Men's Ministry, please read this: Dos and Don'ts to a successful launch of a men's ministry