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.

About ECC: Effective Church Communications, ministry overview & history

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Effective Church Communications (ECC) is the ministry behind the website: www.effectivechurchcom.com. ECC was founded by me, Yvon Prehn. Helping staff and volunteers who work in churches to create effective church communications is the goal of the ministry. I define effective church communication as:

Church Communication that fully fulfills the Great Commission

The Great Commission consists of the last words of Jesus to his followers:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matt: 28: 18-20).

The way I summarize the Great Commission and apply it to church communications is to define effective church communications as communication that accomplishes two purposes:

  1. To help people come to know Jesus as Savior.
  2. To help people become mature disciples of Jesus.

Because fully fulfilling the Great Commission is how I define effective church communications, though other aspects of church communication are important, they are not primary.

For example to me effective church communication may not necessarily be:

  • Cutting edge in technology
  • Perfect in design and execution
  • Always use the latest and greatest tools

Please don't misunderstand me. I love technology and am fascinated by what it can do. I greatly admire and strive for good design and execution. I don't ignore design and efficient execution, but these goals remain secondary to the vision of the Great Commission which strives to change the destinies of eternal souls.

What changes the direction of a soul is often different from what makes a secular marketing successful. From what might seem from a secular viewpoint a poorly designed, inefficiently created communication ministry that uses outdated software on barely functioning hardware, can have a tremendous effect on people. People come to know Jesus; hearts are healed; people grow in Christian maturity. God brought people to himself and grew them to Christian maturity long before the computer and web were created and He will continue to do it no matter what tools we do or don't use.

Though we have extraordinary tools today and they should be used as best we can with thanks for them, these tools and their mastery are not the most essential requirement for effective communication. (So don't feel bad if you don't have a new computer, a degree in design, and fancy software!) The essential requirement for effective communications and upon which I base my ministry is the desire to fully fulfill the Great Commission through every available communication channel.

Who the site is for:

When I'm working on materials for this site, I keep a variety of people in mind because in the church people in various positions, plus those who work as volunteers, are involved in the communication ministry. From my seminars and online interactions, here are the groups I create materials for:

  • The church secretary who wants to create quality church communications, but who doesn't have formal training in design, typography, or communication creation.
  • The church communicator who needs inspiration for a communication piece that's been done the same way since the founding of the church.
  • The pastor who has no idea where to start in dealing with church communications, especially in this computer age. When you went to seminary, the computer wasn’t even invented, let alone things like blogs and websites.
  • The pastor who grew up with computers and but doesn’t know how they mesh with a biblical view of communications or how to gently communicate with people who don’t tweet or text.
  • The trained designer who can’t figure out why church people don’t appreciate her brilliant work, who still wants to serve the church, but doesn't know how.
  • The church business administrator who must balance the budget with the communication needs of the church, if he could just figure out what they are.
  • Anyone in church communications who is tired, worn out, and wonders if all the hard work is worth it.

I put all this together with people like the ones above, people like you in mind. You have all come to my seminars. You email me; you like me on Facebook. I see your faces. I remember our conversations, your frustrations, successes and sometimes tears. I pray for you often and fervently. I want to continue our conversations on this site and start new conversations with church communicators I haven’t met face-to-face.

I believe the ministry of church communications is worth all the hard work. I do believe heaven will be different because of the work you do. I want to help make the time when we all meet Jesus one of great joy because the communications you created helped people come to know Jesus as Savior and serve Him as His disciples.

For more about Effective Church Communications and Yvon Prehn

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yvonprehn

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EffectiveChurchCommunications

YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/yvonprehn

LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonprehn

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/yvonprehn

Postscript: a historical note about Effective Church Communications

For years I called my ministry The Lions Voice—that name was inspired by this verse:

The lion has roared—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
so who can refuse to proclaim his message?
(Amos 3:8a, NIV and 3:8b, NLB)

I loved the name and it meant a lot to me. You'll still see it on some of my older material. I still legally have the name and website URL and may use it someday as the name of a publishing company.

But regardless of future use, when search engines became the primary way we find out about anything and everything, I realized that no one was going to google "The Lion's Voice" if they wanted to find out about church communications.

What to do? I decided to take my advice that I give to people for clarity in church communications and that is to listen to yourself—how do you explain things, how do you refer to ministries in your church if you are looking for a new name? When I listened to myself, I found in my seminars and writing was I was constantly challenging people to become effective church communicators. My seminars and much of the content I teach online are organized around the Five Steps of Effective Church Communication and Marketing. I define Effective Church Communication as church communication that does not stop at simply bringing people into church on Sunday mornings, but that works to “fully fulfill the Great Commission” and much of my website and ministry is about how to do that.

It seemed obvious that I needed to change the name of my ministry to Effective Church Communications. So I did the various legal things that needed to be done and the ministry has been Effective Church Communications ever since.

Ebook: What every church leader needs to know about church communications

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What Church Leaders Need to Know About Church Communications
Church leaders must be involved in the church communication process, this book shows how.

An effective church communication ministry that enables unchurched people to find Jesus as Savior and grow to mature disciples takes the joint efforts of all the church staff. Church communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission take more than a church administrator who knows how to create professional-looking publications. They require involved pastors and leaders.

Unfortunately, this involvement is rare and that lack of involvement results in less than effective communications and often frustrated church communicators. This does not mean church leaders need to know how to do church communications, but they need to understand how they are done. Leaders also need to set the vision for the goals for the communication ministry and be certain to evaluate and follow-up communication projects. This book will help your church leaders understand the need for their involvement and the limits to their communication involvement in this vital area of church leadership, management and growth.

Below is the Table of Contents for the book. The ebook is free for Effective Church Communication Members or you can buy it as an immediate download below. [Read more...]

3 reasons why you need to “put the long term ahead of another quick fix” in church communications

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Keep eternity in mind as you create your communications
The communications you create in church have eternal consequences.

The advice above to "put the long-term ahead of another quick fix" comes from an editorial in USA Today and, as you might assume, applied to the U.S. economy.

While the merits of that advice, or any other, when it comes to economic policy in any country, can be endlessly debated, the wisdom of that statement when it comes to creating effective church communications is beyond doubt. Following are three reasons why we should consider the long-term effects over quick fixes: [Read more...]

YOU CAN DO IT! all the church communications you need to do, in-house, using your people, and at low cost

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You can do it! All you need to in church communications.
You can do it! All you need to in church communications.

For your church communications, we've come a long way since the start of the digital revolution.  As we've progressed, more and more of the tasks of communication that were difficult have become easier with the development of resources that enable your church to create cost-effective and professional results, in all areas of church communications.

I've launched this website to help you;  I've got lots of resources designed to help you and more will be released on a continuing basis. I trust the information here will give you  inspiration and practical training, but overall, again, and again, outside whatever I can provide, my core message  is YOU CAN DO IT!

YOU, in your church, with your people can create all the communications you need to reach the people the Lord called you to reach and to grow your congregation to Christian maturity.

The Lord calls and gifts his people to do his work-you may not feel like, you may not want to, but no matter how quickly changing the technology, no matter how old or young you are, no matter where your church is located or how small your budget, you can do all the communications you need to win your community to Jesus and to help your people grow in their faith.

Following are expanded reasons why you can and should do your communications work in-house, in your church, by your church people.

Content is primary and should be personal

In your communication ministry periodically it's important to remind ourselves why we communicate anything at all in the church. We are doing it to fully fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus to go into all the world, preach the gospel, and make disciples. It isn't the technology that we use that is of primary importance, but the content of our message.

Though the core message of every church, salvation in Jesus, is the same for every church, every church will express the gospel in its own unique way and no one can express it better to the audience your church is called to reach than the people in your church. [Read more...]

Multi-channel communication defined and why it is important

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Multi-channel communication means making the most of every opportunity you have to communicate the gospel message.

Unfortunately this is not something most church communicators want to hear. In this time of ever-changing options for communicating in our churches, it is easy to be overwhelmed and we naturally want to simplify our communication workload. This desire is expressed by the question, “What is the best way to communicate with people today? Is it the web, email, or podcasting? Do we still need to do print? What works best to reach the most people?

When overwhelmed with channel choices, it is natural to want to narrow it down to one or two that will be effective.

I always feel bad as I answer because I know people want me to give them a simple answer and to tell them that one channel, especially if it is the one they prefer, is all they need, but I can’t do that. I can’t do that because to be effective in your church communication ministry, to fully fulfill the Great Commission, there is no one way.

Today to be an effective church communicator, you have to use every channel available to you.

It is the time of both/and, not either /or

No one channel will work because people aren’t any more alike in their communication preferences than they are in other areas of likes and dislikes. Some folks love to go online; others don’t have a computer. Some love words; others prefer images and videos. Some love to listen to podcasts; others don’t have any idea what a podcast is. Some text continuously on their mobile phones; some won’t read anything that isn’t on paper.

It’s challenging because all of folks just mentioned go to your church. We can’t simply pick out one way to communicate because the Lord has put us into a body of wonderfully diverse people and it is our responsibility to create communications that are useful for all of them.

To make this situation manageable for practical application in church communications, I’ve divided the many communication channels into three overall groups. It is much more difficult to communicate in all three channels, but I trust this section will encourage you and give you some strategic ideas how to be more effective as you work.

The three channels of effective church communication

Channel #1: Print

This channel consists of printed bulletins, newsletters, postcards, invitation cards, connection cards, instruction materials, printed matter of all kinds, sizes, and quality that we create in the church. Print, in color, black and white, and all its forms, is still one of the primary and most important ways we communicate with people today and will be for some time. Almost everyone has access to this channel.

Channel #2: Digital

This channel is the latest tool we have to communicate the gospel message and we use it in PowerPoint® presentations, the internet, our website, email newsletters, cell phone and small screen communications, and anything else that makes up the newest, latest, and greatest communication technology. This channel is still emerging, developing in new systems and tools, and is expanding constantly. Not everyone has access to this channel and speed of adaptation varies tremendously with age and socioeconomic groups.

Channel #3: People

This communication channel is often easily forgotten, but it is probably the most important in any church communication program. You can have the most beautifully designed bulletin and the most complete and functional website imaginable, but if the folks at your welcome center ignore visitors and prefer to chat with each other, if the person answering the phone (assuming a real person can be reached) is having a really bad day and takes it out on all callers, or if the members of your congregation ignore visitors, the most beautiful and cutting edge communications, no matter if they are in print or digitally presented, will be useless. People are the church—the church throughout the ages is made up of people. Our people are always the primary message delivery tool of the gospel, accessible at all times to all people.

We are living in a time of great communication transition

We need to keep this transition time in mind as we consider the various channels of church communication. A few hundred years from now, things may settle down a bit and everyone will perhaps receive messages beamed wirelessly into their brain stem in a way that can be turned on and off with the blink of an eye, but right now we are in the midst of the biggest communication revolution in the history of humanity and this revolution floods us with communication options of every kind. In practical terms this means you need to learn and grow in all areas of communication.

That is what this site is about and to help you do that, here are some more resources that discuss multi-channel communication:

In your excitement over new communication channels please read: Never forget the people who don’t have access to the easily created channels