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.

Yvon Prehn's Church Communication Blog

The Bible tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, (Luke 6:45)” or as the J.B. Phillips translation puts it “For a man’s words will always express what has been treasured in his heart.”

My goal in these blog entries (actually in all of the ECC Ministry, but particularly here) is to give your heart and mind a biblical viewpoint and foundation in church communications, so that your communications, whatever form they take, will reflect God’s Word and not primarily secular marketing or current cultural views, fears, or attitudes.

I used the word “primarily” quite intentionally in the previous statement because though we learn from secular marketing and contemporary culture, these influences should not be primary in our work. The primary influence on our work is God’s Word. God’s Word informs the Effective Church Communication ministry in our goal, which is to help church communicators create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission.

Learning from, observing, and sharing other sources, while staying true to a biblical perspective and providing useful commentary is a challenging path to walk. No doubt I will often make mistakes, but to serve you in this way is my goal in these blogs.

Don’t work like Amazon this holiday season–make room for joy!

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Free templates to make you happy
This season and always let's encourage each other as we work for the Lord!

I just finished reading an article by Gerry McGovern on the brutality of some modern companies in pursuing customer satisfaction at the cost of worker's mental and physical health and safety. Though we can do little to control how secular companies treat their workers, I was challenged with how we view work in our churches and ministries.

Yes, we all want to work hard for the Lord and in advancing His Kingdom, and yes there are times when we might push ourselves especially hard. This last week for me was filled with communications to be created for Sunday, a lesson for a Sunday School Class, Christmas decorations, preparing our home to host our Sunday School Brunch/party and doing all the cleaning, cooking, and shopping for that. It all got done and then I took a 2-hour nap.

It was fulfilling and good, but to push like that continuously isn't a good thing. I remind myself that Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

It is a tricky balance between working hard for the Lord in ways that are pleasing to Him and thinking WE have to carry the entire load. We need to pray for wisdom and insight in these areas.

We also need to be careful about the guilt and burdens we place on others. If church staff members or volunteers are overly stressed with their workloads,  we might need to adjust our expectations, add time or resources or recruit additional volunteers. Our success in our communications or outreach at Christmas or any time of the year is not dependant on how hard we work but on the blessings of a Savior who can move hearts and change lives with the most humble of communications or services we produce.

We don't work for a brutal employer who primarily cares about the bottom line, but for a Savior who gave his life for us and who walks with us and we live for Him.

My contribution to your sanity

Let me carry some of your load for you. I have dozens of free templates for you to help you get out the true message of Christmas, connect with visitors, and encourage church members. They are in downloadable PDF formats and many are ready-to-print as is. Items such as connection cards, cards that remind people that Jesus didn't stay a baby, and a gospel presentation based on Hark the Herald Angels Sing, all are ready for you with a simple click and download. CLICK HERE to go to the Christmas Templates and scroll through the many items for you.

In addition, most are also in editable PDF format, so you can personalize them or change any of the headlines, etc.

Please pass on this resource to your fellow church communicators.

 

If you’ve got your church communications totally under control this isn’t for you, if not—read on!

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Overwhelmed with Church Communications
Sometimes I feel like I can't ever catch up or measure up as a church communicator--but here is how I've decided to help us all accomplish what God called us to do

I like to keep up on what’s happening in church communications through online groups and email news, but sometimes it discourages me more than helps me.

I got a major dose of that today when I was reading raving reviews and recommendations about Affinity Software (So easy to use! Cheaper than Illustrator!). And then I read about how you had to start streaming your church service and install online giving in your church before Giving Tuesday.

Please do not misunderstand—if you are a designer who thinks Affinity Software is easy to use and want to create advanced designs—go for it! It didn’t look very easy for me to use when I checked it out, but that’s just me and I did have to smile as I remembered the original Serif software the company created years ago. They have certainly changed. I thought it was too simple years ago and now it seems overly complex for practical church communication tasks.

If you’ve got time to set up a streaming service (more ways to share the gospel, what’s not to love about that?) or install online giving (that’s the one thing I hope every church implements at some time—because giving does go up, again), go for it!

But if you are like me, you already feel overwhelmed by the holidays and don't have time for all that

[Read more...]

PLEASE let people know ahead of time about regular special offerings

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Don't surprise people with special offerings!
If you surprise people with special offerings, you may not get the response you'd like--take time and remind them ahead of time!

Many churches have special offerings that they take up regularly. Though the staff in the church office can tell you all about them in their sleep, they often come as a surprise to church members and because of that, the church does not get the response they hoped for. Below is a note I got from a frustrated church member that I wanted to share with you.

Identifying details in the short message that follows and in all the true church stories I share are hidden so as not to ever embarrass any specific church.

They did it again! Every month my church takes up an offering for special needs in the city. I really want to donate to this, but I can't keep track of when they are going to do it. Also, though I do all my regular giving online, for this offering they expect you to put real money or a check in an envelope that they enclose in the church bulletin. They always make a big deal out of it in the church service, but I imagine I'm not the only one who has to plan ahead to bring cash or a check. It always puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the service. Why can't they send out a message in the weekly church email that they send out every week letting me know this was happening? How can I nicely let them know?

I told the person that a nice email or note sent and kindly and letting them know how much you wanted to give, but needed to plan ahead and if they could put a short note in the weekly email newsletter that would probably work.

For the church office

Whether you get a note like this or not, please remember that what is sometimes a special, continuing project or ministry for the church staff is often not something that your congregation remembers. Please be helpful and send out a reminder in your weekly email newsletter, Facebook, social media or however else you contact your congregation.

In addition, remember to give short updates about what the money is going for because people might not have any idea what "City Service Outreach" is all about. They may not know that it goes towards job retraining programs and special fun times, such as children's birthday parties for people living in homeless shelters.

A short story and a reminder when you will be taking up the offering will no doubt greatly increase your response. The help to people and ministries will who need it is more than worth the time it takes to write and communicate a reminder.

Who are you inviting to your church events? Would the guest list please Jesus?

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Targeting a specific audience may seem like good marketing practice, but it isn't what Jesus asks us to do.

One of the most horrifying memories I have of a church leader is when he told me and my husband, who was the Single Adult Pastor at the church, that we needed to be “targeting young professionals more” because those were the types he wanted coming to the church.

He would have been appalled I’m sure, had he come to a party at our home that included (in addition to some “young professionals” because we didn’t want to discriminate against them) a number of homeless people, an exotic dancer, and addicts of various substances, plus many of what might be termed ordinary singles.

We didn’t follow his advice for our party or our ministry. Our group was made up of a large variety of people and everyone was welcome, not just at that party, but all the events of our Single Adult Group.

I hadn’t thought about that situation in years, but was recently reminded of this verse:

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. Luke 14:12-14, ESV

As I thought about it, I wondered how many of our churches actively invite people outside our “target” group, people who can contribute little to the church, who don’t look like us or smell like us, who may be more trouble to the church than a positive contribution to our bottom line or image.

We might make certain groups objects of ministry—but how often do we honestly and actively invite everyone to join in? [Read more...]