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; we can help.

What About Halloween? A search for Halloween origins and how Christians should respond

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ed. note: We all struggle with what to do about Halloween as a Christian. This article is from a church communicator, Pam Finck, who was kind enough to send it to me, it is wonderful and I wanted to share it with you. Here is what she had to say.......

I’m a Christian, and I’ve been struggling with what to do about Halloween.  On one hand, I love joining in the festivities like carving pumpkins and taking my costumed children door to door for treats.  I don’t believe little children dressed up in red leotards with horns on their heads are demons, and I don’t believe black cats are bad luck or witches incarnate.

But, on the other hand, I’m concerned that joining in might be sending a wrong message to unbelievers.  It’s possible someone could get a wrong idea…like witches are cute, or that Satan is only a small problem.  I wouldn’t want to make anyone stumble (1 Cor. 10:32). [Read more...]

Special Event Connection Cards: Samples, Examples of MS Publisher Editable files, PDFs, JPGs

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For your Outreach or Bridge event to be truly successful, you need to connect with the people who come to it on an ongoing basis. These Connection Cards are one of the most effective ways to do that. Click here or on the image to download a PDF Preview of the Connection Cards that are in this file.

Below is the link to a ZIP file that has for the cards:

A PDF that is ready to print

If you like the images and wording, the all you have to do is open the PDF and print it out. Each of the images is one-quarter of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch page.

An editable MS Publisher File

Just open the Publisher file and you can edit the Connection Card in any way you like—change the wording,  image, or the color. If you are going to be doing a two-color printing of a Connection Card using a digital duplicator, I've found the easiest way to do it is to do a "Save As" of one color, e.g. for the Christmas one, Save a GREEN MASTER. Then do a "Save As" of black, e.g. a BLACK MASTER and then print each pass using each of these. This is makes it really simple. Be sure to save the combined file first if you ever want to print it on a copier or as one color.

JPG image

This is included for you to use if you want on your PowerPoint presentations, in your bulletin or however else you want to use them. You may want to tell your entire congregation via PowerPoint or in your church newsletter or website  that you have these cards and want people to encourage others to fill them out. You may want to use the images to do training of your volunteers for the event itself--whatever you need it for these images are there for you!

Below is a ZIP file that has all the materials described above.

How to open a ZIP file

Click on the link below and a box will come up asking if you want to "Open" or "Save" the file. You want to SAVE it. I recommend that you save it to your desktop so it is easier to find. The download will take a couple of minutes or more depending upon your Internet speed. Once the download is complete, double-click on the file. If a dialog box comes up, follow what it says, if not just double-click on the files and that will open the file that has all three forms of each Connection Card ready for you to use.

CLICK HERE to download the ZIP file that has the editable MS Publisher Files, JPGs, and ready-to print PDFs of these Special Event Connection Cards.

Connection card corrections for Canada and the world (ZIP FILE included) and the benefits of telling me what I do wrong

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A wonderful illustration of how the body of Christ works and of how desperately we need each other in all our communications work was gently shown me in an email I received right after I sent out my previous newsletter letting all of you know about the Connection Card Templates I'd created to inspire everyone and for immediate use for members.

Members, that is, unless they live in Canada or (and we have members in England, Holland, Australia, Puerto Rico)--for all of you I greatly apologize because I put on the cards "city, state, zip." Great for the U.S., not so much for those not living in states with zip codes. What really makes me upset with myself is that I have spent many, many days, weeks, goodness knows how much time in Canada. My grandfather was from Canada--you would think I would know about provinces and postal codes!

But I forgot.

And a very kind member from Canada reminded me that he had to change all of what I thought were ready-to-print materials.

One tiny change makes all the difference

A new file is added for members, at then end of this article with all the changes made. If you aren't a member—do consider joining, click here to find out more--it is the best $9.99 a month you will spend to equip yourself and your church.

All the files have  one very simple change, but that I will do for all the materials I make up in the future: I simply took out the "city, state, zip" and changed "street address" to simply: Address.

That should work anywhere.

If the kind pastor hadn't shared, I would not have made the change

PLEASE, please let me know if something that I do is not working for you, or if you have additional questions or need things—my goal is to serve all of you so that your churches can more effectively fully fulfill the Great Commission.

If possible—go ahead and put your questions in the COMMENT sections of the articles. That way when I answer, everyone will see the question and answer.

You can also always email me at yvon@effectivechurchcom.com if you would prefer to do that.

Most of all pray for me for wisdom to serve you and our Lord in ways that grow His church and give Him joy.

My blessings to you today!

{+}

Click here for the ZIP file of the 6 Seasonal Connection Card Templates.

Disaster recovery at ECC; foolish thriftiness; operating system updates & PageMaker disappointment

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I thought I had good computer backup systems in place so that I can serve all of folks who come to my website in the best possible way. My website is continuously backed up by a premier hosting company; my videos are all on a separate server and system; I have a separate drive on which I continually back up projects in process, but something happened this last week that I did not foresee and that could have had potentially disastrous consequences for the resources that I provide for you.

It came about in an area that I least expected—as a consequence of why I assumed was my thrifty care of computers and software. Because many of you work in churches with older computer and software, this tale will be useful for you to read; if you use PageMaker (I know not many, but a significant number of you do) it is essential reading. Regardless of your software or computer use, please consider what I learned from my recent challenges.

How my thriftiness became a problem

One of my favorite sayings from my German Mennonite, thrifty upbringing is:

Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Do without.

Though I feel this is a wise way to live in much of our lives so that we can use our resources for the Kingdom of God, in some areas being thrifty simply does not work. One of those areas is in computers and upgrades. I am in the process of recovering from major computer hardware and software failure and I’d like to share what I’ve learned in case you might be in a similar situation. The first example below concerns my specific problems with PageMaker and the XP operating system. After that is important advice on backups and upgrades.

PageMaker and the XP operating system

Here is what happened to me: I use both a desktop and a laptop computer. My desktop model is an HP computer running Windows XP with 3GB of RAM, I’m not quite sure how old it is, but I got it second-hand about 4 years ago. My laptop is an HP running Vista, it’s a bit newer, and I think maybe 3 or 4 years old.

Even though I believe in making things last as long as they can, I knew the desktop computer was approaching death and so I have been conscientious about backing up projects I was working on with it (more on that recommendation later).  I also knew that for some reason, it was the only computer that PageMaker seemed to work really well on. Not only in general functionality, but it was the only computer where I could create a PDF easily with the PageMaker files (which I have to be able to do to publish the e-books I create for you) and it was also the only machine that would run the PageMaker spell-checker.

I had problems with PageMaker on the laptop, but I assumed that was because I didn’t install it correctly.

The desktop began making loud clanking noises. I opened it up and cleaned out the dust, carefully using compressed air. It ran smoothly for a few days. Then it died a quiet death. It would simply not turn on.  I had most of my files backed up so I assumed that if is just reinstalled PageMaker on the laptop, all would be well and work would continue as usual.

It didn’t work out as planned

After days of installing and uninstalling, I realized something serious was going on. PageMaker would not function properly on the laptop. I called Adobe support and was told my software was no longer supported and they said I needed to buy new software and click, they were done with me. Because I do not have the time or money to buy and learn InDesign this week, I was in a bit of dilemma.  I have dozens of manuscripts of updated versions of e-books in PageMaker and many of them are just at the brink of being published for you. I have the on backup files….but it seemed that I didn’t have a way to finish and publish them.

I thought maybe the Adobe people were just being nasty and the problem was with the laptop computer. My first solution was that I’d simply buy a new cheap laptop and load up my PageMaker on it and get back to work. I went shopping and oh my, the pretty screens on the new systems made me want one badly. But in addition to being thrifty, I’ve learned to never buy new equipment impulsive, no matter how much I think I need it. I was praying for wisdom and I do believe the Lord put a check in my spirit so I wouldn’t buy a new system.

I decided to do some extended research. After lengthy research on the various tech forums here is what I finally found out:

  • PageMaker stopped being made as a program with PageMaker 7
  • PageMaker will not run on Vista or anything more recent
  • You may be able to install it, but many of components (a primary one being the dictionaries and the spell-checker) simply will not run on anything other than XP today and there is no way around it.
  • XP is the last operating system that will run PageMaker
  • Adobe still sells PageMaker 7 as a new program and they don’t tell you upfront (you have to read the specs carefully) that it will not run on anything past XP.

Well, that wasn’t good news. A new laptop, no matter how pretty the screen or how much RAM it might have would not solve any of my problems.  If I want to get the materials that are almost ready to go and out to you in a timely manner, I need to be able to access the files as they are on an XP system. That means I need an XP machine.

More research and I hope a solution

A friend at church said he’d give me his old computer….but it was running the newer Vista operating system (there is “old” and then there is my version of “old, but making due”).

I decided to take in my dead computer to a locally owned computer store and see if it could be fixed—maybe it was a simple solution.

The bad news is that not only had the power source died (I hoped that was all), but the motherboard (the heart and soul) of the computer was shorting out—it was dead, dead.

The good news—the computer guys are able to build me a new XP system. They can take the license from the old computer (Microsoft charges $150 for that) and apply it to the new one. I can get a very simple, inexpensive, what is now considered “low end” system, but it will be more than adequate for my needs to finish the PageMaker books.

Just because new computers don’t come with XP doesn’t mean that can’t be put into a new box and that’s what the computer guys are in the process of doing.

One more thing—RAM and upgrading your system

I know that more RAM usually means a better functioning computer in terms of its ability to handle graphics and since I’m doing a lot of videos I thought maybe I’d add some additional RAM and that would last me a good while longer.

But as I talked to them about the new system, I found out that 3MB of RAM is all that XP can handle (actually 3.25, but it doesn’t come in fractional amounts) and any more than that is a waste of money.
The videos and materials I create now have been working just fine with 3MB, so unless I greatly change my way of doing things, that should work out well for the foreseeable future.

The spiritual lessons in this situation

My first instinct is to rail against computer companies who don’t care about saving money and church people on a budget and being forced to upgrade even when what I have is working perfectly well to do what I need it to do—except when it doesn’t. And then I feel like I’m hostage to their upgrade demands that I won’t be able to do the work I need to do if I don’t buy what they force me to buy.

But we are commanded to do “all things without griping and complaining (Phil. 2:14-15) and I do know that God is in charge of all things, even computer upgrades. I also know He will supply all my needs (Phil. 4:19) as I need them for me to do the work He has called me to do.  We are also commanded to give thanks in all situations (1 Thes. 5:18). I think it is very important in times like this to remember that God is in charge of our technology and our interactions with it. We never step out of His commands for us to trust and obey Him no matter what the technology challenges.

It is so easy to think that God is only involved in the “spiritual” parts of our lives, but I think one reason that Jesus became a man was to show us that everything, every fleshy, daily, work or leisure part of our lives is under his control and is to be lived as Jesus would want us to live. Everything we go through can be a lesson to help us live as Jesus wants and to help us listen to His voice.

I am so thankful I didn’t simply rush ahead and buy a new laptop. It wouldn’t have worked; I wouldn’t have the system I needed for the work I need to do. If I hadn’t taken the time to research the problems, I wouldn’t know about the PageMaker limitation that may affect many of you also. If I hadn’t prayed and waited, I would not have experienced God’s gentle intervention in this area of my life and the growing confidence of His love and care in the midst of challenges.

Practical lessons learned

I did some things right, some things wrong, and some things I need to do more research on. Here’s some advice from these lessons:

What I did right:

  • Almost continuous backups of files. Though systems are far more stable than in the past, big crashes can still occur. I have a Buffalo 500GB backup drive continuously connected to my system that I’m working on, laptop or desktop and I try (Ok, sometimes I fail at this) backing up every project as I go along. Because I’d been doing this, the complete shut-down without warning of the desktop, was not a huge content disaster.
  • Waiting and praying before rushing out to buy a new system to solve all my problems.
  • Checking the professional forums online for solutions and suggestions.
  • Using good old MS Publisher for most of my web-based work. LOVE that program and it continues to work well to create so many church-appropriate publications.
  • Contacting a local computer store with techs who were honest and who kindly worked to find a real (and cheap) solution that would work for me instead of just selling me a new system that wouldn’t.

What I did that was wrong:

  • I did not realize how drastically an operating system affects software.
  • I incorrectly assumed I could keep using my beloved PageMaker on any system as long as my install disk could function.
  • I never checked on software compatibility with an operating system—yeah, really dumb, but it was simply never an issue before.

What I need to work on:

  • I need to do a LOT more research before I get a new system. In the coming year I want to greatly upgrade my use of video and extend of created books and CD materials. But before I get any new equipment or software, I’ll make sure they all work together.
  • I need to find out a good web-based system for backups.  Though my Buffalo drive is great and my husband has instructions that in event of emergency evacuation grab the Buffalo drive and run, it is not an infallible piece of software.

My work plans for now:

I am extremely thankful, that at least for now, my MS Publisher files seem to work on all systems.  I use MS Publisher for all the templates I make for all of you and at least for the foreseeable future, it seems like MS Publisher 2007 will continue to work on the computers I have.

I will use the newly redone XP desktop to finish the current e-books I’m working on and will then upgrade to InDesign (this is the upgraded version of PageMaker) on that computer. I will transfer all the PageMaker files to InDesign on the older computer before moving them to a new system.

***KEY CLARIFICATION: Once a book is in e-book format, available either on the www.effectivechurchcom.com Downloads Storefront, or on the www.lulu.com/yvonprehn online storefront for my books and CDs it is in a PDF format that will work on any computer system you have.

I do hope that funds will allow me to purchase a newer, more powerful computer system so that I can use Windows 7, Office 2010 and InDesign . I do try to stay in the latest decade anyway of new software, so I can be somewhat compatible with what others are using.  I will learn how to use all of these new programs by using the online learning available through www.lynda.com, the company I have recommended in the past and use constantly to keep learning new things about the computer and the software I have.

I am not an “early adapter” of new technology and am not overly thrilled about having to learn InDesign. I’ve used it some in the past. I was not impressed and was irritated by all the, what seemed to me, extra junk that PageMaker didn’t force me to deal with. But to create truly professional books with all they need in terms of typography, indexing, organization, etc., the Adobe products are a necessity. My beloved MS Publisher will do almost anything for churches well, except for long, complex, professional books.

I will continue to pray for wisdom for me and for all of you. I know it is really hard in many churches to stay updated with equipment and software and to pay for upgrades in any of these areas even when they are desperately needed.  When you are trying to juggle ministry challenges the last thing you want is to have to figure out if your software is compatible with your current computer upgrade. I am praying for wisdom to help you in all the ways I can through this website and for all of you so that with my advice or not, the knowledge of web forums or not, that you will take time in every computer challenge to pray and listen to Jesus.  Remember that in technology challenges, as in all of life:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:7

How and why to leave the office on time, part one

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed note: Gayle sent this introductory note with the article and I couldn't think of a better way to introduce the article: "My feedback from secretary friends reminds me that October is the start of so many things in the church office and the beginning of serious holiday planning. So I thought this article on avoiding/correcting burnout might be timely." How right she is—read on for ways to keep your sanity and joy in ministry  in the upcoming challenging times.


Pat is the assistant at First Church, a fast growing suburban congregation. After several routine jobs in large offices, she is delighted at the opportunity to manage on her own. The staff consists of the pastor, a part-time music director and Pat. Since she and her family are members, nearly everyone at First Church knows Pat. She quickly establishes herself as the one to call for information, help, or a listening ear.

As the congregation grows, so does Pat’s workload. Believing people are counting on her, she becomes reluctant to leave the office with any task undone. Staying late seems the logical solution.

Though she doesn’t feel good about letting things slip at home, she tells herself:

• The work is important; she owes it to the church to get it done.

• Her family will understand.

• Tasks are almost caught up; once they are, she won’t let them get piled up again.

The facts are:

• The work is important, but it is not the only important thing in Pat’s life. Nor is the work totally her responsibility. What she owes the church is her best effort during the agreed upon hours to do the tasks she was hired to do.

• Her family does understand—up to a point. Beyond that they see the disruptions in their lives as an unnecessary result of Pat’s over commitment to her work. They begin to question her motives. Does she stay busy at work so she legitimately won’t have time to do things at home?

• Pat may get things caught up, but it is unrealistic to believe they will stay that way. The nature of ministry is such that you never reach a point where there is no more to do, a point where if you stayed an extra hour you could find nothing to work on. To believe you must be absolutely finished before you leave each afternoon is to put yourself on an unproductive treadmill that will sap the joy from your service.

Pat discovers the more she does, the more there is to do. Staying late becomes the norm. Little by little the ordinary feeling of overwork everyone experiences from time to time becomes chronic with Pat. She finds herself crashing on the weekend and still not feeling refreshed for the week ahead. Problems begin invading Pat’s life. Unwilling to believe any are self-inflicted, Pat often feels helpless and misunderstood. Her body sends warning signals: frequent headaches, inability to concentrate, a loss of sense of humor. In spite of her physical and mental weariness, Pat does not sleep well.

Ignoring the seriousness of her situation and convinced she is only displaying an appropriate dedication to her job, she believes people should appreciate her efforts, not question them. Pat cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel, but it never occurs to her that it is because she is headed in the wrong direction. Letting go seems a more difficult option than hanging on. But a second year of unrelenting demands leaves Pat feeling totally disillusioned. A minor incident is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Pat decides not only to leave her job but to leave the church.

The leaving is not pleasant. The problems are serious.

Pat is experiencing burnout.

Her situation is not unique; burnout is an occupational hazard to which every Christian professional is exposed and to which many succumb—needlessly. Like Pat’s, most burnout could be avoided altogether.

At least six classic factors—all of which can be avoided—played a part in Pat’s experience. If you have been in Christian service any time at all some may seem too familiar.

• Unrealistic job expectations
Having no previous exposure to the administrative side of church life, Pat had an idealistic image of what being a ministry assistant is all about. She rightly perceived the work as ministry but mistakenly expected that ministry would always be interesting, challenging, have plenty of variety, and most of all, be appreciated.

She discovered ministry is sometimes none of the above. Ministry can mean doing the uninteresting, but necessary, things. Ministry can be far more frustrating than challenging. It is not easy to see the spiritual significance of stuffing 500 envelopes or bundling bulk mail, but that may be what ministry demands of you today.

• Unrealistic self expectations
Not only did Pat expect more from her job than it could deliver, she expected more from herself than she could deliver. In her enthusiasm to serve others Pat set standards in her quality and quantity of work that were simply impossible to meet. Striving to do everything for everybody Pat began to take herself too seriously. Placing such high expectations on herself caused Pat to give tasks way more time and effort than they were worth.

• Job saturation
Commitment to one’s work is commendable; over commitment is dangerous. You cross the line when work monopolizes your life and saturates every area of it—not with joy but with anxiety and pressure to do more faster.

Family life, friends and personal interests all disappeared as Pat obsessively gave all her time, energy and effort to her work. She could not separate her personality from her performance. Only if she did well at work did she have a feeling of self worth. Pat became her job. She was no longer herself but “The Ministry Assistant.”

• Taking on the responsibilities of others
By filling the role of rescuer to staff members Pat began to feel indispensable. She believed unless she picked up the slack for others they would not get the work done. Pat failed to realize that by permitting others to rely on her to follow through on their work, she promoted their dependence on her—and did them no real service.

• Unexamined habits
Any time you start a behavior it can easily become habitual. Because habits control as much as eighty percent of what you do, examine yours often to make sure they are serving you well. Once Pat began taking on more responsibilities than she could reasonably handle, over committing soon became a habit. Though intended only as a temporary action, given a little time, staying late became habitual as well.

If you act a certain way long enough it is difficult to change—even if you want to.

• A final factor contributing to burnout is an unhealthy desire to please.
Pat came to the church office with two misconceptions that shaped her work style.

First, she believed her job was to please everyone—which was, of course, clearly impossible. And second, she believed members and staff would openly and often express gratitude for her efforts—which didn’t prove to be the case. Wanting affirmation of others’ approval, Pat was reluctant to say no and endlessly rearranged her schedule to accommodate others. She refused to risk anyone’s displeasure by requesting help, delegating responsibilities, or taking advantage of training resources which would have pointed her in a more productive direction. Unintentionally, but effectively, Pat has set herself up for the burnout she is experiencing. Had she been forewarned she could have avoided every one of these traps.

You can learn from Pat’s experience. Think about the factors sparking her burnout as you  examine your own life—especially if you are beginning to feel a little singed around the edges yourself.

Part two of this article (notification of its publication will be  in our next newsletter) will tell you how to avoid burnout.