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.

SIX TIPS to chose paper wisely for the greatest church communication impact

By 2 Comments

Paper choices for church communications
It's easy to get buried with paper choices for your church communications, but this article will help you choose what is most effective.

As we go into the holiday season, many churches are tempted to use colored papers to print brochures, flyers, newsletters and other materials. Lots of orange, brown, green and red paper will be used and though these colors might be appropriate to the season, they may not be the best to get across your message and help people show up to your events. Following are SIX TIPS on paper choice for the holiday season and year round to make for more effective church communications.

#1 Remember Readability

The most important aspect of the paper you use is how well it contributes to the readability of your newsletter or other communication. If people can't read your message nothing else really matters.

People don’t judge a holiday communication based on how fancy the paper is, what color it is or if it is slick or not. What matters is how easy is it to read. If a publication is difficult to read, today’s busy, stressed out readers will simply put it aside and won’t read it.

With these comments in mind, let's look in more detail on:

  • Paper opacity
  • Paper color
  • Publication reproduction method

[Read more...]

Fall Harvest Festival Invitations, ready for you to modify and use

By Leave a Comment

Church Fall Festival Invitation
We've got a variety of styles of Fall Festival Cards for you, check them out!

It's time to be getting out Fall Festival (of many kinds) invitations to your communities and we have a set for you!

The cards are simple enough on one side that you can use them without modification and add your details on the backside. They can be used as both invitations you give out and as postcards, you mail out.

Below is a FREE PDF Card for everyone to download and use. After that is the gallery of invitations that are available in ready-to-print PDF format as well as the editable MS Publisher Files.

Best Postcard idea EVER......

[Read more...]

Clear communications help you create volunteer recruitment and retention

By Leave a Comment

volunteer instructions
Clear recruitment and training communications make volunteer recruitment much easier.

Ed. note: last week I shared some samples of volunteer communications and this week an article I have an article for you that will help you write effective volunteer recruitment materials.

When it comes to recruiting volunteers, many churches operate on what I call the 20/80 fallacy. We’ve all heard that “20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work.” That is true in many churches, but I call it a fallacy because it does not need to be that way. We forget that statement is merely a business observation—it is not scripture.

The Bible tells us that in the church of  Jesus Christ, we are to have 100 percent involvement. We may be involved in different ways, but everyone has a job to do.

When we believe the 20/80 fallacy, the result is that the leaders of the church do all the work (and often complain about it) and the congregations sit back, watch, and expect to be cared for and entertained. The biblical models of church growth do not support this situation. In the church the leaders job is to “equip the saints to do the work of the ministry” Eph 4:11-13. Leaders are to equip and encourage. Congregations are to practice their spiritual gifts and do the work of the church.

This process will not happen automatically. We can help turn the biblical model into reality in our churches by creating clear and complete volunteer communications. Your church communications can play a vital role in the success of your volunteer programs. Here are some helpful tips on how to create successful ministry volunteer communications:

Volunteer publication planning

1. Make a list of all the jobs you’d like to have filled by volunteers at the church.

2. Don’t assume anything as you prepare to write this publication! You may know what it means to be an usher because you’ve been one for 10 years, but a new believer who might want to try welcoming people to the church may not have any idea what is involved.

3. Ask those in charge of  the jobs to fill out a form that has the following information. It is very important that information be complete and clearly written:  Job title, e.g. Sunday School Teacher, Youth Volunteer, etc. Don’t use church jargon titles that potential volunteers might not understand. For example, write something like “Grade School Age Sunday School Teacher”, not  “Promiseland servant/helper.” [Read more...]

Sample of an EFFECTIVE church calendar postcard

By Leave a Comment

church postcard sample
You don't have to be fancy to inform people about important events at church. Postcards are a great way to do it!

This isn't a fancy publication, but I think if more churches would send out something like this, the impact for the Kingdom of God would be tremendous!

I'm saying that because we know many people today for good and bad reasons (have to work or choose sports) don't always attend church on Sundays. But that doesn't mean they may not want to attend other events at the church at other times. However, in most churches, if you aren't there on Sunday, you miss out knowing what else is going on because you didn't get the bulletin. Some churches may post it online, but if you don't have access to a computer or don't bother to check out the church website regularly, you won't see it.

The wonderful effectiveness of POSTCARDS

Postcards get taken from the mailbox, read quickly and often are then posted on the refrigerator serving as a continual POSTER of what is going on at the church.

A postcard like the one below, created by Ebenezer United Church,  is incredibly effective in how it reminds people of what is going on at the church. Below is a picture, at the end of this article a download for members of Effective Church Communications. Click on the image to see the printed side more clearly and then ECC Members can download the PDF file below.

Like the example above showed, you don't have to be fancy

[Read more...]

Four guidelines for the challenge of ever-changing communication channels

By Leave a Comment

Digital composite of web pagesAt one time I thought technology would never get any better than the self-correcting typewriter and press-on letters. Now I'm learning to create HD videos and podcasts.  As I've researched video and podcast hosting and distribution systems, at times my brain felt like a jumble of data that would never sort its way into a linear path of what to do next. I'm getting it figured out, but as I'm working out the next steps, I reminded myself of four guidelines I've used in the past to encourage people to try computers and websites without losing the focus on the importance of fully fulfilling the Great Commission. These helped me and may be useful if you are facing new challenges in communication technology:

#1—Don't confuse the media with the message

The media, the tool you use to craft and share your message is and will be constantly changing. Media changes always seem overwhelming and they are often difficult to get through. The change from typewriters to computers for church office communications, from cut and paste layout to MS Publisher to create the church bulletin, from print only to the expectations of a website and social media communication assortment for every church, from flowers to adorn the pulpit to multi-media projection systems—all of these have taken place in the recent experience of the church. The challenge is not only in learning how to use them, but to not allow the demands of the technology to overwhelm the priority of your message. Technology can be extraordinary demanding, but it must never be your North Star. Every person, every church has a North Star which guides all your communications whether you are conscious of it or not. The only appropriate North Star for the church communicator is to fully fulfill the Great Commission—to help people come to know Jesus as Savior and to grow to maturity in Him. The media is not our message—our message is our message. If our eye is on the goal of sharing Jesus truly and completely and growing followers into disciples , if that is the core of our message, though there are many parts of it and many steps in sharing it, we won't be thrown off course when new tools appear. [Read more...]