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.
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Reminder to send out a Christmas follow-up postcard—Because He didn’t stay a baby

27 December, 2019 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

#1MS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARD
Send out a postcard to the people who visited at Christmas to invite them back to find out more about Jesus.

Right after special Christmas or other holiday events is a prime time to invite people to come back to church to find out more about your church and Jesus.

Here is the message you can put on a card, flyer, social media content or however you want to use this message to get people to come back to church after Christmas. The headline says:

Because he didn't stay a baby. . . we want to tell you the rest of the story.

Hopefully, you collected Connection Cards at your event--now is the time to respond to them with an invitation to return. At the end of this intro is a ZIP FILE with not only the ready-to-print PDFs of all the designs, but editable MS Publisher files, hi-res images and the MS Word text file of the content.

The card here can be used in several ways:

  1. You can send it out with reminders of the regular services offered at your church. If people attended a Christmas Eve event or special event for children, that doesn't mean they have any idea about what your church does regularly.
  2. You can direct people to websites both at your church and other places that explain the Christian faith in more detail and answer their questions.
  3. You can invite them to a seeker Bible study, latte with the pastor or any other event where they can interact and ask questions about the Christian faith.
  4. It can also be left as a gospel tract at restaurants or anywhere else you leave tracts.
  5. You can take the content or the entire image and share it on social media.

Text for the card:

During the holidays you heard that Jesus was the reason for the season. You heard stories, sang songs, and got Christmas cards—all about Him.

In the middle of all that, did you ever wonder, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?” What was there about this baby that split history in two and has the world celebrating his birth?

That’s a great question and we’d love to discuss it with you. On the back of this card are some opportunities to explore this question and we hope you'll check them out.

The additional designs illustrated below are all available in the ZIP file link below the article

#3MS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARD#4MS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARD#5MS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARD#6MS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARDMS Pub Editable Because He didn't stay a baby FOLLOW UP POSTCARD

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE to download the ZIP FILE, of all the communications shown here, SAVE to your desktop and CLICK to open.

 

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Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: Christmas church communications, christmas communications, Christmas connections, Christmas follow-up, Christmas outreach

BIG Collection of Christmas Communications PDFs and Templates ready-to-modify and use

7 November, 2016 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

The video preview on this site shows a large  group of FREE Christmas PDF and Template that are ready for ECC Members to download, open and modify for your church. One of the most important benefits of ECC Membership is all this work is done for you and at very little cost. 

On this site are articles for specific Christmas communications, with more commentary about each one, but here is a collection of all the types: invitation cards, motivation flyers, Christmas evangelism, connection cards, bulletin inserts, follow-up materials.

I'm working on some new designs for this year, but many of these from previous years are quite nice and even if you used one of them, there are lots of others if you want to get a start on your church communications. The best thing about them is they are all designs you can print IN YOUR CHURCH OFFICE and that you can MODIFY however you want.

The ZIP files contain ready to print PDFs, editable MS Publisher Templates, and hi-res images. There are over 40 pieces of all kinds of Christmas communications: Bulletin Inserts, evangelism letters and brochures, invitation and business cards, postcards in quarter and half-page size and program covers.

The various kinds of communications are in coordinating designs so that invitations have matching connection cards, etc.

Following is a preview video of the designs and below that, just click on an image to download the ZIP FILE. If you are not an ECC Member. For more information on becoming a member of Effective Church Communications, CLICK HERE.

Preview of the communications that follow

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: Christmas, Seasonal, TEMPLATES Tagged With: christmas communications, Christmas invitations, Christmas outreach, editable church Christmas communications, materials for ECC Members

Don’t hide the real reason why you celebrate Christmas—communicate it!

12 November, 2015 By Yvon Prehn 1 Comment

Don't forget Jesus is the reason for the season!
Be sure to tell people about Jesus at your Christmas event, don't simply entertain them.

From our archives a useful article as you do your Christmas planning:

Many churches consider the Christmas season a huge success if they have a large turn-out at Christmas events, but sadly, many of them remind me of the line from Macbeth where he describes life as "fully of sound and fury, signifying nothing." That may seem a bit harsh, but it is tragedy to celebrate the birth of the Savior without telling people about Him. Following is a true, but sad story about one such event  and how it could be different…..

Sad, but true story of a city-wide Christmas outreach

As in all the stories I tell on the Effective Church Communication website, this is a true story, but without details, location, people, or church mentioned. I also remind people who because I look at and am passed on stories about communications from churches literally from all around the world (one of our latest members and stories came from a Pastor leading a group of churches in the Australian bush), if you think the story is about you, it probably isn't.

Here is what happened: a church in a large city decided to host a Living Nativity for their community. They were given a large lot with a winding driveway leading up to it in a location near a busy shopping area. Because of generous donations by many members (it was a moderately large, well-off church) they put on an extravaganza. There was a huge turnout every night for the week it was held. And no wonder—they put on quite a show. They had live animals, a full size inn, angel choirs, and leading up the road, Roman soldiers and shepherds in the field. They had 3 shifts of actors in full costumes and make-up. They had cider and cookies for guests as they left.

What was the one thing they didn't have?

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: christmas communications, Free Christmas communications, Jesus at Christmas

Successful Christmas Outreach Strategy

17 November, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Christmas tree
For Christmas outreach to be successful take lots of work and prayer.

For many churches, their idea of successful Christian outreach means finding and buying the best looking, professionally done postcard and then paying lots for mailing lists and a large mailing.

It doesn’t matter how great your outreach marketing piece looks, how flawless the printing, how inspired your slogan, no one piece can carry the weight of assuring a good turnout for a Christmas event. Even if you do get a good turnout, that doesn't mean that the response of the people who attend will be anything more than appreciation for a good time.

This is not to say that these things don’t matter, because they may be steps towards a connection with your church and Jesus, but the key thing to remember if you want your Christmas outreach to be ultimately successful, is that it takes many actions by every part of your church and here are some suggestions:

1. First for leaders and decision-makers in the church, spend time in prayer asking God to impress on your heart the seriousness and the privilege of our opportunities this time of year. Remember, this might be your one opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus with visitors and relatives. The eternal destiny of people can be decided at your church this holiday season. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Christmas, Evangelism & Outreach, Seasonal Tagged With: Christmas church outreach, christmas communications, church bulletins for Christmas

A solution to Christmas burnout & an inspiring communication example: the Advent Conspiracy

10 December, 2010 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

I wish I would have discovered this group sooner--I would have done much more to promote their message, but that said, having just found out about it, I could not wait to share it with all of you. It is a wonderful reminder of the real meaning of Christmas, it presents solutions AND it does them in a very upbeat, entertaining way.

Though their message is powerful, the please take time to view this little video for a unique way to share a convicting message. An article that explains the program follows. For much more information, downloadable resources and more please go to: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

note: an ECC reader just sent this link, which is a great companion to the one above: http://www.rethinkingchristmas.com/

Presents or Presence? Gifts that Matter

By Susan Passi-Klaus, from the United Methodist News Service

What if we just stop? Stop the madness. Stop the frustrating pursuit of the perfect present. Stop shopping until we drop. Stop trying to “people please” through gift giving.

What if we spend less, but give more, love more? And here’s a thought. What if we use the holidays to worship God more fully?

Those are questions posed by a grassroots group known as the Advent Conspiracy, http://www.adventconspiracy.org/.  They’ve partnered with more than 1,000 churches—more than 300 of them United Methodist—in 17 countries to change the way the world does Christmas and the way the world gives presents or . . . presence.

“We’re not trying to kill the idea of giving gifts,” said Ken Weigel, pastor of ministry development at Imago Dei Community in Portland, Ore. The nondenominational congregation is one of the founding churches of the Advent Conspiracy. “What we’re saying is that instead of buying your kid the Xbox, buy him a baseball mitt, and yourself a mitt, and actually make a commitment to your son to play catch regularly.”

Or, suggested Weigel, give a friend or family member a couple of mugs and a pound of coffee with a note that says, “This coffee is for when we sit down and talk because what I want to do this year is spend more time with you.”

Called “relational giving,” it’s an important tenet of Advent Conspiracy’s philosophy.

“We’ve got to re-examine this weird idea of saying ‘I love you equals X amount of money,’” he said. “What everyone really wants is to be loved and to have time with the people they love. Nobody lies on their deathbed and says, ‘I wish I had more toys.’”

In fact, Weigel believes it’s a relief to most people when they finally let go of their grandiose expectations of both giving and receiving over the holidays.

“Just look at Black Friday. We spent the entire day before giving thanks, and then the next day we go crazy going after things we’ve convinced ourselves we need. What if we just stopped the consumerism? What if we just said we actually have the things we really need—we don’t need another sweater or another set of screwdrivers. What if we just looked the empire of consumerism dead in the eye and said, ‘I don’t need you!’”

According to Weigel, moms often have the hardest time reining in the spending because their love language is gift giving. And dads? Well, they too often try to solve Christmas giving dilemmas with a credit card. However, parents can lead by example and model giving to kids.

“Say the family has an extra $200 they had planned to spend on a Wii, but the neighbors don’t have heat, or the homeless don’t have food, or a family at church doesn’t have Christmas gifts. Do we want to give the neighbors heat, or the homeless a few meals, or the family who is down on their luck some stuff they need . . . or do we go buy the Wii?

“Somewhere along the way, kids have got to get the message, ‘Let’s stop worshipping the idol of consumerism and actually start looking at Jesus and the gift God gave us in giving him.”

It’s about the meaning behind the giving.

This is the first year the Rev. Kevin Raidy’s congregation has collaborated with Advent Conspiracy. At Bloomfield United Methodist Church in Indiana where he serves as pastor, a large outside banner announces, “We support a conspiracy!”

“This is an awareness project for us,” Raidy said. “Meaning is lost at Christmas. Jesus was born in the simplest of settings; yet, we’ve lost the message.”

In a series of sermons and other lessons inspired by Advent Conspiracy, Raidy is driving home the message that it is not always about the gifts; it is about the meaning behind the giving.

“The Christmas ‘kick’ is starting earlier and earlier every year,” the pastor said. “There are pre-Black Friday sales, then Black Friday, then Cyber-Monday. Everyone is wanting bits and pieces of our money and our time. We can be stressed out from overdoing. We can be maxed out on our credit cards from overspending. Or we can have God’s peace that comes from giving from the heart. It’s a choice we make.”

Give more of yourself so there is more for others.

In his first Advent Conspiracy sermon of the season, the Rev. Brian Germano encouraged his congregation to spend less on gifts of excess—the filler and fluff gifts they didn’t really need—so that they could contribute to causes that make a tangible difference in the world.

On a recent Sunday at East Cobb United Methodist Church in Marietta, Ga., Germano asked his parishioners to “give more of yourselves.”

“God didn’t give us things,” Germano preached. “He gave us himself so we should give gifts that do the same—give of ourselves and give gifts that celebrate a relationship.”

“Buy one less gift,” he suggested. “And the money you save on that one less gift can then be used for gifts that matter like helping a needy family, or filling a care package for someone, or helping with a mission project.”

According to Germano, the apostle Paul talks about the use of money and possessions where our abundance can be shared with others in need so there is a balance.

“So spending less,” said the pastor, “helps us fulfill Paul’s advice to use our wealth in ways that truly make a difference in the world.”

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Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: advent conspiracy, Christmas, christmas communications

Seasonal Templates

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