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.

Free Kindle Download for Church Connection Card book (and it can be on your computer)

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Church Connection Cards
Connection Cards are an essential step to connecting with visitors, growing your church and pastoring your people. This book is invaluable to help you do that.

I'm in the process of updating a number of the Effective Church Communication books, but while I'm doing that I want you to have access to the useful materials in them.

One of the most helpful books (according to reader feedback) and by far my best seller has been this book on Connection Cards. The current print version does not have good resolution of images, but since I can give you images and templates on this website (CLICK HERE for some Connection Card Templates), the basic content is what is most helpful.

I put that into a FREE KINDLE download--go to the amazon page HERE to get it.

Don't have a Kindle? You can read it with an app for your computer—below are directions on how to get it.

Check out the directions below to download the Kindle app for your computer

VERY IMPORTANT TIP: Get the app for your computer for a great aid in preparing lessons or reading any Kindle book.

When I am preparing a Sunday School lesson or Bible blog (for my www.bible805.com) I like to consult and quote Bible reference books. I have a number of them in the Kindle version. What is handy is when you have it on your computer you can cut and paste into MS Word files—so much easier than typing long quotes.

Connection Cards: church service distraction or great ministry tool?

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Connection cards, are they a great tool or church service distraction?
Connection cards, are they a great tool or church service distraction--please share your comments.

I recently received the following email (only slightly edited for privacy) with a practical ministry question about Connection Cards and how to avoid the time filling out the cards and collecting them more than an awkward break in the service. Following the email, I have some advice, but PLEASE add your comments and practices in the comment section that follows.

Question about Connection Cards

I have a question or two concerning having the whole congregation fill out connection cards during the service time. I know you believe this a very important part of the Sunday morning church service. I have read several church leaders that agree.

I am Director of Administration for our church and have approached our Senior Pastor about doing this. He has been the pastor for 25 years so he is a very experienced pastor. When I first mentioned us possibly doing this he said he could not imagine having a break in the service where pretty much everything comes to a standstill while hundreds of people fill out these cards. He said he would think it would be a real "flow" breaker if you know what I mean...however he cares more about doing what is best for the body of our church than not wanting to try something new. So, he is willing to give this a try but I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask you so I will have more information to approach him with...

What would you estimate the time to be to complete these cards? Each service would have around 200 people in it....Would you estimate 2 or 3 minutes or something much shorter like 30 seconds?

Also, when other churches do this do they have something going on at the same time or does everything come to a standstill while they are being filled out?

My answer

[Read more...]

PODCAST: Connection Cards—What really works best to get people back to your church after Easter is one of the least impressive things you do

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Easter Connection Cards
This is one of a downloadable set of Connection Cards for Easter. They are one of the most effective tools to make sure people come back after a special service.

Following is a text version of the PODCAST

Many churches go all out for Easter celebrations: special music, drama, free food, an Easter egg hunt or petting zoo for the kids. Though all these things are fun and may impress visitors with the ability of your church to put on a special event, there is one thing they probably won't do—get people to return to church the next Sunday. Almost every church experiences disappointment the Sunday after Easter because few of the visitors return.

It doesn't have to be this way. Following are 3 Reasons why big, special, Easter events won't get people back next Sunday. That's the bad news. The good news is that one of the least impressive things you do, the lowly communication tool of a Connection Card, can do what the big events can't. The big events might get people there on ONE Sunday, but it's the quiet link the Connect Card provides that will help them come back.

What follows is a little bit brutal, but done to shake us from our complacency. We have an opportunity to change the eternal destiny of people who visit our churches on Easter Sunday and we need to be honest with ourselves why they often don't come back.

Reason #1: Your special activities weren't very special to your unchurched audience

A painful reality check is necessary here. In the days when many people lived on farms and TV options (if you had a set) were limited to three choices, the music and special events put on by the church were a big deal in the community. In the days when no one had attended a live concert or watched a streaming one, the Living Nativity Scene (complete with animals) at church was awe-inspiring and the Easter Musical was magical.  Not so much today. [Read more...]

2016 Connection Cards for your Christmas events!

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FREE Christmas Connection Card
Connection and Feedback Cards are one of the most important publications you can create for the Christmas season because it gives you a way to reach out to people who visit at that time. CLICK on this image to download your free card.

One of the most important things to do at your Christmas events if you want them to be a lasting success is to connect with the people who attend and have a way to reach them in the future. One of the best ways to do this is through Connection Cards and we have a NEW set of them for you.

You can also call your cards "Feedback Cards" as this might be a more contemporary term if you are reaching out to unchurched people.

There is a free PDF of one for everyone (the image to the left) and then below we have a set of them if you'd like more options. CLICK HERE or on the image to download the FREE card.

In addition to the PDF version of all the ones illustrated below you will also get the editable MS Publisher file and jpeg images of them.

Here are the designs included:

To download your copies

 

Click on the link that follows to download the 2016 Connection Cards ZIP file: 2016-connection-cards

 

Christian Post interviews Yvon Prehn about How to get people to come back to church after Christmas and Easter

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How to get people back to church
Lots of people attend church for holiday events--here is advice to get them to come back on a continuing basis.

How to get the people who come to church on Christmas and Easter to return and to begin to attend on a regular basis is one of the biggest challenges for churches. The holidays offer great opportunities for people visit the church, but attending church twice a year seldom results in any significant spiritual decision or life-change.

For ideas on how to change that with suggestions from Ed Setzer of LifeWay and Yvon Prehn of Effective Church Communications, check out this article:

How to Keep the 'Chreasters' Coming: Experts Say Preparedness and Follow-Up Are Key

Read the full article at http://www.christianpost.com/news/how-to-keep-the-chreasters-coming-experts-say-preparedness-and-follow-up-are-key-92773/#y7QhYTt0IoGqsdbA.99