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.

Hurricane Sandy Relief–update and appeal from an Effective Church Communications Member

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Pastor Gil Monrose, helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy
Pastor Gil Monrose, shares his projects helping victims of Hurricane Sandy and invites us to join in.

Pastor Gil has been interacting with our site for many years in addition to his many ministries serving God's people. When I got this email, I wanted to pass it on and encourage you to participate. Churches helping those around them is one of the most powerful ways to witness. If you can give money--great--but we can all pray.

To be without power and in the cold--how scary that would be. Pray the Lord turns the current storm away and that many people come to know Him through the love and care of his people.

***At the end of this article, please add in your comments any other links to groups, denominational or those you know and trust for Hurricane Sandy Relief.

Dear Friends,

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good and his mercies lasts forever.  Amen.  Praying that all is well with you, family, and those around you.  I wanted to provide a quick update as to our progress and ways you can help. [Read more...]

Don’t be a secret-service Christian, how church communicators can help

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When you do outreach in the name of Jesus, communicate about Him.
When you do outreach in the name of Jesus, don't be a secret Christian.

True story here about a lost opportunity to share Jesus:

In our area, one church frequently does a compassionate outreach at a Laundromat in an area of town where many homeless people do their laundry.

My husband, who is a bi-vocational pastor and who does handyman work to support our ministry habits, was on a job recently with a homeless young man. When he overheard him talking about "some guy who paid for my laundry," my husband asked him who did that and what they talked about.

The young man responded, "He didn't say anything—he and his wife just sat in a corner for two hours. I would have talked to him if he wanted—he put in ten bucks for me."

How sad! To pay for washer and dryer use for people who sometimes must choose between clean clothes and a decent meal is a fantastic way to demonstrate caring in the name of Jesus—IF people know you are doing it in the name of Jesus. If not, you may be considered nice, but perhaps a bit strange. [Read more...]

Outreach Church Bulletin inserts, an idea you can use all year around

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Church Bulletin inserts can be great outreach tools
Church Bulletin inserts can be great outreach tools--check out the 5 minute video here to see how!

Churches go all out at Easter in outreach and in inviting people back to church after Easter. Though it's wonderful to do this at Easter, outreach needs to be a priority always. Obeying the Great Commission isn't only for special events. Bulletin inserts can intentionally give people information that tells them about the church and gives them a reason to come back. The inserts can highlight programs and upcoming events that might interest visitors.

The short video here shows two samples of real church bulletin inserts that were used at Easter to do this but that could be easily adapted to any Sunday. They were sent in by ECC Members. PLEASE send us any samples you have with permission for us to use them. We all learn best from the experiences of each other. If you have some you'd like to share, please check out our Great IDEA SWAP!

Update note: though the basic flyers are great, Microsoft no longer lets you access clipart (bummer, some of us still like it), but you could find the clip art on other sites and put it in.
[Read more...]

Performance-centered vs church interactive, serving celebrations, what it means to the spiritual growth of your congregation

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Keep your celebrations focused on Jesus
Celebrate, but be sure your holiday celebrations don't present an incorrect view of the Christian faith.

As many churches plan their seasonal outreach celebrations, they often focus on putting on a big program for the community. It could be a play, serious or humorous. It could be a concert consisting of anything from the choir presenting a formal choral arrangement to the music ministry doing a special seasonal musical to hosting a visiting Christian Rock group.

There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with these events and if you follow the advice of Effective Church Communications and are conscientious about connecting with people at your events, explaining what is going on at the church, explaining the Christian faith,  linking them to more resources, and inviting them back, these events can be effective ways to grow your church. But something else is going on that we need to consider if you want your event to have a positive impact on your congregation beyond the event itself because. . .

"What you win them with is what you win them to."

Seasonal events don't stand alone. How we celebrate them reflects both the core beliefs of the church and the effect of them on the spiritual growth of church members. [Read more...]

Why Marketing isn’t evil—or doesn’t need to be anyway

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As often happens, marketing is currently taking a bashing in some ministry magazines and blogs. Though I am one of the first people to decry the evils of untrue church marketing—in my mind epitomized by the commercial website headers of mostly white, all thin, happy folks—when few folks at the churches I know look anything like that—especially when you look at the church universal and the tragedy of hunger domestically and worldwide...but I digress.

As I was saying, though marketing can be used in untrue, unworthy of the gospel ways, to bash "marketing" with a broad brush as evil is like saying because Jim Jones of Jonestown massacre was a preacher that all preaching is evil.

Chapter Four: Effective Church Communication Marketing

Intro note: The following material is from the book, Ministry Marketing Made Easy, by Yvon Prehn.  A PDF of this material is available as a download, by CLICKING HERE and at the end of the article. You have permission to make as many copies as you need for your staff, congregation, or volunteers.

Some church people are genuinely concerned about marketing and wonder about the appropriateness of marketing in the church. This is a valid concern and an important one to address. This chapter presents a biblical view of respectful marketing and provides biblical and practical examples of appropriate uses of marketing in the church.

I strongly recommend you take time to go over this chapter as a staff and with the leadership of your church. If you don't and people in your church have concerns that are not answered, you can be certain they will come out and often, not in pleasant ways.

You want everyone (as much as is possible) in the church to be of one heart in your communication and marketing efforts. Yes, it takes time to explain why you are doing what you are doing, but the oneness of heart that should be the result is worth it.

Marketing misconceptions defined and defused [Read more...]