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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Little details are the most important part of your communications

3 December, 2009 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

PDF of an article on the importance of the little details in your church communications
PDF of an article on the importance of the little details in your church communications

The little things are the most important part of your communications because they are the links that actually connect people with the events and ministries of your church.

They are also the most boring, tedious, and difficult parts to include in a communication piece whether it is on paper or online. We'd much rather work on fun illustrations or polishing our catchy marketing slogans or brilliant headlines. As important as these parts of communication creation are, you can have the most brilliant headline and the most appealing images ever, but if people don't know when something starts, how to get there, and if child care is provided—chances are they won't show up.

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And don't expect anybody today to "call the church office for more information." Folks don't take the time to do it and even if they do after being shuttled around through voice mail, they may leave not thinking nice things about the church and certainly not planning to come to an event that might have changed their eternity.

Include the little details in your communications, it can have an impact well worth the hard work it takes to get the details gathered up and put into your communications.

To download the PDF, click here or on the image.

Also look at the article and PDF on REPORTER FORMS. It will give you a practical way to collect all the information you need.

note: this PDF is from Yvon Prehn's archives and is the only format of this article available presently. Not the greatest quality to be sure, but shared with the belief that the content is useful.

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Filed Under: Church Bulletins, Church Newsletters, Church Outreach and Marketing Tagged With: church bulletins, church communication basics, church outreach, Communications, yvon prehn

Brochure Redesign: from ignored to effective

3 December, 2009 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

PDF of how to create an effective brochure
PDF of how to create an effective brochure

This PDF illustrates the process of how to take a brochure that merely describes a ministry to one that is redesigned to meet needs. The result of the redesign was a huge response to the ministry.

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Click here or on the image to download the PDF.

note: this PDF is from Yvon Prehn's archives and is the only format of this article available presently. Not the greatest quality to be sure, but shared with the belief that the content is useful.

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Filed Under: Church or Ministry Brochures, Design, Writing Tagged With: Church brochure, church outreach, Communications, design in communciation, Ministry brochure, Writing, yvon prehn

Charging for Fall Festival outreach events, what’s wrong with that?

11 October, 2009 By Yvon Prehn 1 Comment

There may be legitimate reasons for charging for some events, for example, if you are bringing in a professional Christian comedian or speaker—someone has to pay for their time and expenses. However, in most instances, I believe strongly that it communicates an incorrect message if a church charges (or even asks for donations) at a ministry event.

Fall Festival mixed message

I recently looked at an advertisement for a Church Fall Festival. It was going to be an alternative Halloween event, something that is always popular with the community. I was told that in years past this church put on the event as free community outreach, but this year things were different. The person showing me the invitation card was concerned and here's why:

The invitation said: "Fun, games, food, candy for all!" and in big letter, "No entry fee"

In much smaller letters it said, "There will be a small charge for food, candy not included."

and

"There will be a charge for professional photos at the event."

What's wrong with that?

Times are still really hard for lots of folks and it was not only a very confusing message, but I think one unworthy of the gospel. Let's look at the food charge first and then the photography one.

About the food:

It was confusing because it was not clear what is free and what isn't? Does that mean if you are struggling and jobless, your kids can go and get free candy, but sorry, no hot dogs, chips, or drinks for your kids?

How much is a small charge? For people without work or underemployed, what might seem like a "small charge" might mean the equivalent cost of half a week's groceries (you can buy a lot of food at your local 99 cent store for five dollars).

About the photography:

Several years ago, Group Publishing had a fantastic Halloween outreach program where they encouraged churches to take pictures of kids who came to the alternative Halloween program and then to mail them to the families in a complementary frame after the event. This was a wonderful way to get names and contact information and then to give back to guests. What a wonderful basis for building a relationship with unchurched people!

But this one....totally different. A professional will charge you for photos. That would accomplish NOTHING in terms of outreach and again has the potential of making some little kids feel sad and left out.

Why both are unworthy of the gospel

What really bothers me about both of these items is their obvious disregard for "the least of these."  Whoever wrote or approved these charges is obviously not struggling with not being able to pay for many things for their kids.

I hate (forgive the strong word, but I think this deserves it) hate, hate it when children come to a church "outreach" event, and then some of them cannot have what others have because they can't afford it.

Maybe a family comes to the event having eaten a really little dinner. Yes, the kids can get candy, but they aren't allowed the hot dogs, chips, and drinks other kids are having. What does a mom say when her child asks, "Mom, why can't I have a hot dog?"

Maybe a family would really like a picture of their child at Halloween, but again, if you have not done without, you may not realize that a camera digital or throw-away may simply not be part of what you can afford.

That family gets to watch those who have money get professional pictures taken. A child may not understand the fee system and may make the mistake of asking, "Mommy, I want my picture taken, can I get it?"

What could have been a pleasant night out for the family becomes one more embarrassment because they don't have money.

What to do about it

For any church holding an outreach event, I would advise:

  • If you can't afford to give things away to everyone, don't offer them to some.
  • If your church can't afford to do some things and some folks really want to offer them, challenge them to raise the money to pay for it. Though many people struggle today financially, many others are doing just great. It doesn't cost a whole lot to buy dozens of hot dogs and soda. If you can't trust God to raise money for that, your church has more problems than a lack of funds for Halloween food.
  • If you can't afford to pay for a "professional" photographer, go with amateur and free. Most people would love something simple, fancy isn't what's needed. Memories don't require professional polish to be meaningful.

WWJD?

What would Jesus do? That saying has of course been overused, but in this situation, the answer is quite obvious. At His table, when he was on the earth and forever, everyone is invited, everything is free. Jesus truly paid it all.....and the only required response is that we come.

____________________________

 

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Filed Under: Fall Festival and Halloween, Seasonal communication strategies Tagged With: charging for outreach, church outreach, Communications, Fall Festival and Halloween

Mother’s Day Invitations to church, a free sample and link to member downloads

12 April, 2009 By Yvon Prehn 1 Comment

Mothers Day Invitation #1 IMAGE Mother's Day is a wonderful time not only to celebrate mom's but to reach out to unchurched family members. But you can't do that if they aren't there.

This is a sample PDF invitation for you to download and use as an invitation.

Click on the image to download the PDF or click here.

In the section following, you will find ZIP File download that not only has this invitation, but also has the following two invitations.The images below do not link to download PDFs.

In addition to all three invitations, you also get the original MS Publisher files, plus a jpg file of each invitation.

In addition to all three invitations, members also get the original MS Publisher files, plus a jpg file of each invitation.

Mothers Day Invitation #2 IMAGEMothers Day Invitation #3 IMAGE

he

In additio

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In addit

n to all three invitations, members also get th

Click on the im

CLICK HERE to download a ZIP file that contains:

  • All three Mother's Day Invitations
  • MS Publisher Original files (you must have MS Publisher to use this file)
  • PDF Files
  • Resizable jpg files

After you download the file, SAVE it to your computer, then click on it to "unzip" it and the files are ready for you to use.

plus 

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Filed Under: Mother's Day Tagged With: Church Invitation Cards, church outreach, Communications, Evangelism resources, Mother's Day Church, Mother's Day church invitations, Mother's Day outreach, yvon prehn

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