Training and free templates, challenges and commentary to equip churches to create communications in print and digital formats that help people come to know Jesus as Savior and grow to mature disciples.

Though churches of all sizes are welcome to our resources, our focus is on the smaller church.

Effective Church Communications

Timeless training from Yvon Prehn on church communication strategy, skills, and seasonal outreach.

The different preaching styles of Peter and Paul and why it matters for Easter follow-up

By Leave a Comment

CLICK on the image to download the FREE ZIP file that give you a PDF and an editable MS Publisher file of this handout to help people explore the Christian faith after Easter.

When people come to your church at Easter for some of them it may be the first time they hear that Jesus died on the cross so they could be forgiven of their sins and be at peace with God. This is not an easy message to understand if you have not grown up in the church. That's why using these bulletin inserts that encourage them to continue an exploration of the Christian faith is so important.

The Apostle Paul preached to an audience with much in common with many of the people who will come to your church this Easter. They were part of a world that held many religious beliefs; they may have even heard of Jesus. But again and again you find the same pattern in the book of Acts—Paul would preach a sermon, but then he followed it with extensive discussions as Acts 18: 4 tells us: "every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." He didn't just preach and leave, he reasoned, he taught, he got into arguments and debates.

Unlike the Jewish audience where Peter could preach one sermon and because his audience knew who he was talking about and were expecting the Messiah, many would respond immediately as they did at Pentecost when Paul preached it was often to an audience totally unfamiliar with the Old Testament and God's plan of salvation. A positive response took time as this passage in Acts 17 illustrates:

So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

As the passage says, he took time; once again, he reasoned with and debated the people he was preaching to. We don't know how long he did this, but we know he realized one sermon alone would not convince them of the truth of the resurrection of Jesus.

It won't for a first-time visitor to your Easter service either.

Don't take a lack of immediate response at Easter as an insult, but as an opening to a discussion about and further exploration of Jesus and the Christian faith. These bulletin inserts can help you do that. Below are a choice of designs and following that some ideas for what to put on the back to encourage people to continue in their exploration of Jesus. Below them is a ZIP file of ready-to-print PDFs and editable MS Publisher Files.

To download the ZIP file of the bulletin inserts/flyers above click the following link: Still have questions

What to put on the back of the handouts to encourage further engagement and exploration of the Christian faith

Continue Reading

Notes to Boomer church leaders as you prepare for Easter

By Leave a Comment

We may be shocked at today's culture and amazed at what people don't know about Easter, but we can't let those attitudes make us less effective as we reach out to our world with a clear message about the resurrection of Jesus. This article has some practical tips to help.

You don’t have to be an astute analyst of the culture to understand that we live in a far different world than Baby Boomers grew up in. Many Boomer church leaders may be aware of the changes in life, technology, and culture (“You can show that on TV now?), while at the same time planning for Easter church celebrations the same way they did when Ozzie, Harriet and family was the target audience. Being shocked about TV is one thing, sticking with outdated and ineffective ways to promote and celebrate Easter has far more serious consequences.

If you want share the power of our risen Lord in ways that will change people today and forever, you may need a new strategy, but before we get into that, let me be clear. . . .

This isn’t about Boomer bashing, any age group can make the same incorrect and ineffective assumptions

The mindset that needs a new strategy isn’t confined to any one age group, though many leaders in the Boomer generation seem to be stuck in it. I’m not bashing Boomers, this is my generation  and many of my peers in ministry provided the inspiration for this article. The mindset (not the age range) that I see with Boomer friends and church leaders of various ages, but similar mindset, assumes:

  1. People outside the church know the basics about the Christian faith and what’s in the Bible.
  2. Your community members know the story of Easter and are looking for a place to celebrate it.
  3. All we have to do to get them to get saved and be part of our church is to have the biggest, loudest, most colorful Easter service in town, complete with a petting zoo for kids and brunch served on the premises.

These assumptions range from totally incorrect to ineffective.

As we plan Easter outreach and celebration, we need to realize that contrary to the assumptions above:

Continue Reading

Don’t expect unchurched people to feel the same way about Easter as you do

By Leave a Comment

Easter invitations aren't always appreciated
Would you invite people to a birthday party for someone they didn't know? Of course not--but that's what we do when we invite people who don't know Jesus to celebrations about him.

Would you invite people on the street to a graduation party for someone they don't know?

Would you ask strangers to celebrate the promotion of a person they never met?

Would it make sense at all to send out an impersonal bulk mailing for people to attend a wedding?

Of course, you won't do any of these things. You've all been raised better than that. You don't invite someone to an event that means nothing to them, attended by people they don't know when you don't know the person you are asking.

If that's true in our day-to-day lives, why is it we do that as a church for Easter or other special events?

Think about it. I'm asking because, after spending some time looking at current online advertisements created for churches to send to strangers for Easter, I realized that many of them would only make sense to Christians. Then I realized that outside of the brunch, many of the things that church people at the Easter service are only meaningful to the people at the church.Continue Reading

4 short Easter challenges for the web, email, social media, print

By Leave a Comment

The short messages below were written for Easter but as people have taken and used them in a variety of settings I thought it might be helpful to make them available in text format.

Please use them in any way you want to share the message of eternal life in Jesus this Easter. Some ideas:

  • As short bulletin challenges
  • Facebook entries with links to longer articles
  • Twitter intros with links to your church website
  • Other social media links to YouTube videos
  • Text with music or images as part of a video
  • Postcards, bulletin inserts with links to more material
  • Invitations to seeker Bible studies about the Christian faith

If you use them in a different way and have time to send me your creation to yvon@effectivechurchcom.com,  I'd love it, but it isn't needed. You've got lots to do this Easter season and I understand.

To use these no attribution or link or anything is necessary—other than your prayers that however you use these words that they will bring people to Jesus.

The Bunny and the Cross—why both at Easter?

It makes much more sense than you might imagine.

In many cultures bunnies symbolize life, rebirth, and the tradition of a spring bunny bringing gifts to children.

The cross, though once a tool for a tortured death, because of Jesus, has become the symbol of eternal life, possible because Jesus rose from the dead.

The Easter bunny tells a story of abundant life, giving, joyful living, pictures of the reality that Jesus made possible on the cross.

Join us for our Easter celebration—we’ve got bunnies and candy for the child in all of us, but we’ll also tell the story of the creator of bunnies,  and all things joyful and life-giving—Jesus.

darkness to life

how dark is your life?

have you lost your

job, security?

money, status?

friends, family?

health, happiness?

hope?

when jesus died, the disciples lost

their leader, healer, friend, future

they hid in fear, without hope

but the dawn came on the third day

and everything changed.

it can change for you—join us this Easter and let us share how

 

A serious Easter Invitation

Music is inspiring and candy is delicious, but we’d like to invite you to a serious presentation and opportunity for discussion about the true meaning of Easter.

No gimmicks, fluff, or marketing an empty message.

We believe that Jesus lived, died, and bodily rose from death. We have historical, legal, philosophical, and scientific reasons why we believe this and we would like to share them with you.

Not to win an argument, but because we believe the eternal destiny of every person depends on how you respond.

Join us on Easter or check out the websites below:

http://www.leestrobel.com/

http://www.whoisjesus-really.com/

Easter is about so much more than you can image

What do you think your life would be like if you believed in the Jesus?

Boring? Constricted? An endless series of don’t do this or that?  Intellectual suicide?

We don't think so because. . . . .

Christians claim that Jesus conquered death.

If that’s true imagine what it would mean to become a friend and follower of Jesus, someone, totally and eternally ALIVE?

Someone who spoke and the worlds, galaxies, stars and starfish, came into being?

Someone who, when he walked the earth, played with children, was a great party guest, healed sick people, loved enough to die for all of us.

Challenging, exciting, never-ending and never alone—more than you can ever imagine is the life you can discover this Easter, in Jesus.

Social

Ways to support the ECC Ministry

Why no paid advertising or affiliate links