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.

How to make Mom really happy, cards that will make you smile and challenge family members

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Don't you wish that the people you love who only come to church on Mother's Day and other special events would come every week? It won't happen by simply wishing it will Come Back #1 IMAGEhappen. You have to intentionally let them know you want them to come back to church. You have to invite them back.

Subtle doesn't work as a communication strategy in our world today. Think of how the secular media bombards us with repeated messages to buy this, come to that, don't miss out on some special sale. Though we don't want to be obnoxious we do have to be persistent and clear.

The cards illustrated here will help you do this. They were designed to make people smile, but they also share a true message—that moms want more than anything to share their faith with their children.

This card above is a PDF sample for you.  To download it, click on the card or click here.

In the section following, you will find ZIP File download that not only has this invitation, but also has the following five invitations. The ZIP file also has the original MS Publisher files, plus a jpg file of each invitation and a ready-to-print file of each one.

For other materials that will help you make the most of Mother's Day, click here: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/category/seasonal/mothers-day/

Below is a ZIP file that contains:

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

Click the following link to download the ZIP file of the above items: Make Mom Happy MDay Come Back to Church

    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.

How to use Mother’s Day to Grow your church, evangelize, and disciple

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Mother's Day gets the third highest attendance at church right behind Christmas and Easter. What churches often forget is that the large increase in people does not come from more Mothers attending--they are there every week! It comes from the unchurched children and spouses who show up to make mom happy on her special day.

Churches that recognize this and use church communications in a way that makes the most of it can make it a day truly worth celebrating for Mom's because nothing is more wonderful to a Mother than for her child to come to know Jesus.

Our Church Communications Training School has a short video course: How to use Mother's Day to Grow Your Church, Evangelize, and Disciple—and it will totally change how you approach Mother's Day!

Below are the sets of communication Templates shown in the video with preview images. Click on the title to go to the set you want.

    Click on any image to enlarge and see more detailed previews. Click on the link below the images to download the Templates to your computer.

    [Read more...]

    Mother’s Day Resource List

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    From motivational videos and e-books to invitations, postcards, bulletin inserts and one of our most motivations pieces for prayer, Effective Church Communications has materials for you. We have ideas and samples, ready to print PDFs, editable templates, graphics, everything you need for outreach and celebration for Mother's Day at your church.

    Following each area is described, just click on the title to go to that selection.

    ***CLICK ON THE TITLES below to go to the resource.

    VIDEO: Mother's Day, communications that will help you make the most of the outreach opportunities, Webinar On-Demand

    Take a few minutes to watch this and you'll never look at Mother's Day at your church in the same way.

    Mother's Day has the third highest attendance of any Sunday and it isn't because of all the mothers there. It's because of the unchurched spouses and kids who come with mom!

    This is a fantastic day for outreach, but you have to intentionally make the most of it. Below is a short video that will give you great ideas on how to do this. I STRONGLY recommend you take a few minutes in your staff meeting to discuss this and plan how you can make the most of this day for outreach.

    Included with the video is a PDF of the handouts for the presentation. [Read more...]

    6 ways to make the most of Mother’s Day as a Great Outreach Opportunity

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    Mothers Day Invitatio#1: Understand the real reason why Mother’s Day has the 3rd highest church attendance of the year

    The reason that churches are so full on Mother’s Day is not because it is the only time of year mothers come to church. Most of the Moms are always there. It’s the husbands and kids who rarely come who show up with Mom that one day to make her happy. The reason so many people come to church on Mother’s Day is the unchurched people in the lives of many mothers rarely, if ever, come to church, but they will come on this day to make mom happy. This is a great evangelistic opportunity for your church!

    #2: Focus your planning on reaching the unchurched spouses and kids

    Flowers are nice, but far better than a rose for Mom would be a Sunday designed to speak to those she loves, but who do not know Jesus. Prepare your people by encouraging them to pray specifically for the unsaved, unchurched, and straying family members who will come to church with mom on this Sunday. Pray for sensitivity to their needs. Create attractive invitations for your members to give family members.

    #3 On Mother’s Day acknowledge the visitors who come on Mother’s Day to please their Mother and affirm it is a kind thing to do, and do honestly and without guilt

    It isn’t funny or spiritually helpful for someone from the pulpit or a church member to say something like “Great to see some of you here who haven’t darkened the door of the church since last Mother’s Day.”  Or, “You don’t need to be such a stranger around here.”

    A bit of coaching the week before Mother’s Day to your staff, ushers, and congregation to be genuinely welcoming—and to leave it at that—is helpful.

    #4 At the same time, use your sermon to say to the visiting family members what Mom can’t say

    Be honest with your audience on Mothers Day that one of the greatest pains in a mother’s heart is that her child does not know Jesus. To be apart in life is hard, even as a child grows up, but to contemplate an eternity without those you love, is a pain impossible to express.

    Acknowledge this is not easy to say (which is why you are saying it for Mom) and it is not at all comfortable to talk about on this happy day, but to not say things that can make an eternal difference is not expressing love. Love is honest about the consequences of a life lived apart from God.

    #5 Have available information about the Christian faith they can look at later

    Whatever system works best for you, either a bulletin insert, URL, QR code, have a place where visitors can check out websites that explain the Christian faith. An invitation to latte with the pastor next week at the local coffee shop for open-ended Q&A about the Christian faith is another option.

    Let them know they are welcome to come back anytime—but again, do it with a light touch.

    #6 Do more than preach— additional events can provide great impact and encourage visitors to return

    Consider a very upbeat, outreach oriented mini-Ministry Fair for that day so visitors can experience and explore what your church does on a regular basis. For example, many single adults (the unchurched adult children who come to church only on Mother’s Day) often don’t have any idea that many churches have fantastic single adult ministry programs. A table with literature, food, and fun people, welcoming visiting guests and inviting them to return might be just the thing to get them to attend on a regular basis.

    For the unchurched husbands to see the men of your church around a literature table that talks about upcoming construction projects, help-the-poor work days, golf outings or sports events and that is staffed by men who reach out, welcome, and engage visiting spouses in conversation is an incredible gift to give to the mom who comes every Sunday on her own. Some men who don’t regularly attend church have never talked to a man who goes to church and does construction work or have any idea that men at church do more than pray or read their Bibles.

    Whatever you do, honor Mothers in the best way possible—by helping those they love come to know Jesus.

    Need more inspiration?

    Check out this video:

     

    If you want more information on and to download the communications illustrated in the video, go to: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com on the home page are links to a variety of Mother's Day Communications.

    One Mother’s Prayer, free sample and for ECC Members the text and download link

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    One Mother's Prayer
    This piece has challenged and changed lives--CLICK on the image to download your copy.

    This short piece, One Mother's Prayer, has probably been impacted more people than anything else I've written. It is the simple, but true story of a young man whose life was going very wrong, whose Mother prayed and his life changed.

    It was first published in Today's Christian Woman magazine. It was repeated in their Best of Ten Years of writings, it has been reprinted and republished all over the world, and it continues to bring tears to the eyes of any group I read it to. You are free to use it any way you want and share it however you want.

    It is useful for Mother's Day, for Moms in Touch and other prayer ministries and to give out in Children's ministries.

    This sample PDF if free to download.You can click here or on the image to download it.

    ECC Members will get the all of the additional PDF formats: 2 more 8 1/2 by 11 plus 4 other versions on half sheet size plus the jpgs of the larger files and an MS Word text file if you want to create your own publication. The text file and the link to all the other downloads is after the images below. [Read more...]