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 Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission.

How to make Bible school more than a happy memory—strategy and materials to connect with Parents

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VBS return to church flyers
Kids always have a wonderful time at VBS, but you must be intentional in inviting families back if you want that great week to have a lasting impact.

Some of the happiest times of my life as a child were in summer Daily Vacation Bible School and that wonderful experience continues in many churches today. Kids have a wonderful week, but thoughtful communications can extend that week into a continuing relationship with the church.

There are several ways you can do this, but the over-riding idea is that you need to intentionally communicate to connect with parents, to let them know what else is going on for their children at the church, and invite them to take part in it.

Why this is so important

If you asked a person in the neighborhood of your church, who does not go to your church, "What does our church do on Sundays for children?" you would most likely be met with a blank stare. Most people who do not go to church have no idea what people do in church other than the media picture of people standing around singing with their hands in the air.

The parents of the neighborhood children you worked so hard to reach so their kids would come to VBS are no different. To many of them the church is providing a nice summer community service and they get a few hours of free (or almost free, as many VBS programs charge these days) child care for a week. That the church has anything else of value for their kids is probably something that never crossed their minds.

For the church staff putting on VBS that's difficult to imagine, but it's true and though you want people to so love VBS they will bring their kids back on Sunday to your children's program and begin a relationship with the church, this won't happen unless you are intentional about it. Here's how to do it: [Read more...]

How Christians are like Pumpkins—a fun object lesson for adults and kids to grow as Christians together

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Pumpkin Carving and faith building project
Use this pumpkin carving lesson as a time to teach children about Jesus.

This is just the cutest, fun thing for Halloween!

But first the serious reasons behind it:

In the Old Testament, Jewish parents were commanded to teach their children about God's law during all of life.

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. Deut. 6:7-9 MSG

In the New Testament, we are all commanded to do a similar thing—

Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Col. 3;7, MSG

Though we are commanded to make God's Word and doing His will part of every area of life, that isn't an easy command to fulfill.

Holidays can help, even ones we wouldn't normally think would help us to grow in our Christian lives.

How pumpkins can help us understand the Christian life, what Jesus has done for us, and how we can live for Him.

We don't often think of Halloween as a time to learn about the Christian faith, but with a little imagination and creativity, it can be! Here is a pumpkin carving project that will help kids learn about Jesus.  Below is a short video that goes through the project and below the video is a link to a  ZIP file that contains a ready-to-print Pumpkin Project sheet, editable MS Publisher files, jpg images, and an MS Word file of the text if you want to create your own version.

Please note: I saw many versions of this before I created my own and was never able to track down an original creator--if that's you or you know who it is, please let me know at yvonprehn@gmail.com.

Click on the following link to download a ZIP file that contains a ready-to-print Pumpkin Project, editable MS Publisher files, jpg images, and an MS Word file of the text if you want to create your own version: Pumpkin Project & Poem

Free Social Media and MS Publisher Postcard Invitation Templates for Mother’s Day, set 1

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Free Mother's Day Social Media and MS Publisher Images
This is one of a set of Social Media and MS Postcard Template files for you to create invitations for your church's Mother's Day services. Modify and use however you want!

Everyone wants to make Mom happy on Mothers' Day and one of the best ways for either children or spouses who don't come to church regularly is to join Mom for church on Mother's Day!

Following the images below are links to editable Canva files and MS Publisher and PDF files for you to modify and use however you want.

Below the images of the social media are links that will take you to the Canva files and MS Publisher files where you can modify them however you wish, adding your church's specific event information, or referring them to another place for it. Regardless of where you direct them, be very clear as these messages may be forwarded (hopefully they will be) to someone who may not be familiar with your church and exactly where you are or when you meet.

There is a second set of layouts that were created using AI-generated images. To go to that free set, CLICK HERE.

For the Canva Files of Free Mother's Day Social Media Images, click on the links below.

Standard Images INSTAGRAM SIZE
https://www.canva.com/design/DAFgOpC8bBM/xnqU3HRtajIwJnSxjEyrZg/edit?utm_content=DAFgOpC8bBM&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Standard Images FACEBOOK SIZE
https://www.canva.com/design/DAFg5FEC-0o/SpWZSAGNCjpH5Rey-mR4-A/edit?utm_content=DAFg5FEC-0o&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Standard Images POSTCARD SIZE  https://www.canva.com/design/DAFg_FZT2E8/nOCTMODeo93VQgNlSoNRSA/edit?utm_content=DAFg_FZT2E8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

For the MS Publisher file of Free Mother's Day Postcards or for the image in PDF format, download the ZIP file below to your computer, open, and modify as you wish.

To download the ZIP file, click on the following link: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/MOTHERS-DAY-POSTCARDS-SET-1.zip

REMEMBER the most important reason for using these invitations

Of course, you want to make Moms happy by inviting their loved ones to attend church with them, but remember that this is a fantastic opportunity to share the good news of salvation in Jesus with family members who may not have heard it or responded to it.

Do honor Mothers on this day, but most of all, with all the unchurched family members who will attend this day, be sure to make it one of your best outreach days of the year.

Mother’s Day Resources — Don’t miss out on the fantastic outreach and evangelism opportunities at this time!

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Mothers day image
This is part of a set of images that can be used to celebrate the women in your church on Mother's Day or anytime. CLICK on the image to go to the set.

Mother's Day has the third-highest church attendance of the year, right after Easter and Christmas and the reason for that isn't because of the Mothers that are there—

It's because of the unchurched spouses and children who showed up on that day to make Mom happy!

Because of that, Mother's Day is THE most important evangelism and outreach opportunity you have all year. But sadly, few churches take advantage of this reality.

This video will not only give you ideas on how to make the most of Mother's Day, but previews the FREE resources you can go to implement it at: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/templates/mothers-day-templates/.

All the publications in the video are at the link above including the sheet for One Mother's Prayer.

eBook on Mothers Day and the evangelism opportunities of itFor this eBook on Mother's Day Strategy, go to this link: https://payhip.com/b/ryS73

For the Printables shown below that celebrates godly women and says, "Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised," plus many others appropriate to celebrate moms, go to this link: https://payhip.com/b/ryS73

At the link above you can download files that can be used in everything from social media sizes to large posters. You can also print out 5x7 or 8.5x11 sizes and put them in Dollar Store frames to share with the women of your church.

Here are the varieties of images available:

Resurrection Cookies, a Free recipe that will teach children and parents about Easter, and it’s something you can do at home now

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Res Cookie Bunny Verstion
Resurrection Cookies are a wonderful way to remind both children and parents of the real meaning of Easter--the Resurrection of Jesus. Plus it's a fun and yummy project!

For a great strategy to teach children about Easter, involve parents, and provide an outreach tool, NOTHING beats Resurrection Cookies.

When you make the cookies, you visually illustrate Jesus suffering, burial, death and resurrection. Because you are doing it with cookies, it is much less intimidating for people who don't go to church to be involved with it.

In other years you can do this with friends and neighbors. This year with everyone staying home it is a wonderful activity for a family.

Below are pictures of a variety of designs for the Recipe. To see larger images of the pages, click on the first image and a larger slide show will come up. The file below them has both PDFs and MS Publisher files for you to download.

Various designs for Resurrection Cookies:

To download the Resurrection Cookie File, click the following link: Church Bunny Resurrection Cookie Files

Later in this article is the text for the handouts, including the introduction, recipe, and Bible verses if you choose to create your own verses of the handouts or if you want to put the material on your website or in a church newsletter. You have my permission to use it freely. The text is the same for all of them—choose a style that suits you best or use the text below to create your own version. [Read more...]