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.

Why words and images need each other–the feedback loop of meaning

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Captions define what we see, never publish a picture without them
This PDF illustrates the topic of this article-- how our words define the meaning of our images. Later in the article you can download it.

We've all heard the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words"-- a phrase which I consider one of the most meaningless and destructive phrases to meaningful communication ever coined. That is because without words, the proper response to that statement is, "which thousand?"

I just posted a blog that discusses the importance of carefully crafted words in our church communication.

Here I want to answer the question: does that mean we can't use images?

Following the excerpt below from what's written in the blog, I want to illustrate what I mean by the feedback loop of meaning between images and words. [Read more...]

Halloween Outreach Videos and how to use them to reach unchurched people for Jesus

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Halloween Outreach video
Use this video to get people thinking about Jesus, the only person who conquered death.

Halloween is a fantastic time for evangelism outreach because everyone is talking about death and the supernatural. That makes it a perfect opportunity for you to engage unchurched people in a conversation about Jesus. The following are two versions of the same video that will help do that.

At the end of this article are download links to download HD versions of both videos for you to use in your Halloween Outreach. Do whatever you'd like with them.

The first one is a mellow one with Christian background music and soft fall graphics background.

The second one is a much more in-your-face with the music and a harsher graphics background—different ones for different audiences.

This video was created for you to share with your unchurched audience. Please download, share, link to your website. The other version of it has more mellow, church music if you prefer that.

Soft style of the video:

In-your-face style of the video:

Following is some information you can copy and share on your website after the video. It has a challenge for people to consider Jesus as well as websites for them to go to for more information. You have permission to copy, change, use however you want:

[Read more...]

National Boss Day is Oct. 16 & how Ministry Assistants define the excellent boss

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Celebrate your church office boss
Oct. 16 is National Boss Day and here are some characteristics of great ones.

Ed. note: The article that follows reminds us to thank and celebrate great bosses in our church. If they don't come up to the standards here, the article provides a wonderful list of prayers for them.

National Boss Day is a time for workers to show appreciation to their employers. The day is annually observed in the United States on October 16, or the nearest working day. Over the years I’ve asked scores of ministry assistants to define their ideal boss.

The excellent boss according to Ministry Assistants:

• sets a high standard for attitude and actions
• treats others with respect and courtesy [Read more...]

Video and notes: Tips for using COLOR in text

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Video: Tips for using COLOR in text
This video will help you make sure that your colored text not only looks good but is readable.

We might like how a color looks in an illustration, but the same color that might make a design appealing, might also make the message unreadable if we use that color in text. This short video will give you tips on how to use color in the text of your communications. The text is the most important part of any communication because that is the primary carrier of your message. It doesn't matter how pretty or inspiring an illustration is if people don't come to the event or learn what you want them to. [Read more...]

Teamwork in Times of Change

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Teamwork in times of change
More than ever, success in the church office is the result of teamwork.

Ed. note: If you've served in the church for any time at all, you've not doubt experienced changes and will experience many more in the times to come. In this encouraging article, Gayle helps us see how to make the most of the most challenging changing times.

In September 2011 the Hartford Institute for Religion Research released a new decade-long survey of congregations in the United States. It will come as no surprise to you that the past ten years have brought enormous changes throughout religious communities.

One disturbing conclusion is that median weekend worship in all sizes of congregations has significantly declined since the 2000 survey. Along with the drops in attendance was a significant decline in financial resources.

Still, despite fewer dollars and fewer people, a lot of churches—large and small—are doing some things quite well. One example: the vast majority of congregations have implemented electronic communications. More than 40 percent even use social networks like Facebook to keep in touch with congregants. These congregations and their leaders realize surviving and thriving in challenging times doesn’t just happen. [Read more...]