church communication

Creating custom-looking church graphics for upcoming sermon series, bible studies, children's ministry and youth ministry is no simple task. If you ever tried to open up Photoshop without any training (or downloaded GIMP, a free no-frills version of Photoshop), you know that graphic designers are worth their weight in gold. If your position at church (either as a staff person or volunteer) requires you to be responsible for church graphics and church communication, this article offers four options for how to go about creating or outsourcing for the graphics you need to effectively communicate with you church attenders.

After celebrating two years in our church plant, we finally have seven teenagers in our youth group. Our church was started by 30 millennials who wanted to create a new faith community in our town for folks like them—people who didn’t feel safe in a traditional church setting but who desperately wanted to connect with a body of believers on a weekly basis.

A new small group can be an intimidating experience for many people. They may be unsure of what to expect, worried about saying or doing the wrong thing, or simply uncomfortable sharing faith experiences with others. If you are a group leader, you have an opportunity to resolve these feelings quickly so the group can be a comfortable and productive experience. Here are five icebreakers that can help your new small group to get off on the right foot.

Recently, a friend of mine began to plant a church in a city 700 miles away from his current church where he knew no one. He is either really brave or incredibly oblivious. He has read most of the books, investigated many planting models, and planted a successful church before.

I have a love-hate relationship with systems. I love when systems are in place to save time and help things run efficiently. I hate when systems get in the way and cause unnecessary complexity. When I began my role as communications director at West Ridge Church, one of the biggest mistakes I made during the first year was not investing the necessary time to bring clarity to essential systems that would help me, my team, and my church communicate effectively. It took months of living in survival mode for me to finally hit a breaking point and put systems in place. What I discovered is that creating margin for myself to create and implement sustainable systems was never going to be the most urgent thing on my to-do list; but it was the most important.

In the past several years, the church technology industry has undergone many changes that have encouraged some, while discouraging others. As technology advancements continue, new companies start up and newcomers to the church tech industry enter and acquire firms to consolidate and rebuild. More recently, private equity firms have entered the space getting involved in acquisitions and shifting resources to various technology firms in order to position for growth and financial gain. All these moves cause disruption - to tech companies as well as the churches they serve; change is never easy.

Have you ever had a conversation where you thought you were being totally clear? Only to realize later, that the person you were talking to understood the conversation differently. You both were talking about the same thing, but what was communicated was very different. Unfortunately, church communications can be this way too.

The church bulletin is far from dead, in fact, it's alive and well at most churches. It holds treasured information including weekly announcements, budget details and attendance records, in addition to upcoming events, contact details for church staff, and maybe even a handy "new guest" tear off form or half a dozen inserts. While some churches have moved away from print-centric communication, others rely on it greatly. If you’re still creating a weekly bulletin, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Here are some ways to be strategic and ensure you have a successful church bulletin.