4 Reasons to Make a Weekly Church Bulletin

I’m not sure when churches started using weekly bulletins. They probably became popular when printing costs decreased and started as a directory for worship, listing the songs and Scriptures used during a service.

In my mind, there are two types of church bulletins: the worship bulletin and the newsletter bulletin. Worship bulletins are used primarily as a means of helping the congregants follow and participate in the liturgy.(Here's a good example of a worship bulletin.) But in the more Baptistic churches, who are light on liturgy, bulletins are more of a weekly newsletter that inform the congregant of upcoming events and important information. This is how most church bulletins seem to be used today - perhaps an order of service, but mostly events and news.

As a pastor of a small church and as a person who actually enjoys dabbling in graphic design, planning and printing the weekly bulletin has been my responsibility for years. There have been numerous times over the years when a faithful church member would call me and ask “Now when is the men's prayer breakfast?” or “Where are we going bowling?” I wanted to tell them that the information they need has been in the bulletin for a month, and that they should utilize their bulletins “for such a time as this.” Instead, I cordially offer the needed details, wondering, though, why I even make a church bulletin every week. Is it worth the time and expense? Do people actually read it? Perhaps you've wondered the same thing.

Let me share with you 4 reasons for having a weekly church bulletin.

1. Because people do need the information printed and easily available. Sure, there will always be those who are oblivious to the helpfulness of the bulletin, but for the few that call the church (or the pastor’s phone) with questions that are answered in the bulletin, there are a dozen others that have found the information they needed.

2. Because it’s an opportunity to promote an event. Whether it’s an activity or a sermon series, the weekly bulletin offers a medium to advertise a special happening. To really attract attention to an upcoming event, I like to design eye-catching bulletin ads that draw peoples’ attention more so than run-of-the-mill text. (More on that later).

3. Because visitors need something to do. Newcomers feel awkward: the environment is strange, they don’t know anybody. They feel out of place. Reading the bulletin gives them something “to hide behind” until a friendly church member can chat them up. This is probably the number one reason why I print a weekly bulletin: so visitors can have something to do until the service starts. (This is also the reason I design the bulletin with the visitor in mind).

4. Because it’s a means of integrating visitors. I prefer the bulletins that have perforated, tear-off tabs. That’s where I print request forms for membership and baptism. Most people are to shy to request membership or baptism during an invitation (a.k.a. the altar call). In fact, I prefer people not request membership or baptism during the invitation so that I can interview them privately. Tear-off forms in the weekly bulletin help me with that.

So the next time a church member calls you, and asks a question that’s been answered for 8 weeks in the weekly bulletin, cordially answer their question and remember that it’s worth it to have a weekly bulletin. It may seem like an exercise in futility, but it is informing the membership. Do it especially for the visitors. They need something to occupy them until the service starts.

Next time: “What to put in the bulletin.”