In the world of church bulletins, there seems to be two extremes: either they are so crammed full of text that reading is difficult, or they are so empty they appear half-complete. This makes one wonder what should be included in the church bulletin. I offer my opinion. Here are 4 items that should be included in a church bulletin:
1. The Sunday date. This should be a no-brainer. Some church-goers are known for hoarding months’ worth of bulletins in their Bible cover pockets. Including the date helps many discern which bulletin is the latest information. This is especially true for those who use the same bulletin shells every week.
2. Upcoming events. Be sure to include the name, date, time, and a short description of the upcoming event, otherwise you may engender more questions than you are providing information.
3. Helpful information. This is the stuff that visitors need to know – bathroom locations, nursery services, how to order sermon audio, etc. This is where you answer common questions visitors would want ask.
4. Contact information. The church’s name, address, phone number, web address, and e-mail. Additionally, the pastor may want to list his e-mail or even his mobile number if he’s so inclined.
Perhaps you have included these 4 necessary items but have noticed how “bare” your bulletin appears. Here are 3 optional items to help “bulk up” your weekly bulletin:
1. Include a quote from a famous Christian. A Plethora of quote books is available in most bookstores. Quote websites are the easiest way to find quotes for the bulletin (copy the text from the website and paste into your document). Here’s my favorite source for bulletin-worthy quotes: http://christianquotes.org/search
2. Include offering and attendance statistics. People like to know these things, especially the members. Unless you have well-attended business meeting every other week, your average church member will have no clue how strong (or weak) the church is financially. Publishing the offering totals from the previous week is a good way to show people that they need to “share the load.” Or, if the offerings are regularly substantial, it helps to sow excitement and thanksgiving in the hearts of the people. Regarding attendance statistics: I include this mostly for the benefit of visitors. I’ve noticed that visitors usually come when our attendance is low (Murphy’s Law doesn’t take Sundays off). Publishing last Sunday’s attendance helps to say to a visitor: “See? We really do have more people than this!” Of course, if last Sunday’s attendance was lower, than the message conveyed would be: “See? We’re growing!”
3. Include membership and baptism information. At my church, I put this on a perforated, tear-off tab that includes contact information of the inquirer and can be dropped into the offering plate. This gets the ball rolling on integrating regular attendees into church membership.
Here are a few more ideas for the weekly church bulletin. These are items that I currently do not put in my bulletin (every week) but may be helpful in yours:
1. An order of service. Sometimes people like to know what’s coming next. If you have a rather complicated service arrangement, perhaps this would be helpful to your people. In the more liturgical churches, this is necessary.
2. Birth, marriage, or funeral announcements. This doesn’t get listed every week in most churches, but in some very large churches this is a weekly announcement. I know of some churches that include such information in their mid-week bulletin.
3. Kids’ page. Here’s a spot where the little ones can doodle, do puzzles, or color. Chances are the little ones (below 6 years old) are going to doodle on something anyways, might as well make it a coloring page that ties into the sermon. I’ve never done this, but I think it’s a good idea. If you’re against church-sanctioned doodling during the worship service, then ignore this one.
4. Testimonials. Perhaps a short word from some of your members about what the Lord has done in their life or how the church has been a blessing.
5. Pastor’s note. Some ministers like to include a short editorial. This is definitely not for those who are averse to writing a different article every week.
6. Bible reading schedule. Whether for the week or the entire month. Many church members enjoy having one in the bulletin.
7. Advertise the Sunday evening and Wednesday evening sermons. Bulletins are normally distributed before the Sunday morning service. Drawing attention to the Sunday evening and mid-week sermons can sometimes stir up interest in those who normally do not attend evening services.
8. New Member Welcome. Post the name and picture of new church members. Sometimes even a short bio is nice.
These were simply ideas for bulletin content – something to fill up those empty spaces.
Let me share with you a few items that should not be included in the bulletin:
1. TMI. Never include the gory details of a “prayer request”. Aside from violating medical privacy issues, people may not want to read a vivid description of Aunt Bertha’s ingrown toenail.
2. Whining. Didn’t raise enough money at last week’s fund raiser? Don’t rebuke the people in the bulletin – it just sounds whiny. (i.e., “Well since we didn’t raise the ten bazillion dollars we need for the new Family Fun Amusement Center, we’ll need to have another car wash this Saturday.")
3. Bad graphics. Cheesy clipart and grainy photos make your church bulletin look cheap. Seriously.
4. Bad grammar. Quotation marks, exclamation points and capital letters are overused. Quotes should “never”, I mean never, be used for emphasis. And one exclamation point at the end of a sentence please!!!!!!!!! USING CAPITAL LETTERS FOR MORE THAN PROPER NOUNS AND THE BEGINNING OF SENTENCES WILL MAKE YOUR BULLETIN READ LIKE AN ANGRY TEENAGER’S FACEBOOK PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh. And the spell checker? You sit. I mean use it.
I hope you will find a few of my suggestions helpful, and that your bulletin will have that beautiful balance between crammed-full and bare-bones lean.
Next time: making the bulletin look sharp.
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Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/1387587933/
1 comments:
This was funny.
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