The Sunday Bulletin Episode

April 6, 2016 by Dave Shrein

The episode that impacts nearly every week of your work in the church is finally here! This episode is all about the church bulletin. Whether it is a necessary evil and just refuses to die, or a treasured staple in your worship service. Whatever your position is (or the position of your leadership), there’s always room to improve the effectiveness of your church’s bulletin. In this episode Dave Shrein asks eight questions for you to think through as you evaluate and create a bulletin whose content is geared toward the correct audience.

More About This Episode

In most churches the majority of the congregation only show up one to two weeks per month. This means if you’re changing your content each week, there is a higher chance the people will miss the information that is relevant to them. In order to make your bulletin most effective, you have to look at why you have a bulletin in the first place. You need to really think through who it’s for, and not just keep doing it because that’s the way it’s always been done.

The people who will be handed your bulletin have one thing in common—they have an interest in gathering together on Sunday mornings for your main worship event. By thinking through why they are there in the first place, you can craft your copy to speak directly to them.

What is your main thing, your main focus as a whole congregation for this month, quarter or year? Recall your basic economics lessons on opportunity costs and ask yourself if this bulletin announcement takes away or enhances the main thing. Is it worth competing against that main thing? Your bulletin audience has proven that they are interested and willing to show up and participate in the main thing, they just need to know what that main thing is.

Your bulletin design needs to amplify and compliment your message. But what if the decision for changing the bulletin is not up to you? Do your homework, work through these questions Dave asks and have your answers ready. Then fight to make it purposeful, fight to make it better.

Final Thought: “In a world where print is going away, how can you make your paper stand out?”