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Most Popular
- 7 ways to attract new members
- The goal should not be to get people in church as fast as you can. Rather—when the time is right—invite people to become part of a ministry.
- Change the world: 5 sweet outreach ideas
- Many non-Christians would prefer to be introduced to your church by participating in outreach than attending Sunday morning service.
- 7 awesome ideas for Holy Week and Easter
- Lent and Easter is quickly approaching. If you’ve been racking your brain for ideas (or just procrastinating), we have you covered.
- 11 party games and jokes for team building
- Consider using these at your next youth event, church retreat or leadership training. Youthful attitudes required!
- Church marketing plan enhances outreach
- A new online tutorial resource is available to help you connect your ministries with the community.
- 10 church signs that make people cringe
- Many churches think their pithy sayings are witty and attractive. In reality, however, the messages may be lame and embarrassing.
- 8 church communication faux pas
- Effective church communication is more than preaching a sermon that inspires. It requires careful planning and consideration of your audience.
- Liven up your church directory in print and online
- Make the church directory an indispensible ministry tool for everyone to use.
- 9 tips to deal with conflict in your church
- Conflict is inevitable, but it can be managed. Use these tips yourself or with others in your church.
- Do you have an online communication policy?
- Social media opens a whole new can of worms — the need to protect you and your church while encouraging online interactions.
- More bang for your graphic design efforts
- Stock your design toolbox with inexpensive tools. Make your job easier and your projects shine!
- Brilliant brochure design
- The first step to good design has nothing to do with pictures, words, lines or layout.
- Should your church advertise on Facebook? (part one)
- The answer is a resounding “yes!” When you advertise on Facebook, you can reach almost any demographic imaginable, efficiently and effectively.
- 7 rules to reach the masses via Facebook (part two)
- These few tips will help you creatively and strategically make the most of your advertising dollars.
- Radio advertising rockettes
- With the Christmas season quickly approaching, seeker’s minds are ripe for attending church and re-igniting that fire for Christ.
- 5 types of church visitors: Are you ready for them?
- If we want our congregations to grow, if we believe that’s part of God’s calling, our identity may change as our membership does.
- 7 practical elements of welcoming
- The ministry of welcoming is the responsibility of the entire church family, not of a committee or a few volunteers. Remember these seven elements.
- Roll out the welcome mat this Christmas
- Some church members seem so engrossed in catching up with their family and friends that visitors end up feeling like part of the décor.
- Make welcoming church leaders a rich experience
- In January, many congregations welcome new officers and leaders. For a rich experience for everyone, include a time of commissioning or recognition during worship.
- Make your church a melting pot
- Does your church reflect the community? Welcoming the immigrant population requires more than just opening your church doors.
- Free software downloads: office and ministry tools
- Software, graphic design tools and music licenses can cost churches thousands of dollars. However, many programs have a free and open source equivalent.
- Make your homepage sizzle like bacon!
- Look at your Web site as though you were a seeker. Ask yourself, “Based solely on this website, would I want to go here?”
- Top 10 best practices for web ministry
- If your church wants to maintain a dynamic, interactive and user-friendly Web ministry, use these top-10 best practices.
- 5 minutes of (unwanted?) fame
- Before you post video and photographs from your church’s events online, use these best practices.
- Practicing the means of grace through your website
- Learn how your church website can guide individuals to practicing the "means of grace." This will enhance individual spirituality, as well as the spirituality of the whole church.
- Top 10 UMC Facebook posts for your church
- Ten of our favorite Facebook posts from The United Methodist Church that garnered lots of attention.
- Bring on the fans! It’s getting hot on Facebook!
- Learn how to reach new visitors, conduct online Bible studies, promote community, announce events and more?
- Facebook Timeline: Explained and debunked
- Just when churches hopped on the Facebook train and got it figured out, a new, fancier steamer called the Facebook Timeline shows up. Facebook Timeline has new implications, different algorithms and more choices that require a new mindset.
- The 10 commandments of social media
- You may wonder, “How can I engage my church, our programs and our people in social media?" The answer is easy: participate.
- Social media etiquette handbook
- Whether you use Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums or websites, proper etiquette can set the tone for how people view you and your church.
- Free software downloads: office and ministry tools
- Software, graphic design tools and music licenses can cost churches thousands of dollars. However, many programs have a free and open source equivalent.
- Sample the online freebies for churches
- Come with me down the licorice path into the treasure trove of online freebies for churches.
- Liven up your church directory in print and online
- Make the church directory an indispensible ministry tool for everyone to use.
- "E" can stand for easy in e-Newsletters
- An e-newsletter needs to be easy to do, easy to distribute and easy to understand. Creating a plan of attack is crucial for success.
- 30 e-mail tips you need to know…OR ELSE
- The following best practices will help optimize your e-mails, so the design is consistent across all e-mail clients.
- Play movies with purpose and legal permission
- Movie plots are proof that Hollywood learned a long time ago about the modern-day morality issues that pastors address weekly from the pulpit.
- 2009 movies that will preach
- Consider showing a clip from one these films to drive your message home in a culturally meaningful and relevant way.
- Flip camera: an ideal tool for ministry
- Thanks to the Flip camcorder, sharing a viewpoint is now as easy as recording a video clip and downloading it online via a USB port.
- 5 ways to satiate tech savvy people in your church
- Technology is exponentially increasing ways to engage in worship outside the traditional service.
- Power up worship visuals
- Researchers estimate people retain only 10 to 20 percent of what they hear. If they listen and see, that retention rate climbs to 50 to 80 percent.
- 5 worship trends for the unattached
- Consider these five trends as your worship committee or staff work together to design culturally relevant worship experiences.
- Sample the online freebies for churches
- Come with me down the licorice path into the treasure trove of online freebies for churches.
- 5 tips to strengthen your worship music
- Worship takes many different forms, but a good music ministry is key to creating a hospitable environment for worshipping God.
- Play movies with purpose and legal permission
- Movie plots are proof that Hollywood learned a long time ago about the modern-day morality issues that pastors address weekly from the pulpit.
- 6 reasons churches don’t use projection in worship — and how to overcome them.
Some churches invest in projection technology, only to realize it isn’t practical to use in their worship space. Consider these points before diving in.
- Rethink Church: Get Your Congregation Started
- You’ve cultivated conversation about “Rethink Church.” Your members are enthusiastic about what it could mean for your congregation. Now it’s time to begin.
- Rethink Church: why and how to involve your congregation
- “Rethink Church” aims to show seekers of spiritual meaning that in United Methodism’s mission of world transformation, they may find hope.
- Rethink Church: prepare your congregation
The single most important way to ready your congregation to embark on the “Rethink Church” journey is to start the conversation.
- Sum is greater than parts when churches work together
- Your church can tackle projects that seem unimaginable to do alone, but feasible when working with other churches and community groups.
- Rethink your couch: a new spin on mission
- What if missionaries received free lodging wherever they traveled? What if the church opened its doors to people all over the world?
- ‘Don’t go to church’ Sunday!
- Read on before making a beeline to the breakfast bar at your favorite restaurant.
- Electronic giving increases tithing
- Fewer people today are using cash and checks for their financial transactions. As a result, churches have an opportunity to expand their giving opportunities.
- Beyond the bake sale: cool fundraising ideas for everyone
- Let's face it. Often, there's no "fun" in fundraiser. If your congregation is growing weary of the same old events every year, try variations of familiar ideas.
- Sum is greater than parts when churches work together
- Your church can tackle projects that seem unimaginable to do alone, but feasible when working with other churches and community groups.
- Assess your church’s financial health
- Do not assume people have enough information, experience and understanding of the ministry of giving. Doing annual financial checkups is important.
- Christmas ideas: We asked. You responded.
- Here are some of the ideas clergy, worship planners and other leaders shared via Facebook and Twitter when asked, “What are your plans for Christmas Sunday?”
- ‘Don’t go to church’ Sunday!
- Read on before making a beeline to the breakfast bar at your favorite restaurant.
- Make holiday worshipers year-round worshipers
- What if your Christmas and Easter worshipers became year-round worshipers?
- Simple holy week and Easter ideas that inspire
- Holy Week and Easter suggest a variety of possibilities to inspire worshipers to understand the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
- Making your church sparkle at Christmas
- Christmas is an ideal time to draw people into your church by hosting Advent activities, reaching out into the community, and making your church more inviting.
- Publicity for pennies!
- Before you slash the marketing budget, let’s look at creative ways you can get your church’s name out in public for less than $90 a month!
- 13 tips for attracting news media
- Your church is having a special event, and you want the whole community to know. How do you get the word to the news media?
- Ten tips for sharing church news in public media
- What is the best way to tell the story of your church? In other words, how can you get the local newspaper, TV or radio station to run your releases and share your news?
- Writing press releases with pizzazz!
- A well-written release increases your exposure, enhances your image and generates good attendance at your event.
- Are you ready to communicate in a crisis?
- Sometime. Somewhere. It’s going to happen. There will be a crisis or controversy in your organization that requires practiced response and handling.
- Moving beyond anecdotes: developing local church member assessments
- After the earlier article, “Know Thyself”, several pastors requested guidelines for doing member surveys. Here are suggestions and a sample questionnaire to get you started.
- Who is my church’s target audience and where do I find them?
- Congregations that help people in need and accept everyone are most likely to attract persons, ages 25 to 54.
- United Methodist churches lack a culture for communications training
- Recent surveys indicate that many churches do not implement communications training.
- Won't you be my neighbor?
- A study by The Barna Group reveals many people counted as “unchurched” may receive spiritual guidance from television, radio or Internet ministries.
- Survey paints troubling picture of U.S. teens
A study sponsored by Junior Achievement and Deloitte, reveals that many young Americans find violence, lying, stealing and cheating acceptable behavior.
- Stop singing the summer attendance blues
- As the mercury rises, the number of feet bounding through your church’s doors decreases. Yet, the need to worship doesn’t go away. Here are some ways to encourage summer worship.
- 9 tips to deal with conflict in your church
- Conflict is inevitable, but it can be managed. Use these tips yourself or with others in your church.
- D-I-V-O-R-C-E spells opportunity to help
- Many people feel estranged from religion after their marriage fails. Give hope to these people by helping them manage their emotional, spiritual and economic challenges.
- 7 tips to prevent staff conflict (part one)
- Here are some tips on preventing staff conflicts – learned the hard way.
- Avoid pastor burnout: plan for vacation
- The very attributes that make pastors good at what they do also make them reluctant to take a vacation. Yet even God rested on the seventh day.
- Increasing harmony and productivity with feng shui
- Do you look at your office as a personal sanctuary or just another extension of a stress-filled life?
- April 25 is Malaria Awareness Day
What if you could save a child’s life just by skipping lunch for one day?
- Mosquito mission: involving youth in malaria prevention
- It’s hard to think that a young person can combat a global health problem as daunting as malaria. That is why I was excited to find Nothing But Nets.
- Take a Personal Energy Audit
- People in faith-based organizations spend a lot of time doing for others. While we all feel lethargic at times, does your energy level lean toward empty?
- United Methodists embrace the fight against malaria
