United Methodist Communications, posted a great story on Connecting with you the “unplugged” in your church.
Here is a little excerpt from their website. You can read the full story here.
Connecting with the “unplugged” in your church
Your goal is to make sure every church member is informed about meetings, events and volunteer opportunities. While today’s technology allows for richer communication options than ever before, studies have shown that “the digital divide is still a very real issue.”
According to former Mashable writer Alex Fitzpatrick, “while 91 percent of Americans as a whole have access to wired broadband speeds, there is a very different reality if you lack a college education, if you’re poor or if you’re Hispanic or African American.” The same disparity exists in rural and urban areas versus the suburbs.
Here are ways to improve your communication with those who are “unplugged.”
Reinvent the church bulletin
The format of the church bulletin has remained relatively unchanged over the past century, except from moving from hand-drawn art to clip art. Take a fresh look at the bulletin and redesign it from the ground up. Think about the experience from when people receive it from an usher, use in a worship service and possibly save it afterward.
According to a survey by Thom Rainer, CEO of LifeWay Christian resources, congregants want a high-quality bulletin with the order of worship, sermon notes/outline, attendance/stewardship statistics and brief announcements. For the announcements, focus on the key three to four opportunities to which you want worshippers to respond and ensure they have a way to act on it.
Make pre-worship announcements
Many churches take the first 15 minutes of their worship service to review the announcements in detail. Use PowerPoint to enhance announcements. Create an “announcement reel” to play 15 minutes before the service starts. Keep announcements simple and well designed. Limit in-person announcements to the most critical items for the church. Use a “ministry spotlight” approach instead of reading announcements that are already in the bulletin.
