Five Tips for Creating a Church Newsletter

Sure you get a church bullet every week announcing events going on in your congregation, but a newsletter can be even more effective. Articles provide important information and can help you get to know your fellow church goers a little better. And a newsletter can be used as a way of enticing unsaved family and friends to come to your church and possibly even be saved. The newsletter can be non-intrusive and encourage them to come on their own. So why not put a newsletter together?

Here are 5 tips to help you start your newsletter:

Consider the reader
Before creating your newsletter for the first time, take into consideration whether or not this is for the congregation to inform them of things taking place within the church or if this will be read by the general community as a way to encourage them to find their way through your church doors. If it's for the congregation, the reader will probably be aware of the various fellowship groups and the events they have. If that's the case, just jump right and explain what happened or what is going to take place. If its for the general community, you may need to explain the fellowship group's purpose before telling them about the event.

Keep God in It
Make sure you content doesn't become solely about entertainment and deviate away from the main message of God and the church's purpose. It's ok to keep it light hearted and fun, just remember to keep God in it by keeping the article's religious based and including bible verses.

Include photos
Clip art is great, but photos can be more affective. They give the reader the opportunity to "see" what's going on and to get to know people. Plus, it adds a more personal touch.

Provide incentive
With the amount of magazines, promotional materials, school paper and other things, it can be easy for a church newsletter to get lost in an endless mountain of paper. However, if you provide incentive for church members to read it and keep it at hand, you're newsletter is more likely to be affective. Consider including a biblical crossword puzzle that readers can complete and bring to church the next week to redeem for a Christian related prize.

Include testimonials
Many people have had hardships that God has seen them through. Others in the congregation may be inspired by these triumphs and if someone in the general community reads it, they may even be saved. Be sure to include these stories on a regular basis.

Other things to consider:
Is there a budget for this publication?
Who will create the layout?
Do you have volunteers to staple, address the newsletter and send it out?
Create your newsletter and save it as a .pdf file. Then post it on your website and email it instead of mailing hard copies. You'll save on postage.
Ask for writers in your congregation to contribute to help keep the content interesting and to give others a chance to share information.