How often has your team discussed “changing up” the church announcements? Whether you choose the official church greeting at the beginning, after one song, mid-service, or at the end is up to you. When you share church announcements is less important than how you share them.
The flow of your service should not hinge on the timing of greeting the congregation from the stage; whenever you decide is far less critical than using the time with purpose and intentionality. Too often, church announcements are something that leaders feel they have to do and congregations ignore.
When church announcements are just that – no will care about them – leaders included. This attitude is reflected each week, at the same time within the service, by long, drawn-out communications that lack purpose and relevancy.
The problem with poor church announcements is things are happening within and through your church that can help people; they need to inspire the next steps.
In-person or online communication needs to help people move the engagement needle just one degree during your service. Below are best practices for effective church announcements that inspire people to engage.
The Subtle Reason Church Announcements Are So Important
Church announcements are a way to reinforce what you value as a community. This seemingly short (or long) block of time during your gathering has the power to communicate, good or bad, what is essential to your church.
Church announcements done right can inspire people to take action, support the mission, and stay engaged. When you use this time poorly, it can cause your audience to stop paying attention, click away, check their phone, or in other words, disengage.
When it comes down to it, church announcements can subtly communicate whether you value your church’s agenda more than the needs of the people present. Think about it, does your team inadvertently prioritize any of the following while sharing announcements:
- The number of people at an event is more important than how or why it is beneficial
- Giving is necessary to keep the lights on rather than how the church is inspiring life-change
- Little to no preparation instead of thoughtfully planning what to say in front of everyone
- Fear of providing feedback rather than using better-suited communicators
Without much awareness, your words from the stage can misrepresent or do a poor job of genuinely sharing the heart of why what you are announcing matters.
Communication is not about saying what we think. Communication is about ensuring others hear what we mean. – Simon Sinek
Thankfully, there are easy fixes with some intentionality to ensure that your church effectively communicates the values that you most want people to experience and understand.
6 Rules For Better Church Announcements That Inspire Action And Connectivity
Every church is different; however, some principles make communication more effective, regardless of who you are or the organization. Following simple guidelines like knowing who the announcements are for, why it matters, what steps those listening should take, and how to take action or respond will significantly improve your communication.
1. Know Who Is Present
There are two main segments of people to consider when making church announcements. One is significantly larger than the other; however, the other is still significant. The two groups’ communication from the stage should apply to are:
- The Overwhelming Majority
- First Time Guests
If you use service time to make church-wide announcements, the message must apply to at least 50% of the audience or a first-time guest. This rule means that if a communication does not apply to the majority of the room or the specific messaging for first-time guests, do not share the announcement.
For announcements that apply to smaller segments, use other communication methods like the church email list, social media, or pre/post-service slides.
2. Always Welcome First-Time Guests
First-time guests are the exception to the 50% rule regarding church announcements. Acknowledging first-time guests communicates several positive things about your church:
- You plan and prepare for guests
- You welcome visitors
- You care about reaching outsiders
First-time guests need to know three things from your church, aside from the Gospel:
- That your church cares about them
- Wants to know them
- The next steps for deeper engagement
One of the best times to do this is during your church announcements. Let visitors know you’re glad they’re there, lead them to take a next step, and invite them back again next week. – tithe.ly.com
The way you welcome newcomers to your church can make or break their perspectives. Therefore, it’s crucial to acknowledge your guests in every service. Let first-time guests know that you’re happy they’re there; you want to get to know them and their next step.
3. Focus On Why More Than What
It’s not that all of the activities, events, or causes at your church are not important – they’re just not to everyone. Too often, pastors assume that if people see or hear that a lot of things are going on, it will communicate that the church should matter. However, people are searching for why something should matter specifically to them – unfortunately, this is human nature.
Eventually, with a broader perspective of the overall mission of your church, people can come to appreciate all that it does, but to get there, they first need to experience how it meets their needs. To help them get there, use your church announcement time to focus on why what you do is important more than on what you do.
If your church announcements solely focus on what is happening or how to participate and never emphasize why it matters, the information will seem irrelevant.
4. Provide Clear Next Steps
For any announcement that you make, you must always ask, is there a next step that those listening should take. Always consider the call to action that people should take to engage one step further.
The next steps following a church announcement must be:
- Direct
- Simple
- Inspiring
If people do not know what to do, if it is complicated, or do not believe it matters, they will not respond to your call to action. The easiest way to create a next step for individuals at your church is to request their contact information using engaging forms of digital ministry.
Below are three tips for providing effective next steps for first-time guests or other church members during church announcements. Using these tools can help you boost assimilation, increase engagement, and strengthen communication with the people in your church.
Offer Valuable Resources In Exchange For Contact Information
Providing a valuable incentive for people to take action is an effective way to inspire them to take a next step with your church. In the online marketing world, these are known as lead magnets. They are free, downloadable resources that provide value, solve a pain point, and ultimately help their audience.
Churches can use the concept of lead magnets to offer valuable resources when providing next steps or asking for contact information rather than requesting this data without giving a real incentive to do so.
This resource could be something as simple as a PDF checklist of the top five things a first-time guest should do when they visit your church or an e-book on how to find and develop a personal relationship with God. If this idea seems foreign, check out The 5 Effective Types Of Digital Marketing For Churches.
Whether you are asking first-time guests to complete a connect card, encouraging people to sign up for small groups, or inviting them to an upcoming conference, inspiring them to take the next step becomes much easier when they have a reason to do so.
There are two effective ways to provide ongoing follow-up information and relevant communication to those who take the initial next step of providing their contact information: email and SMS text messaging. Both tools are powerful resources that allow you to instantly communicate valuable information to the most interested segments in your church.
Build Your Church Email List
Email is still one of the best ways to stay in touch, communicate, and build relationships with those you want to reach. Plus, providing an email address rather than a form full of information fields is much less intimidating.
If all you get is a new visitor’s name and email upfront, you can always follow up later to get their physical address, age, marital status, et cetera. – prochurchtools.com
It’s a personal and easy way to create a touchpoint between your audience and ministry outside of service times. To learn more about using email in your church, check out the post: The Effective Church Email Marketing Guide.
Utilize Church Texting Services
Like email service providers, church texting services allow you to auto-respond to those who inquire about more information during church announcements.
There are several ways to use text messaging to help your church create more connections with members, first-time guests, or curious onlookers. Visit the post, How To Use Church Texting To Engage And Assimilate More People, to discover how you can use it to send reminders about events, share relevant announcements, and keep people up-to-date.
Acquiring either an email or phone number is a significant initial first step to invite church members to take while sharing church announcements. You can use both of these tools to encourage and facilitate further next steps.
5. Introduce Yourself
The person sharing the church announcements should be sure to introduce themself and their role at the church. This practice helps alleviate any questions about who is speaking and is personal because it puts a face to a name and makes it feel more comfortable. Additionally, greet everyone in attendance, not just first-time guests.
6. Prepare Ahead Of Time
If the announcements are worthy of sharing in front of your largest audiences, they are worth spending time preparing. Your congregation will appreciate thoughtful, engaging communication instead of being ill-prepared or completely winging it.
To best prepare, ensure that you know and understand the following details related to each church announcement:
- What Is The Name/Title Of The Announcement?
- Who Is The Announcement Is For?
- Why Does The Announcement Matter?
- What Is The Next Step To Take?
After you nail down the information, there are additional things you or your team can do to make the announcements even better:
- Designate An Allotted Amount Of Time (brief is better)
- Think Through Transitions
- Create Visuals
- Schedule Announcements While Service Planning
- Use A Loose Script That Anyone Can Follow
- Practice
- Get Feedback
Spending the additional time preparing for the church announcements will be the difference between communication that falls flat and information that engages your congregation.
Church Announcements Summary
The ultimate goal of all church communication is to help those in your church or those you want to reach.
Church announcements that are helpful and provide clear next steps are better than funny, creative, catchy, or trendy communication.
If you or your team prioritize making the announcements in your church better by ensuring that they are necessary, compelling, relevant to the audience, and share a clear call to action, you can significantly increase engagement.
Utilizing this time will require a little planning, but the results will speak for themselves, and your congregation will appreciate it. You will notice a marked difference between following these rules or disregarding them.
