Making Church Announcements Not Suck

Let's be honest - church announcements have historically not been the most exhilarating and get-your-blood-pumping type of experiences.  At some point during most services someone comes on stage and shares information on upcoming events, registration deadlines, and opportunities to get involved.  This is important information that needs to be communicated but with seemingly no one a small percentage of people typically reading the bulletin, sharing this information verbally is a necessary component in most churches.

While effective to some degree, we think there can be two challenges with this approach if done week after week:

1) Visitors usually don't care.  While not always true, announcements tend to be internally-focused, aimed at the people who show up week after week.

2) It's not engaging.  Typically the information is really important yet if not communicated in just the right way, the plea for volunteers in the 4th and 5th grade room or the invitation to help at the local food pantry goes in one ear and out the other.

We think there's a better way.  Have you ever walked into your living room when a couple other family members were watching a movie?  Your eyes catch the screen and suddenly you realize 15 minutes have just gone by and you're still standing there.  Most of the time it doesn't matter what the movie is - I find myself doing this when my daughter is watching her personal favorite, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, even though I know how it ends and that Mickey will solve his dilemma with the help of his Mouskatools.  There's something captivating about film.

[Picture of Ella watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse]

This same dynamic can be a powerful tool when it comes to communicating important information in a service.  Rather than having someone stand up in front and communicate your next announcements, next time why not try filming them first and showing the video instead?  This gives you three big advantages:

1) Engaging

Video is engaging - just ask my daughter.  You have important things to share.  Why not communicate it in a way that's sure to get people's attention?

2) You can say exactly what you want to

You don't run the risk of saying the wrong thing, not being clear enough, being too light-hearted, or being too serious.  If you don't like it, you can just film it again, until you get it just right.

3) Visitor-friendly

While your content may still be geared towards those who attend week after week, by using video you're communicating to your visitors that you're relevant and interesting.  We think churches should be doing everything they can to helping visitors feel at home in your church - this is one more step towards that goal.

Equipment

While you can go out and buy thousands of dollars of camera equipment, you don't need to.  iPhones can shoot HD video and iMovie can quickly allow you to edit your video and have it up and running in seconds.

A couple of ministries I've been connected to have been doing a great job at this; I thought I'd share a few of their videos for your own inspiration.

[Video Links]

What do you do to help people engage in the announcements you share?  Have any other tricks?  We'd love to hear them; leave them in the comments below.