Mary Jahnke“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” (The unnaturally aged Bilbo Baggins says this on his eleventy-first birthday in The Fellowship of the Ring.) Can you relate? I’ve felt it, and I’m not even a pastor. So what...
I remember the days of stuffing cash into an offering envelope, then slipping it into the plate as inconspicuously as possible. (Matthew 6:3–5 really stuck with me, even as a kid.) Now I can give in secret anytime, anywhere through my church’s...
Not long ago, I read an article arguing that live streaming doesn’t benefit the Church. But is that true? A sweet saint in my church recently had not one, but two, strokes. Her daughter cares for her at home. She’d be at church in person if she...
SEO means “search engine optimization,” but to a lot of church leaders, it might as well mean “shenanigans extremely out of my depth.” SEO can seem complicated and techy and too much to think about. But it’s worth thinking about because today...
I’m all for “hacks” that make life easier. (Right now, there’s a gallon jug plopped next to me so I actually drink enough water—without umpteen trips to the kitchen.) You? Well, here’s one way to make life easier for anyone who takes part in...
According to Hallmark, Clergy Appreciation Month (aka Pastor Appreciation Month) started in 1992 “with a mission of uplifting and encouraging pastors, missionaries, and religious workers.” I don’t know about you, but I think it was long overdue...
Hi there, elephant in the room. Let’s talk about you . . . “Live streaming church services on Facebook and YouTube is free. So why should we live stream from our church website?” To be honest, before COVID and the...
Sometimes I get to do video chats with pastors as part of my job, and I love it. Their heart for service beams out from the screen, and I walk away blessed. One thing we talk about is Faithlife’s integrated ministry platform. I ask questions like...
It’s so important to modernize your church website design. Why? Here’s a super-short story (see how much you can relate): It happened just this morning. I searched for something and clicked on the first promising result. The page I reached, however...
This comment on a church’s recent live stream caught my eye: “Can’t hear anything. Is this user error?” Other viewers chimed in that the live stream audio had, in fact, gone missing. That live stream mistake isn’t all that common—and it could’ve...
Did you know you can use unscented dental floss to cut cakes? It saves you the hassle of cleaning and drying your knife between every slice, and the results look beautiful. Custom forms in Faithlife Equip are like the dental floss hack for common...
A church website template is like the outlines in a coloring book. You’re the one adding life to the page and creating something worth looking at . . . but wow, it sure helps to have the outlines. You don’t have to be an artist to look like an...
There seem to be countless sermon illustrations on faith—but some are better than others. Find six memorable ones below! Sermon illustration on enduring faith From Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes: Faith honors...
Millennials and Gen Z are weighing heavy on pastors’ hearts these days. According to Barna, When presented with a list of possible challenges facing their church today, half of Protestant pastors note that “reaching a younger audience” (51%) is a...
Tracking your time for even one day can be enlightening—and jaw-dropping. That much time checking emails?! The same goes for common church administration tasks. They seem innocent enough. Quick enough. Until you realize they’ve eaten up four hours...
First Corinthians 15:19 says, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Because of Christ’s resurrection, we know the opposite is true. As 1 Corinthians continues, “But in fact Christ has been...
Picture this: one of your church members shuffles to the mailbox on her birthday. Maybe she’s feeling a little sad or spread too thin. She finds a card from the insurance guy, a real estate agent, and one that’s really special—from your church! Or...
Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” The same could be said for your church media. The right image can stop the...
At the beginning of COVID, Faithlife did a video series unlike we’d ever done before. It made a splash in the Church Communication Facebook group, but it didn’t get posted on all the places Faithlife usually shares new things (like this blog, for...
These days, many churches are finding themselves running in-person and live stream services at the same time. With the same singing and sermon, how does it still end up feeling like double the work? It doesn’t have to. You can easily add an...
There are no shortcuts to an effective church capital campaign. (Sorry!) But there are simple ways to avoid common pitfalls so your church is set up for success. Whether your church will be planning a capital campaign soon, you’re gearing up to...
How will they believe if they haven’t heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? These are great questions posed by Scripture. However, we may want to ask one more question in the digital age: How will they find the preacher without a church...
“Reading the Bible isn’t the same as studying the Bible.” I remember learning that as a kid, sitting in the far-left row of Mrs. Bucy’s Sunday school class. Back then, Bible study tools were printed Bibles, bulky concordances (and even bulkier...
Have you ever reread a line in an email and thought, “Yikes. That’s not how I wanted it to come across”? (Please say it’s not just me . . . ) The same thing can happen with sermons. Preachers know their people-loving, mission-minded intentions for...
A church capital campaign isn’t some cold, flavorless thing done just to get a little more wiggle room in the budget. It’s a labor of love, a “passion project” to enable work that matters for eternity. It’s about serving people. Serving the Lord...
Surprised at how busy this year has already been? Me too. How’d you like to save some time? Shave off minutes–hours with Proclaim + Pro Media, where you won’t have to scroll endlessly through church media that’s too cheesy or too drab to draw...
Confession: I have a soft spot for paper hymnals. They keep everyone on the same page, show the lyrics and music, and give you a look at what’s next. Plus, flipping pages can be fun. (Maybe that’s just me?) But I can’t tell you the last time I used...
Hi there, leader. We see you. Adjusting through COVID has been rough for everyone, but even more so for you. You’ve got people counting on you and people you want to help, but it’s tough to even get people to talk in small group. You’ve had to...
If there’s one thing almost all churches can agree on right now, it’s that online communication is important. In a survey conducted over the summer, Faithlife found that nearly 80% of churches would not only keep hosting some form of online service...
“How is it almost Christmas?” I ask that almost every year—but especially in this one . . . 2020 . . . the year that has somehow moved by slower than a slug but quicker than a Tesla Model S on the Autobahn—simultaneously. (Motion sickness, much?) ...