Ryan NelsonSeveral years ago, the New York Times observed that “members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life...
“What you say and how you say it aren’t disconnected ideas,” says Micah Ellis, the design director at Faithlife. “They aren’t separable.” Communication is more than the words you choose. Tone, body...
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Your pastors do so much for you, your church, and your community. How do you show them that you appreciate their ministry and encourage them to continue? A pastor recently told me, “I work with so many...
With Faithlife, you can create online church bulletins for your congregation to access on any device (before, during, or after your service). Every week, churches print off thousands of bulletins—most of which never actually leave the building. It...
Defining your church’s brand is about helping people find their place in the body of Christ. It’s an expression of how the passions your people carry collide with the community you inhabit. It’s a physical reflection of the...
Church newsletters are a great way to keep people in the loop about what’s going on with your ministry. If people are supporting you with their finances, their prayers, or their time, a good newsletter can be encouraging, and even...
Church growth and church visitors go together. After all, how does your church grow if not by adding new people? Most churches follow one of these two approaches—but which is better in the long run? Approach #1: Full speed ahead Suppose...
In Every Square Inch, Dr. Bruce Riley Ashford surveys a variety of perspectives on the relationship between Christianity and culture. According to Ashford, the conversation boils down to these three main views: 1. Christianity against culture This...
Every person has a unique journey to your doorstep. A story that led them to your church. Maybe they just moved into town after years of being highly involved in a church that’s now miles away—and you’re conveniently located near their...
Proclaim’s team of designers constantly produces fresh sermon backgrounds, announcement slides, motions, and more. You may have noticed that with the exception of mini-movies and Bible animations, we produce media “sets,” not...
Proclaim makes it easy to record your sermons, and publishing them online or in a podcast is nearly effortless. But what if you want to review your sermons with staff, a mentor, or on your own? Or, more importantly, what’s the best way for...
Facilitating corporate worship is a big responsibility. Everything you do, every choice you make, is intended to lead your congregation to worship their creator more fully. Some churches play the same songs frequently to make it easier for people to...
When you can’t even get your congregation to say, “Good morning,” it might be hard to imagine those same blank faces giving you personal answers to questions that matter during the service. But thanks to smartphones, that’s...
Anyone who has ever missed a week of school knows what it feels like to be a church visitor walking in on the end of a sermon series. They look around the room and wonder, “Does everyone else know what he’s talking about? Am I the only...
Your church is people, not a place. Your community is not defined by the buildings you gather within, or the spaces you inhabit. When people visit your church, every interaction they have with your members shapes how they feel about your church as a...
People don’t walk through the door of your church with a big tag that says “Visitor” on it. And hopefully, you aren’t handing those out when they get inside. Especially in a big church, it’s hard to tell newcomers from...
“I visited an Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, and the design and silence of the room made me feel like I had to take my hat off to be there,” says Eleazar Ruiz, a senior designer at Faithlife. As the former art director at Mars Hill...
Your follow-up plan for visitors isn’t a biannual program you turn on before Christmas and Easter. Those are obviously the weekends you can expect the most newcomers, but your church should always be refining the journey from visitors to...
Looking for church website advice? Justin Wise, author of The Social Church, has three principles that should guide how you design and operate your website. *** “Think of [your church website] as like your online home base,” says Justin...
“The same way a campfire draws us into conversation and deep thought, on a basic level, abstract animation captures our attention,” says Fred Sprinkle, Faithlife’s motion graphics team lead. But using animation well isn’t as...
It’s not hard for a church to be on social media. But it takes a lot of work to do it well. In an interview with Faithlife Today, Justin Wise, author of The Social Church: A Theology of Digital Communication, shared some things every church...
Imagine if every small group in your church started with a 10 minute video lesson taught by a prominent seminary or Bible college professor. The videos were designed for the classroom, so they’re perfect for watching together. The content is...
Good design is about clearly communicating your message. Every component of your church presentation should visually align with what you’re trying to say to your congregation. But that’s not easy to do. Without a clear understanding of...
“What’s your calling?” How you answer that question could change the way you see your entire life. The answer—and the process of learning how to answer—helps us find our place within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4–30)...
It’s no secret that conferences are expensive. Unless you live in the right city and incredible opportunities are in your own backyard, the biggest cost of that high-caliber teaching isn’t actually the teaching—it’s getting to the...
You’ve seen it before. Your sermon is going great, but for some reason the sound tech is trying to distract you. They’re interpretive dancing a message to you. You’re supposed to do something—something is wrong—but what? It’s...
When you’re onstage, you don’t see what the audience sees. It’s all bright lights and (hopefully) smiling faces. That’s why it helps to have someone in the sound booth who can discreetly tell you when your mic is off, or...
Right now, there are people in your church who want to volunteer, but aren’t involved yet. Some of them are waiting for the right opportunity—the role that perfectly aligns with their gifts. Others are literally just waiting to be asked. The...
Faithlife’s online church bulletins provide you with a convenient way for your congregation to follow your service. For those in your church who are always skeptical of downloading new apps or guard their email addresses with their lives, this...
Every week, churches use an ancient technology to collect contact information and track attendance: paper bulletins. In addition to supporting the recycling and waste management services in your community, those paper bulletins create a lot of...