Church announcements are an important feature of church activities. They provide the order and direction in which church activities will be conducted.
Also, they are perfect for sensitizing the congregation on important situations. This makes them a vital part of church services that should not be ignored. Church members sometimes complain that announcements bore them.
Best Practices to Make Church Announcements
However, this is a way to keep them informed about the life and decisions of the church. In this article, we have gathered 10 practices that will make your announcements clear, concise, and riveting to your audience.
1. Acknowledgements
First, acknowledge and welcome your guests. Thank them for their presence and make them feel at home. This will set them at ease and reassure them of their importance. A pastor in my church did this a lot.
He would thank everyone for coming for service. He did this to stir the hearts of the youths into attending service. The trick worked. Within six months of his “thanks”, the church was filled to the brim with enthusiastic youths who felt wanted.
This is one of many examples of the power that respect and acknowledgment wield and when used, does more work than hours of counseling would have done.
2. Provide Channels
Provide channels to reach out to and connect with the congregation. Say, the church members want to know more about programmes advertised in church; providing little details such as phone numbers, bank account details etc will make things easier for them. With this, these pieces of information will be removed from the verbal announcements and make it shorter.
3. Be Brief
Any minister who stands to address the congregation should be brief and straight to the point. The most urgent items on the list should be spoken of and addressed.
Congregants can be referred to other sources of information such as a board or even emails for more explanations. New members who’d like to keep in touch could be given a form to fill. Their phone numbers too will be used to communicate any new events in the church to them.
4. Be clear about the next steps in an event sequence
If you’re making announcements for events or giving guidelines, choose simple words. When making announcements, aspire to communicate your need and not impress.
This way, you’d have willing church members who will gladly avail themselves of jobs. Again, with this, you wouldn’t risk misconception or having a horde of confused congregants looking for explanations after the service.
5. Create and use social media handles
The world’s number one news source for a lot of people are social media outlets. To see that members are reminded of important services or programmes, invest in this. You could create different accounts for the best purpose.
This will help you reach a wider audience. A good example is this: A pastor and his wife were holding a conference on marital life and what it entails. Outreaches were done.
People were contacted, flyers were distributed but the turnout wasn’t as good as they thought it would be. The next year, friends living in different cities advised that they create a Youtube channel and stream the event live.
They were skeptical but did it anyway. The turnout was much better than before. Trust me, nothing appeals more to people than being able to sit back and enjoy your content without having to show up in person.
6. Emails
These are a really good channel for distributing such things as memos, newsletters, updates about events. They could be used to send out weekly updates and even devotionals to congregants to bolster their faith.
Collecting emails from members of the church is a sure-fire way of reaching them. You get to send out information in large quantities without spending much.
You cut short the time spent speaking in church. Again, you can easily reach out and get their take on issues using opinion polls. These emails should be arranged and worded properly for accuracy and clarity. That way, the message passed is clear and there’ll be no need for further consultations.
7 Videos/ Banners
Announcements about service could also be made using videos and banners depending on the intended audience. Videos of an upcoming conference or other important events could be made and uploaded on social media platforms.
Using videos ensures that you connect with your audience and bring the event live to them. Banners could even be stationed along roads to remind and invite people. Also, there could be an outreach organized by the church to sensitize people about these programmes.
This means that there will be a wider coverage using these media in comparison to the traditional oral announcements.
Related: How to Pick the right domain name for your Church Website
8 Doing it at the Right Time
Every church announcer should be a good time manager and seize the best times for pronouncements. Announcements, ideally, should be made towards the end of service. They should not be made at the beginning or middle in order to avoid disrupting the service.
9. Rehearse and Read through
Every announcer in the church should read through them before the worship service. Whoever is responsible for announcements should also have the information they need. Reading through them ahead of time will help in spotting errors, asking questions and being confident when reading them to the public
.10 Soundchecks
A technical malfunction could destroy the bliss of service likewise announcements. The announcer should make sure that he has the right equipment for doing his duty. Audio checks should be done before service.
Speakers, microphones and switchboards should be set and tested. Also, if hand-held microphones are not comfortable, he could choose another. Speakers should be positioned in such a way that they are loud and clear without being deafening. This will prevent any complaints or misinterpretations.
Giving announcements in a church could be a tasking job. You have to figure out the right channels to use, sort the information to be passed, and include prompt follow-up. But, with careful precision and following the guidelines above, you’ll be sure to perform well.