Communication is a skill that you can learn.
– Brian Tracy
It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.
Church communication can get messy fast. One team member creates a social post on Facebook, another ends an email with a slightly different message, and the Sunday slides somehow end up with a third version of the same announcement.
No wonder people are confused!
Clear communication doesn’t need to be flashy, in fact, it’s better if it’s not. It just takes intentionality. When our messages are confusing, people check out. But when people understand, they engage.
So here are a few simple church communication tips to help you stop confusing your church—and start connecting instead.
1. What Are You Really Trying to Say?
Before you design a slide or write an email, take five seconds to answer this question:
“What’s the one thing I want people to do or know?”
That one question can save hours of editing later.
Too many announcements try to do too much by listing every detail and then tack on the action step at the end. Keep the annoucement simple and direct people to the website for all the details.
Start with your goal. Cut the rest. Clarity is kindness.
Protip: Make your announcment graphic beautiful by keeping it clutter free. Add a QR code or your web address to the slide as an action step to for the details.
2. One Call To Action
Asking people to check the website, text a number, fill out a paper form, and talk to “Steve after service,” it’s more like a scavenger hunt than communication.
Pick one clear next step and make it obvious.
If sign-ups are online, say that. If they’re in the lobby, say that. If both, pick one to emphasize. People will thank you for making it easy.
3. Help EVERYONE Catch the Vision
“Meet in the usual room” isn’t helpful to a new person. It can also feel exclusive and make people feel they need to be “in the know” to participate.
Instead, don’t be afraid to spell it out. Assume someone reading your email or listening to an announcement has never been to your church before.
When writing your commucation, ask yourself it would make sense to a guest.
4. Get Your Team on the Same Page
Communication breaks down when everyone’s sending different messages.
Use a shared document, Google Calendar, or group chat to make sure everyone knows what’s being said, when, and where. That way, your social media person, your announcement slides, and emails all say the same thing.
Your congregation will notice the difference—even if they can’t quite name why it suddenly feels less chaotic.
5. Say Less So People Hear More
We’ve all been in services where the announcements feel like a second sermon. When everything is emphasized, nothing stands out.
If your church has ten announcements every Sunday, it might be time to cut back and prioritize. That doesn’t mean some events or groups are more important than others—it simply means your congregation’s attention is valuable. Each event deserves its own moment, and when everything is shared at once, nothing stands out.
Pick one or two key things you want people to remember each week. Then say them clearly with a simple call to action.
Protip: If Sunday annoucements are full up and there’s yet another event that needs attention, lean into your other channels of communication (social and email) for that event.
What’s the point?
Clear communication frees people up to connect and serve without reserve.
We don’t need to hire a pro marketer (although it does feel that way at times, doesn’t it?). It does, however, require a little planning and thoughfulness for your faith community and their capacity to hold even more info than what the world is inundating them with already.
Church communication isn’t something to be good at just for the sake of it—it’s about helping connect with God and others.
And that’s worth getting right.
