CHURCH BULLETIN
PURPOSE: The church bulletin is the first and maybe the only printed material a visitor may receive when visiting a local church. The bulletin can be an extremely effective communication tool for the local church. Creating a bulletin that gets read and used can be an art. This project is intended to help young people develop the skills to use creative ideas and techniques to communicate information about their church to both the visitor and the regular attendees. The hope is to show another area of the church that needs creative people to be leaders.
PROCESS:
Each Participant will:
1. Create four DIFFERENT bulletins (three “Sunday Morning” bulletins and one special program – e.g. Christmas Eve, Faith Promise, Special mid-week guest, LTC Event, etc.)
a. At least one of the three “Sunday Morning” Bulletins should reflect this year’s LTC
theme.
2. Bulletins will measure 81/2” x 11”, 81/2” x 14”, or 11″ x 17″ prior to folding.
3. This may be a team event. A team can consist of 2 or 3 participants.
4. Mail to the Event Director by the Pre-convention deadline.
THE PACKAGE MUST BE POSTMARKED
ON OR BEFORE THE PRE-CONVENTION DEADLINE
The Event Director will:
1. Send confirmation of receipt to the Church Coordinator if a pre-addressed, stamped envelope or an email address is included.
2. Organize the bulletins for judging.
3. Provide Judge’s Score Sheets for your three judges.
4. Compile judging sheets and assign award category G, S, B, P.
5. Mail all judging sheets, comment sheets, a copy of each Bulletin with its cover sheet, and all award recommendations to the Pre-Convention Coordinator by April 1st.
REQUIRED ELEMENTS:
1. Date
2. Church Identification: Name and / or Logo, Address, Phone Number
3. Contact information: Minister’s name & phone number; Who and How to contact for more info.
4. Things to know before next week
a. Weekly schedule of activities; Upcoming events
5. Welcome
6. Useful Information:
a. Nursery?
b. Children’s classes?
c. Facilities information?
OPTIONAL ELEMENTS:
1. Statement of Faith / Purpose
2. Artwork / Graphics
3. Sermon outline / Place for notes
4. Prayer List
5. Guest Information: Their information for us
NOTE:
A bulletin is NOT a newsletter although it will contain news events. It needs to contain enough information without inundating the reader with needless details. It should be visually appealing:
using a variety of fonts, graphics, and s p a c e can make it attractive.
RULES:
1. The bulletin must be created, formatted, designed, etc. by the participant. Glean the information you need and use YOUR OWN creativity to put it together.
2. Please remember to follow any and all appropriate copyright laws. Thank you.
SUBMISSION
Send bulletins, along with cover sheet (use format on pg. 20) to the Church Bulletin Event Director (see pg. 19). In addition, the following information needs to be included at the bottom of the cover sheet:
Type of equipment / program used:
Computer, typewriter, etc
Publisher, WORD, MAC, other
Printer: Color / Black & White? Inkjet / Laser / other?
Copier, Duplicator, etc
Internet resources used.
Indicate by date if any of your bulletins were actually used by your church?
AWARDS:
1. There will be three Judges. Comment sheets will be provided for each participant in the Take Home Packet.
2. An award rating will be assigned based upon the three Judges scores on a 5 point scale:
a. 5 = Excellent, 4 = Good, 3 = Average, 2 = Below Average, 1 = Needs work
3. Participants will be assigned a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Participation Rating based upon the judges scores and will receive an appropriate-colored engraved plate for the individual’s award plaque. A team plaque will be awarded to teams.