Church announcements. That’s it. It’s written. I’m sorry for making you think about this subject.
By just writing this, many of you giggled at the thought of how bad some are, others frowned because it’s the “root canal” moment of church service while some just decided to daydream (after all, who cares about announcements!). Many actually question the pertinence of them – until they have to promote an event or push a specific project. Then, announcements suddenly become necessary.
SO, what is the issue with announcements then? Well, there are a few.
- They last too long (too often)
- Since every church does them, it must then be necessary
- The timing in the service is off
- Somebody talks, but nobody listens
- Too informational or too much information is communicated
- The delivery is awful, or cheesy, or __________ (fill in the blank)
- You can add to this list
It is possible to create a moment in your weekend experience where announcements are necessary and wanted. If you really want to find out how, keep on reading!
The Reason and Purpose of Your Announcements
If you spend those precious minutes in giving information, overload folks with “what’s happening in the next few months” or worse, repeat the same thing over and over again, then you are wasting your time and energy, as well as your crowd’s attention. If such is the case, the “when during the service” won’t matter. WHY you say it and HOW you communicate it matters way more than WHEN you say it or even WHAT you say.
When you figure out WHY you desire to take 3-5 minutes of your service will be the day announcements won’t be dreaded anymore. They are necessary and exist for four main reasons, in this specific order.
- Bring inspiration more than information
- Direct people to next steps for action
- Promote an event or church service for involvement
- Address at least 50% of your audience
If these four filters don’t fit your announcement(s), please DON’T DO IT! Information is forgotten (or will be) while inspiration will bring action, thus the next steps. Want to promote the upcoming water baptism? Or William’s small group going on a hiking weekend? Or the Super Bowl’s wings & ribs get together? By using the four filters, you’ll discover you could decide to boost two of these. Sorry, William.
How to Make Inspiring Announcements
You have identified the WHY of your announcements, now is time to determine the HOW. There are a few important principles to follow.
Bring inspiration by using stories
Storytelling has been used by humans since the dawn of time. It allows people to focus without asking their energy.
Limit the number to three announcements
Whatever they are and whenever you do them, draw that hard line. If you want to talk about the offering every week, understand you have a maximum of two other subjects you can tackle. More than three drains too much time or energy
Plan a maximum of three to five minutes total during service
People come to church for a time of refreshing, teaching, replenishing, worship and certainly not for announcements.
Be creative
You can use a video to inspire to action. You can interview on stage someone who met Christ in a small group. Ask people to take their cell phone and dial 55555 to receive this week’s announcements by text.
Rotate announcers
One common denominator of “bad” announcements is the messenger. The person can someone be unprepared, lacking charisma to hold attention or even doesn’t want to be there! You have the privilege to choose people who can do this task. Some of your people could be great at this!
Address your whole congregation, visitors and insiders alike
Forget the “Go see Angie in the foyer for more info” or “See John for signups.” What happens if someone doesn’t know Angie or John?! You assuredly do not want your first-time guests to innately understand they’re not part of or invited to the club because they don’t know your two most known stars.
Use all your means of communication for announcements
You have a website, social media accounts or email list? Use those also. Publish other announcements in your bulletin or on your church app.
ALWAYS welcome your first-time guests and online viewers (if you any)
Pay attention to your communication
If your words matter, and they do, the body language and tone of voice must be accounted for as well. Nothing will kill great words of inspiration like a monotone and slow rhythm speaker.
When to Make Your Inspiring Announcements
When considering the timing of announcements, the evaluation will range from “good,” “great,” and “excellent” in regard to your audience. This is an important consideration as your announcements are aimed at your congregants and meant to help take a next step.
Good
When you have a slide show that loops every few minutes before service starts, it is good. You can even include video and sound during that time. Obviously, most of your church is not there yet. Nonetheless, your participants access additional information. Same thing after the final “amen.” This one may be the least effective though. When people start walking out, they’re disconnecting.
Great Option 1
Many churches have two different moments. One before the service (usually 5 minutes prior to service with a live host of video) and one before the message. By doing this, the church usually plans two different types of announcements. Part one is more calendar oriented (upcoming activities and series for example) and part two is wired for the whole church (offering, first-time guests, next steps and stories). The beauty of this method is that the important things that can inspire are planned when everyone is there! We all know how late church people can be, so 25-33% of people miss part one.
Though efficient, this method offers a whomping 5-8 minutes of announcements in a 75–80-minute service. That a is huge amount of time.
Great Option 2
Basically the same as the previous idea except that it has part one of announcements after the first or second song. Most people are now in the main auditorium, which makes it great. They will hear the informational things. What is not so great about this? No call to action, which goes against the needed filters and it cuts the tempo of worship.
Great Option 3
Let’s assume you want 1 period of announcements. Do a pre-service slide show and one announcement moment before the message. This is possibly the most common way churches use. You use the 4-filter strategy to choose your announcements and then you welcome the communicator.
If there is an issue with this way, it is this: you come out of an uplifting worship time to listen to announcements prior to going back to a message. That 3-minute break may well break people’s attention and the pastor needs to grab it back!
Excellent Option 1
Possibly the best way to do announcements is to have only one 3-minute moment before the last song, assuming there are four songs. Here’s why: most churches will have more rhythmic songs early in the service which blend into one or two mid-tempo ones. It is very feasible to transition to a live speaker matching the energy of the room that begins his announcements. Since there will be a call to next steps and people will be inspired to action, the host can easily call people to stand up, pray them into one last song that leads into the message.
A version of this is the worship leader introducing the host or video announcements. At the end of service, the pastor can effortlessly send off the attendants.
Excellent Option 2
Same as the previous but with the little nuance that announcements are made after the first or second song.
Announcements are necessary and can be a great thing for your church life. There is no perfect method of delivery, but you can choose from these proven approaches. All things considered, your WHY and HOW are more important than your WHEN and WHAT. As it is often quoted: “Make more moves and less announcements.” Make it count and inspire!
