There is a communication tool every church has, but few use well:

The bulletin.

Most church bulletins look exactly the same.

Major contact info. Boilerplate language about who to contact for various sacraments. All the prayer and intention lists. Upcoming events. Lots of clip art.

But what if we zoomed out and asked a simple question:

How is the bulletin forwarding our church's mission?

In other words, what's the purpose for your bulletin?

Those questions — and building a strategy around them versus "what we've always done" — is what transforms the bulletin from "necessary evil" to "valued communication tool."

And yes, I know what you're thinking:

Emily, we throw out boxes of bulletins every week. No one's reading or taking the bulletin anymore.

Yep.

Because you're likely not using it to its fullest.

Zero judgment there — I was the bulletin editor at the first church I worked for.

And I know the drill: It's a behemoth of a weekly publication that you somehow inherited under "other duties as assigned."

So you have zero time to think about the bigger picture because you're trying to field angry phone calls from that ministry leader whose event didn't make it in.

(Not to mention you're still copying over the same template the parish secretary created back in 2002.)

It's not that you don't want to use it to its fullest — it's just that no one's taught you how.

But there are strategies you can use to actually get people to take the bulletin, read it, and do what it says.

So I had an idea.*

A Bulletin Bootcamp experience.

5 weeks over the summer where I'd work with a group of churches to walk with you as you makeover your bulletin.

I'd present live each week, helping you develop a real bulletin strategy and plan, a process to make putting the bulletin together WAY easier, and redesigning it to make it something people actually take, read, and do what it says.

(And also work to set up a weekly newsletter version of your bulletin sent via email, and the different strategies you'd use there to collect emails and get people to open them.)

I'm also imagining some kind of forum where you'd be able to share progress, ask questions, and get my feedback as you redesign it.

The goal is that at the end of the 5 weeks, I'd have guided you through a redesign built from strategy and purpose, so you start the fall with a bulletin that is actually a valuable communication tool to every kind of parishioner, not just the 30 people who take it right now.

Anyway, before I put work into planning that, I'd love to gauge interest on it.

If this is something you'd be even remotely interested in, could you vote below?

If you vote yes, you'll get taken to an optional, longer survey with a place to submit what you're struggling with in bulletin design/planning right now, so I can make sure I address the struggles you're facing.

Also, if you vote yes, there is zero commitment. I'm just trying to gauge interest at this stage to see if it's worth pursuing.

If you aren't the person who does the bulletin at your parish, feel free to forward on to them or vote on their behalf!

Let me know what you think, and if I get enough "yes!" votes, I'll work on trying to make it happen this summer.

For His greater glory,

Emily

*P.S. Technically, I had this idea about 5 years ago. If you've been on my newsletter list for that long, I even sent out a survey about it back in 2022, then my son was born prematurely and it never happened. But I think it's time to finally make it happen, so if this would be helpful to you, go vote above!