Figuring out exactly what your church should announce each week is difficult because every church is a different size, with a different culture and different needs. I thought that perhaps the best way to figure out what your church should announce is to examine the 5000+ video announcements scripts that we’ve received over the last couple of years at Pro Video Announcements and find the stuff that gets the most attention.
[1]And what did we find? Well, after examining more than 5000 video announcements scripts from mega churches, church plants, churches from California, churches from New York, churches from America, Canada, and Australia, we found the following three items come up again and again. These are the 3 things your church announcements should include each week.
Number 1. The Connect Card
That’s
right, the connect card. Also known as the communication card, connection card,
the get connected card, the red card, blue card, yellow card, I’m new card,
guest connection card — whatever you call it!
Most churches have in place a first point of connection with guests, and it’s often this card that can be filled out and taken to the information desk, or the connection desk, the new visitors desk, the red desk, the blue desk, the yellow desk — taken to that point and exchanged for a free gift. Most churches have this baked into their church culture in one way or another. We think it should have a permanent spot in your announcements week in and week out.
That’s right. It’s okay to announce things over and over again.
We have a saying within our church that we like to remind one another: “It’s always somebody’s first time at church.”
And that’s why it’s so imperative to have a permanent spot within your video announcements to highlight your connect card. Explain to your guests why they’re filling it out, where to take it, and why you want them to fill it out and take it somewhere. Notice that twice I said to tell them “why.” Don’t just say, “Hey you! You new to church? Fill out the card!” Explain why the card exists, why you want them to fill it out, and why it’s in their best interest to do so. That’s number 1 – the connect card – or you know, whatever your church calls it.
Number 2. Acknowledge Your Guests
Not too
long ago, a very popular moment in many churches was the ‘meet and greet.’ Do
you remember this? This was the incredibly awkward moment in church when the
pastor would force you to get up, turn around to people sitting near you
and say, “Good morning!” “Good morning!” “Good morning!” “Good morning!” (A way
to build true community, no doubt.)
Well, we’re starting to see this greeting time in church become less popular. And while I did despise the turn-around-and-greet-your-neighbor portion of church, one thing that it did accomplish was acknowledging everyone who came to church. You know it’s hard for the leadership to say hello to everyone, but even if you’re an extreme introvert who was at church for the first time, if there was meet and greet time, somebody would come by and force you to shake hands.
It’s important that everyone at your church be acknowledged each week – especially new guests. And you might be saying, “Brady, didn’t we just acknowledge our guests with the connect card?” Well, yeah, you did. But you asked them to do something for you.
Attending a new church can be tremendously uncomfortable, so we like to encourage churches to use a portion of their announcements to welcome guests and explain what they should expect. Maybe you share your vision statement, maybe you share your church’s website where they can find more information, or maybe you share something like this scripting from our longest-serving church at Pro Video Announcements. We’ve worked with them from the very beginning, and here is what they include in their announcements each week:
“Is this your first time at Fort Caroline? If so, welcome. We’re so glad to have you with us. We’ve designed the service today with you in mind. In just a few moments we’ll sing a few songs and then we’ll hear a message from our pastor. In all, you can expect to be in the service for about an hour. If you’d like for us to get to know you a little better you can use a communication card from your bulletin or the seat pocket in front of you and drop it in the offering bucket later in the service. Also, be sure to stop at a guest reception table on your way out for a gift from us. Again, thank you for coming today. We hope you have a great time in church.”
What Fort Caroline has done is combine both the guest acknowledgement and the communication card together into one announcement. And while I’ve never been to Fort Caroline church in real life, just from producing their video announcements, I know exactly what to expect when I do attend there. And that’s what you’re trying to accomplish. Ease the nerves of your first-time guests, let them know that they’re among family, and let them know what to expect while they’re at church. That’s the second thing we think your church should announce each week. And here is the third.
Number 3. the Big Stuff
The third and final thing we think your church should announce each week is
the big stuff. And what is the big stuff? Well, that’s
something only your church can answer. Announcements is not the time, though,
for sharing each of the ten things that are happening at church this upcoming
week. It’s just not. We have a whole master class in Pro Church Academy
called Producing Video Announcements from Scratch and we dive
into writing your announcements, how long they need to be, becoming a great
host, etc. 
But right now, just know that video announcements are meant for the big things. Do you have a big annual conference coming up? – that might make the cut. Is Vision Sunday a couple of months away? – that might make the cut. Does the men’s ministry have a monthly breakfast next Saturday? – that probably doesn’t make the cut. But maybe it does! Only your church can determine what does and does not make the cut.
But here’s the guideline you need to use – only big stuff should make it into the announcements – whether that’s live announcements or video announcements.
Consider this, if your church has a children’s ministry, student ministry, mid-week program, and men’s/women’s ministries, including every announcement from each ministry in video announcements would be a nightmare. And you don’t have to be a large church to have each of those ministries! Video announcements need to be short, and they really have time for only a small handful of announcements each week. So use those announcements slots for the most important stuff. Determining what’s most important is up to you.
Conclusion To recap, after scouring 5000+ video announcements scripts from churches of all different sizes and demographics, the three things we think video announcements should have are:
- Number 1. The Connect Card
- Number 2. A Guest Acknowledgement
- Number 3. Big Stuff