Are you interested in figuring out the best church bulletin software? Do you want to learn about church bulletin editor software free? If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place.
If you’re looking for church bulletin software free, it’s the best time to be alive. All of the good software for church bulletins can be found online, and there are even free church bulletin software free options available too. Plus, the good news about all these options is that they offer so much more than just church bulletins.
Google Bulletin
Google Bulletin is an app from Google. It’s new and currently in testing. The point of Bulletin is to give people the ability to share hyperlocal stories about their community – right from their phone. It’s supposed to make it “effortless to put a spotlight on inspiring stories that aren’t being told”, according to a bare-bones Google post about the app.
There are three main aspects to Bulletin: First, it’s supposed to help you tell the stories that aren’t being told; second, Bulletin stories are always public and easy to discover in Google search results, as well as through social networks or via links sent by email and messaging apps; third, no setup is required to create a story. You just need a phone.
Bulletin is now available in Nashville, Tennessee and Oakland, California. Google hasn’t yet said when Bulletin will exit the limited pilot phase and be widely available for all to use. To be considered for the pilot in Nashville or Oakland, go here to submit a request.
Click Art Christian publishing software
Click Art Christian publishing software creates PC Print shop program collection with a Christian theme, thousands of Christian clip art images.You can create bulletins, calendars, Sunday school materials and more. Their calendar creator includes scheduling options. Easy to install and use .
Blue Squirrel
Blue Squirrel – produce a church computer software, ClickBook, which lets you print church bulletins as booklets, brochures, flip books and more. Templates included.
Used by churches worldwide, church computer software, ClickBook, makes creating and printing church bulletins a snap. You can create your bulletin in Word using one templates, and print to ClickBook. ClickBook will take what you print and turn it into a convenient, attractive bulletin. Combines songs, schedules and announcements into a convenient bulletin format. You are able to easily go from 4 to 8 pages when things get really busy. Free Clickbook 9.0 Trial for Windows
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher is also a useful tool for producing church publications, such as the weekly newsletter or bulletin. You can create text that flows between boxes, add pictures and clipart, cut and paste text from Microsoft Word and create professional publications.
These are just a few choices – to add a bit of fun and make it easy on the eye do try and add a few items of clipart.
You can find some of our favorite free clipart sites in our 5-page download, Free Christian Stuff for Churches.
Here, we’ll share the 7-steps you can take to creating a must-read church bulletin, including:
A table of contents
This is not the order of service, but rather the table of contents for the entire church bulletin. It should have large margins and be clearly readable, with short, accurate labels that describe each section clearly, but with minimal detail.
This table of contents will list every new section of your church bulletin, but not every subsection. For example, if you have announcements about youth that include Sunday School, youth group activities, confirmation, and high school small groups, don’t list all of those subcategories on the table of contents. Simply call it “Youth” people will be able to easily navigate to the appropriate section. If they can’t, then you’re putting too much in your bulletin.
An order of service
The first element in your bulletin should be an order of service. This will list every event item in your service, as well as any information to help people act on a list item, such as reaching out to a youth coordinator after a church announcement, etc.
This order of service should include the words of prayers you pray that you expect people to know, as well as words to songs you sing that you expect people to sing along to — that is, unless they are projected on a screen.
Engagement hooks
Engagement hooks are bits of information that enable people to become part of your church very easily. This would include the names and contact information of people in the church office, their contact information, new event information, and an introductory letter or video link from the pastor.
Margin
It’s very tempting to squeeze the margins of your bulletin tight, you’re sometimes printing off the page. We think: “The more information, the better.” But the truth is often contrary to this. People like to have information distilled for them so that they don’t have to do as much work in getting the gist of what’s going on.
Leave a lot of white space on the page, and condense the elements to the center of the page as much as possible. This will attract the eye to what’s there, and act as a center of gravity for each attendee while they participate in the service.
Simplicity
Most people use their bulletins for one or two things. Don’t try to make everyone happy with the bulletin. Make it usable, declutter it of ads for events and contact information, and make it about the experience of the service itself. Utilize spare space to maximize focus on the church experience, rather than distract with what comes after the church experience.
Keep it simple—and, as an initial filter, keep it useful for the present moment.
Participation cues
You should include participation clues as to when people should rise, sit, speak, be silent, kneel, and stand. This helps new visitors to actively participate in the service, and it allows the dynamic use of alternative versions of your service that people won’t have memorized, but can still follow by cue.
One-click digital accessibility
The most important thing you can do to increase the effectiveness of your bulletin is to make it digital. But it’s more important than that. You can’t just put the PDF on your church website. You have to put it on your church app that you’re encouraging people to actively use as a means of messaging, planning, consuming digital media from the church, and registering for new events.
When your members can navigate through your church bulletin as easily as they can navigate Spotify on iTunes, you are operating at peak, Premium Bulletin energy.
Conclusion:
Software for church bulletins is like software for anything else. You need to find the best software that does what you want while at the same time doesn’t cost too much to buy or use. There are many software packages that can do this, but it is important to try them out first before making a purchase.