12 church letter tips

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Special Report

12 Tips For

Church Letter Writing

Successby Rev. Norman Lawrence

Ministry Letterstm v.2.0

ChurchLetters.net

compliments of

DoubleYourChurchAttendance.com
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12 Tips For Church Letter Writing Successhttp://DoubleYourChurchAttendance.com/my/ministry-letters

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By Rev. Norman Lawrence - Brought to you by Ministry Letters(tm) v.2.0

Do you need to write a Church Letter?

It is vitally important that church leaders develop a consistent, systematic

approach to writing letters to church members and adherents.

To keep any relationship alive takes a willingness to communicate your mes-

sage, and to then be available for a response to that message.

Writing a Church Letter goes a long way in expressing to others that theyindeed are important to you, as well as to the ministry of the church.

It also conveys the all-important message that you care, and are thinking

about their personal situation.

And isnt that the essence of ministry?

The Church Letters at ChurchLetters.net are meant to be an aide to the min-

istry of your church family as you express this care.

The idea is NOT to just simply copy and paste verbatim. It is important as

you copy and paste to think of a few ways to modify the letter sample and tem-

plates that will reflect your personal style and the individual circumstances of

your letter.

Certainly, many of the letters are good to go right out of the box, and will

need little more than your address and signature.

You are, however, encouraged to think of other ways to modify them to fit

your own unique situation.

Below are some thoughts around the two words Church Letters that you

may find helpful as you modify these Church Letters, or as you start from

scratch with your own:
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CHURCH

C - CLARITY

Be Clear. When your letter is read, you dont want it to be like some of those

bad commercials on television today, that although they might look (or sound)

good, leave the viewer looking back puzzled and wondering what was that all

about?

If you are writing a letter to thank a person for visiting your church, be sure to

do exactly that .. then go on to tell them about the ministries that are available to

them in your church. Dont get side-tracked, and dont dump too much on them

at once. Save some for another day!

H - HOPE

Be Hopeful. One of the reasons you should have for writing a letter is to

encourage the recipient, and to provide them with inspiration and hope for tomor-

row. They will appreciate your positive and respectful approach to the situation.

You should certainly be able to do this without being fake. Does not the

Word of God provide hope for each and every situation?

Philip. 4:13 - I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

People need to be reminded that God is in control regardless of our ability to

understand ALL His ways.
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U - UNDERSTANDING

Be Understanding. We often fail to truly put ourselves into the shoes of

another and thereby do not adequately understand or empathize with the situa-

tion they are going through.

The most difficult time we have with this is when we have not gone through

the same situation in our own lives. We will quite often find this to be the case in

our ministry to others.

It is in those situations that we must ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to

provide the right level of understanding and compassion in order for us to prop-

erly minister to the needs of others.

R - RESPONSIVENESS

Be Responsive. If you close your letter by encouraging the person to get in

touch with you if they are in need of anything, be sure to provide them with a way

to get in touch with you, and then be sure to actually BE available.

While this may be difficult for leaders of larger congregations, you will find

that most people will be sensitive to your unique situation. You may also have

other resources or leadership who can cover for you until you can get back to

them, or you may be able to redirect the person to other avenues of ministry that

will be able to help them in your absence.

After all, we dont each have ALL of the answers, but God has placed many

gifts in the Church that are available to be used. Provide phone numbers (yes,

even cell phone numbers), and e-mail addresses so that people can get in touch

with you or someone else designated for that particular ministry.


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C - CONSISTENCY

Be Consistent. People, your people, have an amazing ability to catch on to

favoritism, and will certainly notice if certain people receive encouraging e-

mails, cards, and letters, while others do not.

This can be quite challenging, as quite often it is the squeakiest wheels

who get greased, and some people become quiet adept at getting attention be-

stowed upon themselves, often at the expense of others.

As Church leaders, it is our calling to reflect the attitude of Christ in dealingwith people, and that includes going out of our way to minister to the one who

may be down and out, as well as the one who seemingly has it all together.

And vice versa.

H - HELPFULNESS

Be Helpful. Perhaps you know of community agencies or church ministriesthat are available to the person or to the family you are writing to.

If for example you have a Young Marrieds small group and you are writing

to a young couple about a particular issue, then you might provide them with the

contact information for the leader of that small group.

Anticipate and be sensitive to what you think peoples needs are or might be,

and begin to think of ways that you or your church might be able to provide help

or service to them.


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LETTERS

L - LETTER-READY

Be Letter-Ready. Have a good supply of letter materials, samples, tem-

plates, and supplies, available to send at a moments notice.

Most letter text can be used over and over with some (usually minor) modifi-cation, and while we would like to think that we can (or should) sit down at every

situation and write a brand new letter, the fact is that most church leaders wont

do this, and it becomes an obstacle and an excuse for never writing the letter at

all.

There is perhaps, the ideal (crafting a new, personal letter from scratch

every time), and then there is reality (modifying a previously-used letter, or a

template sample available through a resource such as Ministry Letters(tm) v.2.0

orChurchLetters.net.)

For example, one Sunday we were having a Service of Recognition for

graduates, and belatedly realized that in our rush to prepare other things, we had

completely forgotten to prepare the Letters of Congratulations!

Not to panic - we simply went to our copy ofMinistry Letters(tm), modified

one of the letters there, copied, pasted, printed, and were ready for presentation

- all while the service was in progress - about 10 minutes! THAT was being Let-

ter Ready!
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E - EVANGELISM

Be Evangelistic. In communicating to people, always be looking for ways to

provide the message of the Gospel of Christ in a relevant and meaningful way.

Jesus often told stories to illustrate a truth, so do not hesitate to tell a story to

illustrate the greatness of Gods love available to them.

Perhaps you will want to include a tract, pamphlet, or article that deals spe-

cifically with the situation they are involved in at the moment. Allow the Holy

Spirit to direct you to open doors, then be sure and step through when thosedoors swing wide.

T - TACTFULLNESS

Be Tactful. While it is important to know the need, it is even more important

to respond to the need in a way that the person involved will feel that you are

being truthful, sympathetic, and respectful with concern for their feelings.

Even in the case of discipline (when a face to face meeting may be more

appropriate than a letter) the person should sense that you are loving them.

Love and a desire to restore and to provide hope should be the basis for all

we do, and when it is, tactfulness will be developed as a result of that love.

Proverbs 25:11 A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of sil-

ver.


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T - TIMLINESS

Be Timely. Being timely is knowing when to send a letter or email, and then

sending it off with a prayer for Gods anointing and blessing to be upon the

reader as they open it.

If you say you are going to send the person a note, or follow up with a phone

call, or show up at a certain time, then be a keeper of your word.

James 5:12 - Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by

earth or by anything else. Let your Yes be yes, and your No no, or you will becondemned.

E - ENERGY

Be Energetic. If you are conveying an important message, whether spoken

or in writing, it is important to be as energetic about it as possible without being

fake.

How does this happen? By asking God to communicate the importance of

the opportunity to you, then sharing it in a way that will make the person you are

communicating with feel like you are not just doing your job.

Eccles. 9:10a - Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

If what you are doing with your hand is typing or writing, or even making a

great point in a sermon, be energetic in your approach.


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R - RIGHT

Be Right. Or perhaps I should say, be correct. Watch your Ps and Qs- check your spelling - and always make sure you have the right name!

People do not want to be viewed as just people or the congregation - they

want to be seen and known as individuals, unique and recognizable for who they

are. They certainly do not want to feel like a faceless number when they are part

of a church body.

This is a great challenge for every church leader, and that is how to commu-

nicate on a personal level with those in your congregation, especially when yourcongregation numbers in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

A most unpleasant (and embarrassing) scenario would be to write a per-

sonal letter (or email) to John, when the mans name is actually Steve!

Likely, you have received letters and emails such as: Dear {firstname}.

While most businesses and churches today utilize word processing software with

Mail Merge functions, and most people know it, there is still something about

actually receiving a letter like this that is highly offensive, especially within ahighly personal organization such as a church body.

If you are going to use computer automation to streamline your church office

operations (and I hope that you are), take care to catch and weed out technical

glitches like the above example, before they end up in your members mailbox!

S - SCRIPTUREBe Scriptural. In writing Church Letters, it is always of great benefit to share

a particular passage of scripture that may be applicable to a persons situation at

the time.

In a very difficult circumstance, you can share that God works all things


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together for good ..., or weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the

morning.

Simply be aware of the situation, and be alert and mindful for any scripturesthat will provide words of hope, healing, and encouragement.

Ministry Letters v.2.0

ChurchLetters.net

About the Author

Rev. Norman Lawrence has served in full-time ministry for over 24 years as

Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor, and Senior Pastor in West Virginia and Pennsyl-

vania. He is the author of Ministry Letters(tm) v.2.0, a contributing author to the

book Living Like Jesus, and was instrumental in the development of the Global

Pastors Network with Dr James Davis.

Rev. Norman and Brenda Lawrence have shared their ministry in music atcamp meetings, ministers institutes, pastor/board banquets, and on various

television appearances. They currently serve together in a pastorate near Har-

risburg, PA.

(c) 2006 Rev Norman Lawrence - The above article may be used in print or

on the web as long as the information below is provided with the article:

(c) Copyright 2006 - Used by permission12 Tips for Church Letter Writing

By Rev. Norman Lawrence

http://www.ChurchLetters.net

Over 250 Letters For Church Leaders

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