Channel Roles: What Belongs in the Bulletin vs Email vs Social vs Text
If you're putting the same content on every channel, you're training people to ignore all of them.
When everything shows up everywhere, nothing stands out. Your congregation learns that they don't need to check email because it's the same as the bulletin. They tune out social because it's just announcements. They start ignoring texts because you text too often about things that aren't urgent.
Each channel has a job. When you respect those jobs, people pay attention.
The Bulletin's Job
Audience: People sitting in your building right now.
Purpose: Quick reference for this week.
The bulletin answers: What's happening during this service? What do I need to know before next Sunday?
What belongs here:
- Order of worship
- Sermon title and scripture
- This week's 2-3 priority announcements
- How to give
- How to connect if you're new
What doesn't belong:
- Events more than 2-3 weeks out (use email for that)
- Long descriptions (that's what your website is for)
- Every ministry's update (be selective)
- Links people can't click (use QR codes instead)
Format: Short. Scannable. Bold the essential info. One QR code per announcement if you need to link somewhere.
People have less than a minute to scan your bulletin. Design for that reality.
Email's Job
Audience: Engaged members who opted in.
Purpose: Midweek connection and detailed information.
Email answers: What do I need to know this week? What's worth my attention?
What belongs here:
- This week's featured announcement (the hero)
- Event details with sign-up links
- Upcoming calendar highlights
- Pastoral note or encouragement
- Links to sermons, resources, content
What doesn't belong:
- Urgent, time-sensitive updates (text is faster)
- Daily updates (email fatigue is real)
- Everything happening at church (prioritize ruthlessly)
Format: One hero item, a few quick hits, clear calls to action. Mobile-friendly layout. Sent once a week, max twice.
Frequency matters: Send too often and open rates drop. Weekly works for most churches. Add occasional extras for major events.
Social Media's Job
Audience: A mix of members and outsiders (algorithm decides who sees what).
Purpose: Community building, culture sharing, casual touchpoints.
Social answers: What's this church really like? Are these my people?
What belongs here:
- Photos from Sunday and church life
- Sermon quotes and clips
- Stories about your community
- Encouragement and scripture
- Behind-the-scenes moments
- Soft promotion of events (not every post)
What doesn't belong:
- Critical announcements (algorithms bury things; not everyone follows you)
- Lengthy text posts (people scroll past)
- Constant promotion (follow the 80/20 rule: 80% value, 20% asks)
Format: Visual-first. Short captions that invite engagement. Post 3-5 times per week. Quality over quantity.
Platform reality: You can't control who sees your posts. Don't rely on social for essential communication—it's a supplement, not a backbone.
Text Message's Job
Audience: People who explicitly opted in.
Purpose: Urgent, time-sensitive, action-required.
Text answers: Is there something I need to know right now?
What belongs here:
- Weather cancelations
- Last-minute schedule changes
- Volunteer reminders (for those who signed up to serve)
- Event reminders (for those who registered)
- Time-sensitive registration deadlines
What doesn't belong:
- General announcements (use email)
- Weekly updates (that's not what text is for)
- Promotional content (feels spammy)
- Long messages (split texts look desperate)
Format: Under 160 characters when possible. One link max. 2-4 texts per month to general congregation, more for volunteers if schedule-related.
The stakes are high: One annoying text and people opt out. Forever. Use this channel sparingly and only for things that genuinely require immediate attention.
The Decision Matrix
When you have an announcement, ask: What channel fits best?
| Announcement Type | Primary Channel | Supporting Channels |
|---|---|---|
| This Sunday's sermon | Bulletin, Email | Social |
| Event needing sign-up | Bulletin, Social | |
| Event reminder (registered) | Text | — |
| Weather cancelation | Text | Social, Email |
| New sermon series | Social | Email, Bulletin |
| Volunteer schedule | Text | |
| Recurring ministry info | Website | Bulletin sidebar |
| Pastoral encouragement | Social |
Primary channel: Where the announcement gets featured.
Supporting channels: Where it gets mentioned or reinforced.
Not every announcement needs to be everywhere. Some things are email-only. Some things only need a text to the people who signed up.
Examples in Practice
Scenario: VBS registration opens- Email: Hero feature with full details and registration link
- Bulletin: One-paragraph mention with QR code to registration
- Social: Announcement post with engaging image, link in bio
- Text: Nothing yet (save texts for deadline reminders)
- Text: "Sunday services canceled due to weather. Stay safe!"
- Social: Post confirming cancelation, shared to Stories
- Email: Follow-up later with online service option
- Bulletin: N/A (no one's at church)
- Email: Featured section with giving progress
- Bulletin: Brief mention with giving options
- Social: Occasional impact story (not repeated giving asks)
- Text: Sparingly, maybe once at campaign end
- Email: Primary promotion with group options and sign-up
- Bulletin: Mention during sign-up period
- Social: Testimonial from current group member
- Text: Only if someone expressed interest and deadline is approaching
The Overlap Problem
Sometimes you do put the same content on multiple channels—and that's okay. The sermon title appears in the bulletin, email, and maybe social. An important event might be mentioned in three places.
The difference is format and emphasis.
The bulletin gets a one-line mention. The email gets a full description with a sign-up button. Social gets a visual and an invitation to engage.
Same core message. Different treatment for each channel's strengths.
What doesn't work: copying and pasting the exact same paragraph into email, bulletin, and social. That's not multi-channel communication—that's lazy repetition.
Right-Sizing Your Channels
Not every church needs every channel.
If you're stretched thin, prioritize:
- Bulletin — People in the room need to know what's happening
- Email — Your primary communication with engaged members
- Social — Nice to have, but not essential
- Text — Only if you have a real system and will use it well
A focused presence on fewer channels beats a scattered presence everywhere.
If you can only maintain two channels well, pick the bulletin and email. Add social when you have capacity. Add text when you have true opt-in systems and urgent communication needs.
The Bottom Line
Every channel has a job. When you respect those jobs:
- People know where to find what they need
- Announcements don't get lost in noise
- Engagement goes up (because content is relevant to each channel)
- You stop wasting effort on redundant posting
Use the right channel for the right message. Stop blasting everything everywhere. Your congregation will thank you by actually paying attention.
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