Message Prioritization for Church Announcements: A 3-Tier System That Gets Results

When you have twelve announcements on Sunday and they all sound equally important, none of them land.

"Don't forget about the men's breakfast, and VBS registration is open, and we need nursery volunteers, and the building fund update, and the youth retreat, and small groups are starting, and..."

By item four, people have checked out. When everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.

You need a system to rank announcements so the truly important ones get attention.

The 3-Tier System

Every announcement fits into one of three tiers. The tier determines how much airtime it gets and where it appears.

Tier 1: This Week, Action Required

These are things happening in the next 7 days that need a response.

Examples:

• VBS registration closes Tuesday
• Volunteer training is Saturday
• Men's breakfast tomorrow morning
• Sign-up deadline for the retreat

Tier 1 gets:

• Verbal announcement from the stage
• Featured spot in the bulletin
• Hero or top section in email
• 2-3 items max per week

If you have four Tier 1 items, one of them should probably wait until next week. Three is the cognitive limit for "things I need to act on."

Tier 2: Coming Up, Awareness Building

These are things happening in 2-4 weeks. No immediate action needed, but people should start planning.

Examples:

• New sermon series starts in three weeks
• Women's retreat next month
• Volunteer appreciation dinner coming up
• Guest speaker in two weeks

Tier 2 gets:

• Mention in bulletin (not featured)
• Section in email (not the hero)
• Social media posts
• Maybe a quick verbal mention, but not detailed

Tier 2 is about planting seeds. You're building awareness so when these become Tier 1 items, people already know about them.

Tier 3: Ongoing, Evergreen

These are standing opportunities that don't have a deadline.

Examples:

• Small groups are always forming
• The serving team is always looking for volunteers
• Online giving is always available
• The prayer team meets every Wednesday

Tier 3 gets:

• Bulletin sidebar or footer
• Email footer section
• Website (primary home for this info)
• Rotated visibility—not every item every week

Tier 3 items don't need weekly promotion. Rotate them. This week, mention small groups. Next week, mention serving opportunities. Don't list all fifteen ongoing ministries every Sunday.

The Triage Meeting

Once a week—15 minutes max—sort announcements into tiers.

Who should be there:

• Communications lead (or whoever builds the bulletin)
• Pastor or ministry coordinator

The agenda:

1. Review everything submitted for this week
2. Ask for each item: Is there a deadline? Does it need attendance? Is it new?
3. Assign to Tier 1, 2, or 3
4. If there are more than 3 Tier 1 items, negotiate

The questions that sort:

"Is there a deadline in the next 7 days?"

Yes → Could be Tier 1

No → Tier 2 or 3

"Does it require attendance or registration?"

Yes → Probably Tier 1 or 2

No → Probably Tier 3

"Is this new, or have we been promoting it?"

New → More visibility

Already promoted for weeks → Can step back

Pushing back gracefully:

Every ministry leader thinks their announcement is Tier 1. They're not wrong—for their ministry.

Your job is to see the whole picture.

"VBS is definitely important. Since registration doesn't close until next Friday, let's make it Tier 2 this week and Tier 1 next week when the deadline is closer."

"The men's retreat is a big deal, but the women's retreat deadline is this week. Can we feature yours next Sunday when there's less competition?"

Most people understand when you show them the logic.

Applying the System

Here's what a Sunday might look like:

Tier 1 (featured):

• Mission trip meeting Wednesday night
• VBS registration closes Friday

Tier 2 (mentioned):

• New sermon series starts in 2 weeks
• Women's Bible study launching next month

Tier 3 (sidebar/footer):

• Small groups always open
• Online giving available

The bulletin features the Tier 1 items with full descriptions. Tier 2 gets a line or two. Tier 3 lives in a consistent sidebar that people know where to find.

The verbal announcement from stage covers Tier 1 only. Maybe a quick mention of Tier 2. Never reads through Tier 3.

Email follows the same hierarchy: Tier 1 is the hero, Tier 2 is quick hits, Tier 3 is the footer.

The Enforcement Challenge

Two things will test your system:

The pastor wants to announce something they care about. It's technically Tier 2, but they want it featured.

Pick your battles. If the pastor occasionally overrides, accommodate gracefully. If it happens every week, have a broader conversation about the system.

"I want to make sure the congregation actually hears the important things. When we have five Tier 1 items, none of them land. Can we talk about how to balance this?"

"But my event IS important!"

Acknowledge it. Then explain.

"I know it's important. Here's the challenge: we have four things competing for attention this week. When I make yours the feature next week instead, it'll actually get more visibility because there's less competition."

Frame it as serving their announcement, not diminishing it.

Seasonal Adjustments

Some seasons are noisier than others.

High-volume seasons:

• December (Christmas everything)
• Fall launch (small groups, kids ministry, new year kickoff)
• Easter season
• VBS promotion

During these seasons, be even more ruthless. Tier 1 might be limited to 2 items. Some things wait until the season passes.

Low-volume seasons:

• January (post-holiday lull)
• Summer (fewer programs)

These are opportunities to give more visibility to Tier 2 and 3 items that usually get buried.

Adjust your thresholds based on the season.

Tracking What Works

Over time, notice patterns.

• Which announcements get response?
• Which get ignored despite heavy promotion?
• Are people mentioning "I didn't know about that"—and was that a Tier 2 or 3 item?

If something's consistently not landing, the issue might not be tier placement. It might be the announcement itself, the timing, or whether people actually want what you're offering.

Tiering gets the important stuff heard. It doesn't make people care about things they don't care about.

The Payoff

When you tier consistently:

• Important announcements actually land
• Congregation isn't overwhelmed every Sunday
• You have a framework for saying "not this week"
• Ministry leaders understand the system and plan ahead

The goal isn't to announce less. It's to make each announcement count more.