For reasons that I don't quite understand, the Spirit, or perhaps my inner frustrated schoolteacher, is moving me to tackle a sticky problem at my church: the church bulletin board.
The board takes up the better part of a half-wall in our fellowship area. It is a mess, reminiscent of those laboratory studies where scientists got spiders hopped up on caffeine, then videotaped them weaving chaotic tangles of webs; stuff is just stapled willy-nilly all over it. And good judgment is not a strong point in the management of our board either; last Sunday I was rather appalled to see the lurid poster of some fundagelical area church advertising a drama entitled, "DESTINATION: HEAVEN OR HELL?" Considering the fact that, half the time, our key people fail to communicate news of our own activities to the rest of the parish, I had to wonder why the "HELL" this thing wound up on our bulletin board.
I would like our bulletin board to be aesthetically pleasing, with information easily accessible and helpful to visitors as well as regulars. I would like the material on it to be organized by category. I would like to use the space in the best way possible. And I would like someone to have veto -- or, let's say, "misplace with extreme prejudice" -- power over content. (Even at the risk of offending the Church Basement Ladies Who Must Be Obeyed, into whose domain I dare to enter.)
If anyone out there in Blogdom has expertise in this little cul-de-sac of congregational ministry, please share your wisdom with me.
2 comments:
I misplace plenty of things with extreme prejudice. From the sound of things your pastor has his head on straight. Ask him about the "Heaven or Hell" thing. I'm sure he'd be happy to remove it. And ask him if he minds if you'd straighten things up on the board. Then you can use extreme prejudice at least in what stays and what goes.
On a bulletin board that big, you could easily divide it into sections using...well, pretty much any kind of material you want. Since you aren't close to a big city, there probably aren't any teacher supply stores nearby, or I would point you in that direction to find bulletin board boarders for that purpose. Another thing I have used is wired ribbon.
If you want to cover the background, I'd suggest using a plastic shower curtain. Don't laugh. They are durable and they fade slower than paper.
You can create headers for your sections on the computer - that's probably the most efficient way to do it - you can play with font, size, etc.
I'd also suggest making a hanging pocket for anything that involves a takeaway (brochure, form, etc). That'll keep them from cluttering up other places. You can make that out of posterboard and/or card stock.
Yes, I was a teacher. I made most of my decorations on the computer because then I could make exactly what I wanted rather than what the teacher supply companies thought I wanted. I made some really groovy posters using MS Publisher that way.
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