Toolbox For Faith

Make sure you have a “guest helpful” bulletin

Attending different churches has taught me again how important it is to have a “guest helpful” bulletin.

One church was using what they described as a blended service with congregational responses from different worship material. Because of this, the bulletin really needed to help guide the people worshipping but it was anything but helpful. The Hymn of Praise that was used had WOV with a number beside it. I knew that WOV stood for “With One Voice,” one of the hymnals used in some Lutheran churches, and the number was for the page. But as I searched for the hymnal to find the music, I noticed it was not in the pews. The words were in the bulletin but even though I had sung it before, I did not know it well enough to sing it without the music. I kept thinking, “Why put WOV with a page number if the hymnal is not in the pew?”

Two other selections for the service music were in the hymnal in the hymn section but by the time I found them, we were on the last line both times. I kept thinking that a person new to a Lutheran service would have been completely lost! The irony is that, according the bulletin, the church had purchased the copyright to copy all of the service music used and could have downloaded everything—words and music–for their bulletin. Guests, even long time Lutherans, need help with a new and different service.

Think about your bulletin. How helpful is it to someone new to your worshipping community?