Designing Special Issue Newsletters

For most designers and editors, newsletter templates are a familiar, handy tool of the trade. As a church newsletter professional or volunteer, you likely already use a customized document for your publication’s front page, back page, left- and right-hand pages, calendar page, and so on. The same is probably true for your church bulletin and website pages, where templates are incredibly helpful. In fact, maybe you have numerous design template “families” that feature a similar theme.

Free church newsletter templates are a mainstay for busy church workers because they save loads of time and money. With a template, you don’t need to start from scratch with every issue of your publication. Instead, you simply update color schemes and seasonal elements, as desired, before adding fresh new content.

Contrary to what you might think, a template doesn’t make newsletters look like cookie-cutter productions. Instead, templates enhance variety while providing a comforting familiarity to the audience.

Plus, a newsletter template makes reading easier for your church members and other newsletter recipients. Instead of searching through pages and sections to find exactly what they need, parishioners already will have a good idea of where important material is located. For example, they will know that the pastor column is usually on page two, congregational prayer requests are on the center insert, and the weekly or monthly calendar is on the inside of the back mailing page.

When a church newsletter layout remains consistent over time, readers are more likely to engage with the publication. And that, in turn, means they’re more likely to become excited about church events and engage with the church family.

Using a church newsletter template can also increase the time that people spend interacting with your layouts. And that leads to valuable exposure to church news articles, devotional materials, and announcements about special events, volunteer opportunities, fundraising needs, and other church community happenings.

A clear and inviting church newsletter template as the foundation of your publication helps members of your congregation engage with one another and the church. It ensures that people are always informed about the various activities taking place inside and outside the building’s walls. And that is the goal of church leaders when they submit announcements and articles for the church newsletter.

Use Your Existing Template to Create Special Issues

A newsletter template not only simplifies the process of creating regular issues of your church publication. It also allows you to design special issues that celebrate a major church holiday or a congregational milestone. Let’s explore some ideas for adapting free church newsletter templates to mark those occasions. 

For holidays such as Easter and Christmas, you can customize your standard newsletter or e-newsletter template design by inserting seasonal artwork. Ideal places for holiday images include the publication’s nameplate, the cover, and the back or mailing page. On a worship bulletin or a church website, you can do the same thing, using artwork to celebrate the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Consult with your pastor, marketing team, and social media crew to design materials that hit the mark visually and spiritually. 

Thanks to your ChurchArt Pro membership, using your standard family of templates as the basis for special or themed issues is a breeze. At our easy-to-navigate website, you can choose from a wide selection of church-themed artwork. Use keywords to search our backgrounds, textures, photos, frames, borders and more. If desired, you can change the captions using the online Caption Editor design tool.  

Download each image to your computer and then insert it into your existing template. The result is a new family of church newsletter templates that will be sure to make each seasonal or themed issue memorable. 

Eye-catching artwork ensures that church members and community members are interested in reading your publications. Plus, people are more likely to save and retain information that is presented in an attractive, up-to-date format.  

Even small seasonal changes, such as updating the original banner with a holiday border, visually show that this issue is a little different. For the spring newsletter edition that’s filled with Easter news and schedules, for example, add “Happy Easter from” above the nameplate.  

Also, provide a clip-and-save box filled with the Holy Week worship schedule and details so congregants know all the dates and times. As a bonus, people can then share that information with their friends and neighbors. 

Holidays aren’t the only occasion for special issue church newsletters. A church anniversary, an important dedication, a new staff member, and a pastor’s retirement all might warrant a themed newsletter edition. ChurchArt Pro also offers high-quality images for those big events in the life of a congregation.  

When planning a special issue of the church newsletter, the key is to plan and work ahead of time. Seek out volunteers who are interested in conducting interviews, compiling articles, and taking and uploading photos. Then plan a publishing schedule for the entire team to follow. 

These special newsletter issues will highlight the exciting, inspirational happenings within your church body. Plus, they will become keepsakes that members want to save and archive.  

Be sure to save space in the layouts for photo essays, congregants’ memories and reflections, and filler and fun stuff too. Make the issue applicable for all ages by including an activity page or coloring insert, for example. 

Download a FREE Easter Newsletter Template

If you don’t already have a newsletter template or want to do something special for your Easter issue, here’s a free resource! We’ve built a special Easter template available for download in both Microsoft Word and Publisher formats. Simply customize the newsletter template to fit your content, adding pages and layouts as needed. 

This free newsletter template for Easter is professionally designed with a clean and modern look. The bold front page is sure to attract your readers, so they stay informed and inspired. Plus, you will save valuable time and help the church budget by not having to start from square one on a holiday edition of the newsletter. 

>> Download FREE Easter Church Newsletter Template for Microsoft Word
>> Download FREE Easter Church Newsletter Template for Microsoft Publisher

As a bonus, seeing the layout of this free template might inspire your future design work. After all, styles and trends for creating church newsletters change slightly over time. Just keep in mind some of the best practices for church publishing: Use fonts sparingly, use artwork purposefully, and prioritize readability at every step. 

Are you looking for more templates and church newsletter design ideas? Then be sure to check out our wide selection of church newsletter templates, church flyer templates, church worship bulletin templates and church event postcard templates.  

All these high-quality church resources are included with your ChurchArt Pro membership at no additional cost. More images are added every week, so check out our website offerings frequently. Then discover how the materials can elevate your newsletter and other church publications right now! If you haven’t already, start your FREE, 14-day trial today.