To be sure, there is not one absolute best church bulletin. The best church bulletin is whatever meets the needs of your particular parish. But what are those needs?
Catholic church bulletins are unique publications. They are generally a combination of bulletin board and newsletter, though they rarely fall neatly into one category. They all boil down to one thing, however: information.
The church bulletin is the most powerful tool your parish has of communicating with its parishioners. Yes, pulpit announcements are vital. Yes, you probably should have a church website. But bulletins are a part of the Catholic culture. People are in the habit of accepting bulletins from the ushers at the end of mass. It is almost a reflex.
Taking a bulletin is one thing; actually reading it is quite another, however. Do your parishioners read your bulletin? Is it worth reading? Is it attractive, readable, useful, and inviting? If it isn’t, your message is not being heard. The information you need to communicate is not reaching your desired audience.
Think about what you need from your church bulletin. Do you simply need a means of communicating meeting times, upcoming events, mass schedules, and other basic information? Do you want to include interesting or educational articles? Perhaps you want to add humor with a cartoon, or “bulletin bloopers.”
After you determine your parish’s needs, you need to put it together in an attractive, readable, inviting package. You need someone with a good eye for layout, and the computer skills to make that layout a reality. You need someone with excellent editing and proofreading skills, who is not likely to make your bulletin into “blooper” material.
