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What Goes in a Church Bulletin: A Section-by-Section Checklist

October 26, 2026 · LanternLetter Co.

If you have just been handed the job of making the weekly bulletin, the first question is simple: what actually needs to be in it? The answer depends on your tradition, but almost every bulletin does three jobs. It helps people follow the service, it welcomes people who are new, and it tells the congregation what is coming up. This checklist goes through the bulletin section by section, so you can decide what your church needs and what it can drop.

The short answer

A church bulletin usually includes:

The church name, the date and the name of the Sunday or season
The order of worship, with hymn or song numbers, Scripture readings and any words the congregation says together
A short welcome for visitors
Announcements and upcoming events, with dates, times and places
Prayer concerns, if your church prints them (with permission)
How to give
Contact details: address, phone, email, website and staff names

Everything else is optional. If a first-time visitor can follow the service and knows who to talk to afterward, the bulletin is doing its job.

Section by section

1. Cover

Church name and logo
The date, written out (“Sunday, November 29, 2026”)
The name of the day in the church year, such as “First Sunday of Advent”, if your church follows the liturgical calendar
Service times, if you hold more than one service
Seasonal artwork or a photo. Changing the cover with the season is the easiest way to keep a bulletin feeling fresh.

2. Order of worship

This is the part people read during the service, so it matters most. List each part of the service in order. A traditional Protestant service often runs from prelude, welcome and call to worship, through hymns, confession, Scripture and sermon, to the offering, prayers, closing hymn and benediction. A liturgical service adds parts like the creed, the peace and Holy Communion. A contemporary service may have fewer, longer parts. Follow your own church's pattern rather than a generic list.

Include hymn or song numbers, and titles.
Give Scripture references (book, chapter and verses), and the full text if people don't have Bibles or screens.
Print in full any words the congregation says together, such as a responsive reading, prayer of confession, creed or the Lord's Prayer. Visitors may not know them.
Put congregational responses in bold, and mark where people stand (many churches use an asterisk and the note “please stand as you are able”).
If you celebrate Communion, add one or two sentences on who is welcome and how it is served.
Name the preacher, readers and musicians if your church usually does.

3. Welcome for visitors

One or two sentences is enough: a welcome, where to find restrooms and the nursery or children's area, and one clear next step, such as filling in a connection card or meeting the pastor after the service.

4. Announcements

Every announcement should say what, when (day and date), where, and what to do next. Keep each one to two or three sentences, and put the most important first. Our announcement wording guide has a formula and examples you can adapt.

5. Calendar and regular events

A short “this week” list or calendar strip for regular groups (choir, Bible study, youth) saves you repeating them as announcements every week.

6. Prayer concerns

If you print a prayer list, include only names people have agreed to share, usually first names. Set a rule for how long names stay on the list.

7. Giving

One line on how to give: in the plate, by mail, and online (a short web address or a QR code). Some churches also note the purpose of a special offering that week.

8. Back page: contact and staff

Street address, phone, email and website
Office hours
Pastor and staff names with contact details
Social media accounts, if you use them
Accessibility notes: large-print bulletins, hearing loops, wheelchair access

A simple page plan for a folded bulletin

Many churches print a letter-size sheet folded in half, which gives four panels:

Front: cover
Inside left and right: order of worship, ideally on one spread so no one has to turn the page mid-service
Back: welcome, announcements, giving and contact details

If the order of worship is long (for example, a service with full liturgy or Communion), use a second folded sheet or a separate announcements insert rather than shrinking the type. Our large-print bulletin guide covers sizes and contrast.

What you can leave out

Long paragraphs that repeat what will be said from the front
Announcements for events more than a month away (use the newsletter instead)
Weekly groups written out as full announcements
Anything you can't keep accurate each week, such as attendance or giving figures, unless your church has decided it wants them
Personal details about people who haven't agreed to share them

Print or digital?

Many churches now offer both: a printed bulletin for the service and a digital version on the website or by email. If you do both, keep the content identical so the details always match, and make sure the digital version works for screen readers (real text rather than a single image). Check that any QR code links to a page that works on a phone.

Weekly checklist

Date and name of the Sunday are correct.
Hymn numbers, readings and readers match what the pastor and musicians sent.
All congregational words are printed in full.
Every announcement has a day, date, place and next step.
Expired announcements and old prayer names are removed.
Contact details and service times are current.
Seasonal dates are coming up in time, such as Christmas Eve times in December or the Holy Week schedule in Lent (see our Advent and Holy Week and Easter guides).
Someone other than the person who made it has proofread it.

Want the bulletin done for you?

On our done-for-you monthly plans, you send your order of worship and announcements, and we send back a print-ready bulletin that follows this structure every week. To see what your cover could look like first, get a free Advent cover with your church's name on it, or browse one-time templates in the shop. For more ways to improve a bulletin once the basics are in place, see 25 church bulletin ideas.