Local church photo directories help the brethren draw closer
by Scott Moss, Scott@MossIndustries.com

As the church continues to grow, many congregations are finding it helpful to put together a local photo directory.
The benefits are several:

·         Members can more easily contact each other through the week by mail, e-mail and phone.

·         New members can learn the faces and names of the brethren, and vice versa.

·         A closer sense of family develops because everybody is pictured and no one is left out.

·         They cost very little, just some volunteer time and copy shop expense

The sister congregations of United Church of God Indianapolis and United Church of God Fort Wayne, pastored by Darris McNeely, have put together a combined directory. This has helped brethren, separated by scores and even hundreds of miles, to better relate names and faces when meeting together on Holy Days.

Things to include

Make your directory a very handy reference booklet by including:

·         A map to services with time, location and contact information

·         A list of the elders, deacons and deaconesses

·         Your emergency phone calling chart

·         A brief history of your congregation

·         And of course, the pictures, names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of each family!

DIGEST-SIZE DIRECTORY—Made on regular paper folded in half and stapled, it still shows faces large enough to be readily recognized.

 Such a directory is easy to put together in this day and age of computers and digital cameras. Why not get the photo buffs and computer-savvy teens in your congregation to put one together?

The directory can be in color or black and white. You can print them on personal computer printers, or better, take them in to a Kinko’s or other copy shop.

Basic considerations

You don’t need fancy equipment or a formal photo studio setup to make a very nice directory. Here are some basics that will help you:

·         Use a two megapixel or better digital camera. Put it on a tripod.

·         Use a plain background. A dark king-size sheet taped to a wall will do.

·         Get a nice, bright light shining on the people. A floor lamp will do.

·         Zoom in CLOSE—you want people’s faces as large as possible.

Once you have the pictures, just place them into a page layout program on a personal computer. You can take the disk in to a copy shop, or print one out at home and have it photocopied.

Hand them out at your next potluck, and save a few copies back for new members and for history. You’ll be glad you did!

Complete instructions are available on the Web at www.UCG-FtWayne.org.