If your church uses a projector on Sunday mornings, you’ve likely had to buy or create sermon series graphics. These slides create a cohesive experience week to week and visually indicate when you’ve started a new series.
But figuring out how to create sermon series graphics can be tiresome, especially if you’re not well-versed in graphic design. We’re here to walk you through the basics of making slides that are easy to read while standing out!
Step 1: Figure Out the Details
The first step in creating your sermon series graphic is to iron out all the details of the series itself—identify the title, theme, and Scriptures. Having this basic information nailed down will make it easier to create a graphic that aligns with the overall series!
Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas
Once you have all of your details figured out, you can begin brainstorming some creative ideas to support your theme. There are no bad ideas in this stage—the goal is just to end up with an idea that you‘re excited to run with!
Your ideas could range from identifying a specific, literal element (like a palm branch for Palm Sunday) or a more metaphorical one (like using green for Palm Sunday). Or, you might go for an overall feeling, not necessarily a specific icon. For example, you might make all-black, moody slides for Black Friday rather than featuring a crown of thorns or a cross on your slides.
Step 3: Design Your Sermon Series Graphic
Now comes the fun part—designing your sermon series graphics! As usual, our top free recommendation is Canva. There are a select few sermon series templates on there, but there are enough free fonts, graphics, and backgrounds that you can easily create your own.
If you’re looking for something more ready-made, Igniter Media or Church Motion Graphics are paid subscriptions that have some great templates that are super unique and easy to implement. Keep in mind that some of these templates are only editable in Photoshop, which also requires a paid subscription.
Step 4: Check Readability and Accessibility
This next step is perhaps the most crucial. You need to make sure that people can actually read what’s on your slides! Is your font big enough? Is there enough contrast between the background color and the text color? Did you put enough spacing between lines?
I highly recommend doing two fail-safes to ensure readability. First, check your slide on your projector so you can see what it will look like on Sunday morning. Some projectors might have lower contrast than your computer screen, so you will need to adjust. Second, run your image through a contrast checker. This isn’t the be-all and end-all, but it can often be a good indication of whether your content is easy to read.
Step 5: Make Slide Variations
Once you’ve ensured your slides are readable, you can create all the variations you need for worship. In my church, we usually create these slide templates to use for different elements throughout the worship service:
- Overall sermon series slide
- Individual sermon slide (with sermon title and Scripture)
- Welcome/goodbye slide
- Worship element slides (songs, Scripture readings, liturgy, prayer, etc.)
Our best practices for church presentation slides apply here, so be sure to keep those tips in mind as you create your slide variations!
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