For pastors, having enough time to take care of their numerous responsibilities, along with getting a weekly sermon prepared, can be quite a challenge. Some weeks, the last thing they want to think about is creating slides to go along with their sermon. Besides not having the time, pastors might not have the funds to invest in software to make fancy slides.
So what's a pastor to do when their leadership team keeps hinting that they should really get some slides or backgrounds put together so that members of the congregation can more easily follow along (and maybe even pay better attention)? Well, to help your pastor save time and money, here are our favorite hand-picked resources to make beautiful sermons - and the best part of all? Besides being super easy to use, these are all are absolutely free!
This sermon template is both free and completely customizable. Because it is so easy to change the colors, fonts, and content on this template, pastors can use this template again and again before anyone catches on. :) The template below shows where a pastor can include the title of their message along with a subtitle or corresponding scripture. There are other templates included in this sermon template series where pastors can plug in other passages from the Bible they will be using in their message and also templates for sermon points and inspirational quotes.
Canva is a great place pastors can go for a variety of church graphics, including backgrounds and templates for sermon slides. This particular template is attention-getting without being a distraction. The title on the template can easily be changed, as can the date, subtitle, and name of the church. If pastors don't like the fonts used on the template, they can change those as well. When pastors download this template, they can take advantage of the templates multi-page feature so that they can create more slides for their message without having to start from scratch. Another added bonus is that the presentation can be done directly from Canva's website so pastors don't have to mess around with importing the template into their own software.
For pastors who really want to modernize the typical sermon slide, they can try motion backgrounds. Motion backgrounds are usually .mp4 files that get set to loop over and over again every 10 to 45 seconds. There are many reasons why a pastor might choose to use a video background, as they are sometimes called. One is that the use of motion can evoke more emotion from the viewers. Other advantages are that they offer a clean and modern design, they are engaging without being distracting, and colors can appear more rich and vibrant than on a static slide. They are also very versatile and can be used for worship as well. Here are some of our favorites (click on the links to see them in motion).
There are variety of free backgrounds at NLC Creative. This one is especially appealing because it is dark in the middle with lighter colors on the outside which can make centered text really stand out. Pastors need to be careful here to make sure the font color they use contrasts enough to stand out. Maybe consider using white text, just to stay on the safe side.
NLC Creative also offers a number of slides that pastors can use for an entire sermon series along with slides for special days of the years. Here is a Christmas one that we really like:
Whether pastors choose to use a customizable template, a motion background, or a background that they can simply add text to for their next sermon, using some of the resources above will help remove save lots of precious time and help you stay on the cutting edge of design and communications. And, since all of these slides and backgrounds are absolutely free, they won't put a dent in the church budget.