For decades, Microsoft Publisher has been the trusty, go-to tool for creating weekly church bulletins. Its familiar layout and straightforward design features have served church administrators faithfully through countless seasons of ministry. However, with Microsoft officially retiring Publisher in October 2026, many administrative teams are now facing a significant learning curve as they look for reliable alternatives.
Transitioning away from a software used for years can feel daunting, but support is available to make the pivot as smooth as possible. To help churches get a head start on this transition, a fully customizable Microsoft Word bulletin template is now available for download.
A special thank you goes out to the local church that generously shared their own working Word document and allowed it to be adapted for wider use.
This template is free to download, and administrators are encouraged to take the file and modify it to best fit the unique style, branding, and formatting of their local congregation.
Adjusting to new design software takes time, and this template is just the beginning. Work is currently underway to develop more practical resources to assist congregations through these technological updates. The goal is to provide the best possible support during this season of change.
If there is a specific resource, tutorial, or template that would make church administration easier right now, please reach out and let your Thrive Regional Connector know. Download the template today, and feel free to share feedback on what tools would be most helpful next.
Please find the Microsoft Word bulletin template below.
Comments
Word is not my first choice. This meme explains everything: www.instagram.com/reel/DIWPFrKSBoy/ =)
We've been working with Canva. I'd be interested in hearing what other resources people here are switching to. At some point I'd like to try Affinity, LibreOffice, and/or Scribus. Does anyone here have experience with any of these?
Ya, this template is a pretty big step backwards (or sideways). We also use Canva. We downloaded and adapted a template from this website: https://ministrydesigns.media/collections/church-bulletins
So the only thing that gets handed out is a half-sheet, which space for sermon notes taking up the bulk of the backside. We email out a 2 page PDF of the bulletin on Fridays, and make some print copies available for Sunday. We only include announcements that pertain to over 50% of the congregation. Otherwise, we communicate things directly to smaller groups of people or individuals.
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