The short version
- Church social media graphics are easiest to manage when each sermon series gets one look that is used on screens, posts, stories and video thumbnails.
- Slides for church screens are usually 1920×1080, a 16:9 frame, and should use large type and few words so they read from the back of the room.
- A weekly service times post and a story version answer the question newcomers ask most: when and where to turn up.
- Volunteer teams stay consistent when the church's colours, fonts and logos live in one shared brand kit.
- Planning a series' graphics in one session before it starts avoids rushed Saturday night design.
On this page
Good church social media graphics start with the sermon series, not the individual post. Give each series one look, a title, a background and a font, and produce it once in every size it needs: the 16:9 screen slide, the Instagram post, the story, the livestream thumbnail. The weekly posts, service times, events and a verse for midweek, then sit on the church's everyday look. That split keeps a volunteer team consistent and keeps Saturday night free.
What a church posts in a typical week
When
Size
Look
When
Size
Look
When
Size
Look
When
Size
Look
Size
Look
When
Size
Look
How to design a sermon series
A series is a short campaign, usually four to eight weeks. It needs a title that works at small sizes, a look that differs from the last series, and a layout that leaves room for each week's subtitle. Make the master at 1920×1080 for the screen, because the room sees it largest and longest, then lay it out again for the other formats.
A series title slide at 1920×1080. One word, a short line, and plenty of calm space for the screen.
Screen 1920×1080
1920 × 1080
Thumbnail 1280×720
1280 × 720
Instagram 1080×1350
1080 × 1350
Story 1080×1920
1080 × 1920
Event cover 1920×1005
1920 × 1005
Give each season its own colours
Changing the series look with the church year helps regular attenders feel the season, and helps your feed avoid looking the same for months. These are starting points with codes you can paste into most tools.
Gradiently's brand kit can hold extra palettes alongside the church's main colours, so each series or season sits in its own palette without the everyday look changing. The same idea applied to big moments is in Easter social media posts and Christmas social media posts.
Church slides: how to make them readable from the back
Screens in church are viewed from far away, often in mixed light, by people of every age. The rule that matters most: if a slide is hard to read on a phone at arm's length, it will be hard to read from the back row. Presentation backgrounds covers more on screen design.
Avoid
- Whole paragraphs of scripture on one slide
- Thin script fonts for lyrics
- Bright, busy backgrounds behind words
- Text running to the edges of the screen
- A different font every week
Do
- A verse split across two or three slides
- A sturdy sans or serif at a large size
- A calm, deep background with the words on its quietest part
- Generous margins, since some projectors crop the edges
- The series font for titles, one plain font for lyrics and verses
This is where a living background helps. A Gradiently Mark knows where the words are: its calmest, best contrasting region moves behind the text and busy detail relaxes, and Auto ink picks light or dark type line by line. Nobody has to add boxes or shadows to make a verse readable.
Service times graphics and weekly church posts
Newcomers check social media before they visit. The single most useful post a church makes is the plain one: when, where, and what to expect. Pin it, keep it current, and post a story version each weekend.
A service times post on the everyday look: times first, place second, one useful detail.
A midweek verse. Short verses suit a single post; longer passages belong in a carousel.
For verse and quote layouts, quote post design shows how to set short lines so they feel considered rather than clip art. Livestream thumbnails follow the rules in YouTube thumbnail size: 1280×720, a few large words, the series look.
How a volunteer church media team stays consistent
- 1
Set up the church's kit once
Logos for dark and light backgrounds, colours, a heading and a body font, and a sentence on voice. Everyone designs from it; setting up a brand kit walks through each part.
- 2
Make a series kit before week one
Title slide, blank slide, post, story and thumbnail, all on the series look. Each week only the subtitle changes.
- 3
Give volunteers the right access
On Gradiently Pro, a workspace gives editors room to make posts while admins look after the kit.
- 4
Review on the design
The pastor or comms lead leaves comments on the post itself (also part of Pro), which is quicker than a group chat on a Saturday.
- 5
Batch the month
Service times, verses and event posts for four weeks in one evening, ready to schedule.
Questions people ask
What size should church slides be?
1920×1080, a 16:9 frame, which suits most modern screens and projectors. Older 4:3 projectors use 1600×1200.
What should a church post on Instagram each week?
Service times, the coming Sunday's place in the sermon series, a midweek verse, any upcoming events and a short recap after Sunday.
How do you design a sermon series graphic?
Choose a short title, a look that differs from the last series and a calm area for words, design the 1920×1080 screen version first, then lay it out again for posts, stories and thumbnails.
How can church volunteers keep graphics consistent?
Keep the church's colours, fonts and logos in one shared brand kit, make a series kit before each series starts, and review posts with comments on the design.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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