# Church social media graphics: sermon series and weekly posts

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/church-social-media-graphics)

Most church media teams are volunteers working on a Saturday night. Design each sermon series once, in every size it needs, and the weekly posts nearly make themselves.

## 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.

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

| Post | When | Size | Look |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Service times | Friday or Saturday | 1080×1350 post and 1080×1920 story | Everyday church look |
| This Sunday in the series | Saturday | 1080×1350 and story | Series look |
| Livestream thumbnail | Before the service | 1280×720 | Series look |
| Midweek verse or quote | Wednesday | 1080×1350 | Everyday look or series |
| Event | A week or two before | 1080×1350 and Facebook event cover 1920×1005 | Event look on church colours |
| Sunday recap | Monday | Carousel of photos and one key line | Series look |

Six posts a week sounds like a lot. Four of them come from a series kit made once.

## 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 16:9 sermon series title slide with the single word Rooted and a line saying six weeks in Colossians

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

One series, five shapes, drawn to scale. The screen and thumbnail are both 16:9; the post and story need the title rearranged, not cropped.

### 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.

- Advent: deep blue to violet: `linear-gradient(160deg, #1e1b4b 0%, #312e81 50%, #4c1d95 100%)`
- Easter: dawn rising: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 100%, #fde68a 0%, #fb923c 30%, #7c2d12 70%, #1c0a05 100%)`
- Lent: muted purple: `linear-gradient(180deg, #2a1b3d 0%, #4a3360 55%, #8b7a99 100%)`
- Ordinary time: growing green: `linear-gradient(150deg, #14532d 0%, #3f6212 55%, #a3e635 100%)`

Four seasonal grounds. Deep colours suit screens in dim rooms; keep the brightest part of the gradient away from where the words go.

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](https://gradiently.design/guide/easter-social-media-posts) and [Christmas social media posts](https://gradiently.design/guide/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](https://gradiently.design/guide/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 portrait church post reading Join us this Sunday with service times of 10:30am and 6pm and the church address

A service times post on the everyday look: times first, place second, one useful detail.

A portrait social post with the verse Be still, and know that I am God, from Psalm 46 verse 10

A midweek verse. Short verses suit a single post; longer passages belong in a carousel.

For verse and quote layouts, [quote post design](https://gradiently.design/guide/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](https://gradiently.design/guide/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](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-kit-setup) 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.

## FAQ

### 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.