Church Invitation Card and Door Hanger Wording You Can Copy
Good church invitation card wording names your congregation and the event, gives the day, date, time and address, and says plainly that everyone is welcome. It answers a guest's practical questions, such as parking, children and cost, and it leaves out anything that sounds like pressure. This page has ready-to-copy wording for Christmas, Easter, vacation Bible school, community meals, new neighbors and the doors where nobody answers, followed by what to include, what to leave out and how to deliver the cards.
Replace everything in [brackets] with your own details. The wording is written for churches, but you can adapt it for any faith community by changing the name of the event. Cards and door hangers are usually part of a larger round of neighborhood visits, and our guide to door-to-door canvassing covers how those visits work. For layouts and design ideas, see our door hanger templates.
Christmas
Christmas Eve falls on Thursday, December 24, 2026, and Christmas Day on Friday, December 25.
Christmas Eve service card
Front: You're invited to Christmas Eve at [Congregation]
Back: Join us for a Christmas Eve service of carols and candlelight on Thursday, December 24, at [time]. Everyone is welcome, and children are welcome in the service.
[Congregation], [street address]. Parking is [where], and the accessible entrance is [where]. The service lasts about [length].
Questions? Call [phone] or visit [website].
Christmas door hanger with more than one service
Christmas at [Congregation]
Our neighbors are warmly invited to celebrate with us.
Thursday, December 24
- [time]: Family service, with a short message for children
- [time]: Candlelight service with carols
Friday, December 25
- [time]: Christmas Day service
[Street address]. Come as you are. There is no cost and no need to register.
Christmas concert or children's pageant
You're invited: [Event name]
The children of [Congregation] present [the Christmas story / an evening of Christmas music] on [day and date] at [time]. It is free, it lasts about [length], and everyone is welcome.
[Street address]. Light refreshments afterward in [room].
Easter
For churches that follow the Western calendar, Easter Sunday falls on March 28, 2027, with Palm Sunday on March 21 and Good Friday on March 26. Orthodox churches often celebrate on a different date, so check your own calendar before printing.
Easter Sunday card
Front: Celebrate Easter with your neighbors at [Congregation]
Back: You are invited to Easter Sunday worship on March 28 at [time] and [time]. [Optional: An Easter egg hunt for children follows the [time] service.]
Everyone is welcome. [Street address]. Parking is [where].
More information: [website or phone].
Holy Week schedule door hanger
Holy Week and Easter at [Congregation]
- Palm Sunday, March 21: [time]
- Good Friday, March 26: [time]
- Easter Sunday, March 28: [times]
All are welcome at every service. [Street address]. [Website or phone]
Vacation Bible school and summer programs
Parents will want specific details before they consider a children's program. Include ages, dates, hours, cost and how to register, and say how children are dropped off and picked up.
Vacation Bible school door hanger
Vacation Bible School at [Congregation]
For children ages [ages], [dates], from [start time] to [end time] each day.
Songs, stories, crafts, games and snacks. The program is [free / cost].
Register at [website] or call [phone]. Parents sign children in and out each day. [Include only if true: All of our adult volunteers have completed a background check.]
[Street address]
Spell out "Vacation Bible School" at least once on the card. Some neighbors may not know what "VBS" means.
Community meals and other events
Community meal card
Front: A free dinner for our neighbors
Back: [Congregation] invites everyone in the neighborhood to a free [Thanksgiving / community / holiday] dinner on [day and date] from [start time] to [end time].
All are welcome, whatever your background. There is no cost and no program, just a good meal with neighbors. [Optional: Vegetarian options are available.]
[Street address]. Enter at [door]. [Website or phone]
Any-faith holiday gathering
You're invited: [Holiday name] at [Congregation]
Join our community for [a candle lighting / a shared meal / a celebration] on [day and date] at [time]. Neighbors of every faith and background are welcome.
[Street address]. [Website or phone]
New neighbors and introductions
Welcome to the neighborhood
Welcome to the neighborhood
We're [Congregation], your neighbors at [street address]. We're glad you're here.
If you ever need anything, from a local recommendation to a helping hand, call us at [phone].
Our [weekly service / weekly gathering] is [day] at [time], and you are always welcome.
A new or relocated congregation
Hello from your new neighbors
[Congregation] has moved to [street address], and we're glad to be part of [neighborhood name].
Our first [service / open house] in the new building is [day and date] at [time]. Stop by, see the building and meet us.
[Website or phone]
When nobody answers
Leave this card at doors where the volunteer knocked and nobody came to the door.
Sorry we missed you
Sorry we missed you
[Name] and [Name] from [Congregation] stopped by today to invite you to [event] on [day and date] at [time]. Everyone is welcome.
[Street address]. [Website or phone]
If you would rather we not knock in the future, let us know at [phone or email] and we will make a note of it.
The last line is worth keeping on every card you leave. It gives neighbors an easy way to ask not to be visited, and it shows that your congregation will respect the request.
What every card should include
- Your congregation's name and address, with a nearby landmark if the building is hard to find.
- The event in plain words. "Christmas Eve candlelight service" says more than a title only members would recognize.
- The day, date and time. Print the weekday with the date, and check that they match.
- Practical details. Parking, the accessible entrance, how long the event lasts, and whether there is a nursery or a children's program.
- The cost, even when it is free, and whether to register or simply come.
- One way to learn more. A website or a phone number is enough. If you print a QR code, scan it on two different phones before you print the full run.
- A way to ask not to be visited, on cards left at doors where nobody answered.
What to leave out
- Pressure or fear. Leave out "Don't miss out", "You need to be there" and any message about what will happen to people who do not come.
- Judgments. Do not comment on the reader's life, beliefs or habits, and never criticize another faith or congregation.
- Requests for money. An invitation is not the place for a donation appeal.
- Long passages of scripture or teaching. If your tradition includes a verse on invitations, keep it to one short line.
- Insider words. Spell out abbreviations, and replace terms that only members use with plain descriptions.
- Too many events. One or two events per card. Put the full season's schedule on your website.
- Anything that looks official. A card should never resemble a bill, a utility notice or a government notice.
- Forms asking for personal details. Neighbors who want to hear more can contact you.
Printing and delivering
- Quantity. Count the homes in your areas and add a margin for miscounts and damaged cards. Example (planning assumption): 400 homes plus 10 percent is 440 cards.
- Readability. Use large type for the event, date and time, with dark text on a light background.
- Proofreading. Have two people check the date, weekday, time and address before you approve the print proof.
- Weather. In rain or snow, use plastic door hanger bags so the card arrives readable.
Hang door hangers on the knob, and wedge cards firmly in the door frame. Never put a card in or on a mailbox. Leaving material without postage in a mailbox is restricted by federal law (18 U.S.C. 1725). Do not open a storm door to leave a card inside, and do not leave cards loose on a step, where they blow away.
Skip every home with a "No Soliciting" sign or a sign asking visitors not to leave flyers, and every home that has asked not to be visited. Rules on door-to-door visits and on leaving materials at homes differ from one city or county to the next, and our post on whether door-to-door canvassing is legal explains what to look for and whom to ask. For timing and what volunteers say when they hand over a card in person, see our guide to inviting people to church at Christmas, Easter and other seasons.
Record where cards were left in Beacon
Beacon is a door-to-door canvassing app that volunteers open on their phones. When a congregation chooses Religious as its organization type at sign-up, the app uses the words Volunteers, Neighbors, Areas, Visit List and Visit Script, and the door screen has a Left Invite result.
- Create a campaign for this round of cards and draw your Areas on the map, assigning each area to a pair of volunteers. When volunteers download their Visit List, the stops are ordered by distance.
- Put the card's details in the Visit Script. Type the event, day, date and time into the campaign's Script box, so that volunteers can give the same details at the door. They see it in the Visit Script panel.
- Record each door. Volunteers choose Left Invite when nobody answers and they leave a card, and Contacted when they speak with someone and hand the card over. Requests such as "do not visit again" go in Notes.
- See what is covered. Each area shows a completion percentage, so you can tell which streets still need cards. Export the door results as a CSV file to keep a record of which households received which card this season.
Every plan includes unlimited volunteers, and pricing is based on the number of contacts, starting at $59 a month for 2,500 on the Starter plan. More on how Beacon supports congregations is on our religious organizations page.
Print your cards and plan the route
Choose your wording, print a small first run, and test the visit screen with two volunteers on one street before the full team goes out. Start a 14-day trial of Beacon with the Starter plan's features. You will not need to enter payment details.
