Guide

How to Make a Church Bulletin in Word (or Google Docs)

Front Porch Puzzle Press · November 9, 2026

A church bulletin is usually one sheet of paper, printed on both sides and folded in half like a greeting card. You can make one in Microsoft Word or Google Docs in about an hour the first time, and in ten minutes every week after that if you save it as a template. Here is the whole process, from a blank page to a folded bulletin.

1. Set up the page

In Word, open a blank document and go to Layout. Set Orientation to Landscape, Size to Letter (8.5 x 11 in), and Margins to Narrow (0.5 in). For a large print bulletin, choose Legal (8.5 x 14 in) instead, so bigger type still fits on one folded sheet.

In Google Docs, go to File, Page setup, choose Landscape, set the paper size to Letter or Legal and the margins to 0.5 in.

2. Split each side into two panels

The easiest way to keep the halves lined up is a table with one row and two columns. Insert it, drag the row down to fill the page, and remove the borders (in Word, Table Design, Borders, No Border; in Docs, set the border width to 0 pt). Text typed into the left cell can never wander into the right one, which is the usual problem with Word's Columns feature.

Make a second page the same way. You now have four panels.

3. Put the panels in fold order

This is the step that trips most people up. When you print two-sided and fold, the panels end up like this:

• Page 1, left half: the back cover (announcements, the week's calendar, staff and service times).
• Page 1, right half: the front cover (church name, the Sunday's name and date, a verse).
• Page 2, left half: inside left (the order of worship).
• Page 2, right half: inside right (sermon notes, the prayer list, a connection card).

4. Build the front cover

Center everything. A typical cover has the church name, the street address, a simple cross or the church's own logo, the name of the Sunday (First Sunday of Advent, Palm Sunday), the date, a short Bible verse with its reference, and the pastor's name. Leave white space; the cover should read from the back pew.

5. Lay out the order of worship

The order of worship is a list of service parts on the left and details on the right: Prelude, Welcome, Call to Worship, Hymn, Prayer, Offering, Scripture Reading, Message, Benediction. A two-column table without borders keeps the details lined up. Mark the parts where the congregation stands with an asterisk and add a line at the bottom: "* Please stand as you are able."

Type hymn numbers and titles fresh each week. Don't paste in the words of copyrighted hymns and songs unless your church holds a license that covers printing them.

6. Fill the back and the inside right

The back cover usually carries the week's calendar (This Week at First Baptist, Monday to Sunday), announcements, service times, the staff list and how to give. The inside right is for sermon notes with a few ruled lines, the prayer list (with permission from the people named), and a tear-off connection card for visitors: name, address, phone, email, and a prayer request line.

7. Choose fonts that won't shift

Use fonts that come with every computer and with Google Docs: Georgia or Times New Roman for headings, Arial for body text. Body text of 11 or 12 point works for a regular bulletin; for older members, a large print version at 14 to 16 point on legal paper is easier to follow. Avoid script fonts for anything people need to read.

8. Save it as a template

In Word, choose File, Save As and pick Word Template (*.dotx). Each week, open the template and save the copy with that Sunday's date, so you never type over last week's bulletin. To change the church name everywhere at once, press Ctrl+H (Cmd+Shift+H on a Mac), type the old text in Find and the new text in Replace, and click Replace All.

In Google Docs, keep one master document and use File, Make a copy each week.

9. Print two-sided and fold

In Word, go to File, Print, choose Print on Both Sides and then Flip pages on short edge. In Google Docs, open the print dialog and turn on two-sided printing with short-edge flip in your printer's settings. Keep the scale at 100% (Actual size), especially for large print.

No two-sided printer? Print page 1, put the printed sheets back in the paper tray, and print page 2. Try one sheet first to see which way your printer feeds. Fold in half so the front cover faces out.

10. Save a PDF to email or post

For members who read the bulletin on a phone, save a PDF too: File, Save As, PDF in Word, or File, Download, PDF in Docs. A PDF looks the same on every screen.

What about Publisher?

For years, many church offices made bulletins in Microsoft Publisher. Microsoft retired Publisher in October 2026, so it is no longer included in Microsoft 365. If your old bulletins are .pub files and an office computer still has Publisher, save each one as a PDF now so you keep a copy you can always open, then rebuild the layout in Word or Docs using the steps above.

Skip the setup: a ready-dated template

If you would rather not build the layout and type in dates every week, our church bulletin templates for Word have a bulletin for every Sunday from the First Sunday of Advent 2026 through December 26, 2027, already in fold order, with the Sunday's name, the date, a King James Version cover verse and that week's calendar filled in. Each comes in Classic, Seasonal Color and large print, and the files open in Word, Google Docs and LibreOffice. There is a free sample bulletin to try first. For more ideas on what to put in each panel, see our church bulletin ideas.