Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

You are not a computer, remember to rest

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You must take time to rest.
You must take time to rest if you want to be an effective church communicator.

Genesis 33:14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."

Jacob was sensitive to the possibility of driving his flocks and children too hard. A present-day application is that we need to remember in our computer creation of ministry communications and marketing that human beings have limits.

The computer doesn't. You keep it plugged in and it doesn't stop. It doesn't get tired or need to stretch or take a coffee break. It will also do things perfectly again and again and it doesn't get bored.

People aren't like that. People get tired and bored. They complain and get sick. If pushed too heard they may break beyond repair.

Some recent studies have suggested that people look at themselves and other people differently after working with computers. They are harder on people and less tolerant. They push themselves beyond healthful levels in time spent working on computer projects.

This can be a strong area of witness for Christians in the computer world. We know the true value of people. They are not machines, but precious creatures of God to be cared for.

We know the true value of time and work. We know our times and success are in God's hands. We know God has designed a Sabbath rest every seven days to remind us that there is a time to stop working and trust him.

When you are tempted to work past your physical limits, remember you don't work for a god of technology that never tires but one who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest .... I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
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Devotions Cover The above material is from: Devotions for Church Communicators. For a complete copy of the book in print and online formats, CLICK HERE.

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The meaning of color in logos and how some famous ones were created

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Few logos have inherent meaning as this infographic illustrates.
A logo by itself means little--your church creates the meaning behind your logo.

The infographic that follows has instructive summaries about the meaning of colors in logos, but what I found even more interesting is how some famous logos were created, which you will find near the bottom of the infographic. Also, though the information on colors is interesting as the latter comments show, it isn't the most significant aspect of them or what made them memorable.

Some of the most famous, including the logos for Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and Nike (yes, the famous swoosh) were all created for very little money (or nothing) by either students or the company owners.

Comments on this infographic that may be of value for churches

This is a fascinating piece of work, but it has many topics on it. The section about colors is interesting, but the real meat of the graphic is the information that follows it--so don't quit after you look at the comments on color. For churches, one take-away value is in the famous examples, mentioned before, that were created for little or no cost by either company founders or graphic arts students. To me this says that it isn't the innate design quality of the image that is powerful, but the associations that have grown up around it. The Twitter logo is simply a blue bird. The Nike swoosh is a simple symbol. The Google logo a simple (and to some viewpoints pretty tacky) piece of script as logo. None of them are inherently powerful.

What makes them powerful and recognizable is what the logo stands for, what is behind it, what it represents when we see it. In many ways their very simplicity makes them powerful because the logo itself doesn't distract from the identity of the company it represents. For churches, following are some considerations concerning logos, not listed in any order of importance:

  • Don't assume your logo will "brand" you. Who you are and what you do will create the image your community remembers.
  • Simplicity in your logo will allow your behavior to define you.
  • Don't think you have to spend a lot of money for a logo—or that you need a professional marketing company to do it. Spend the money to feed hungry kids or provide clean water for those without it.
  • http://www.fiverr.com/ is a great resource for inexpensive logo creation
  • Search your heart, pray, ask the Lord to help you understand your unique calling in the Body of Christ and to help you find a logo that represents His work well in the life of your church or ministry
  • Have fun with the color comments below and praise our Lord for giving us this beauty to enjoy.
Note: the attribution for the logo at the start of this article: By CADTEC (Schweiz) GmbH (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons. No meaning intended from it--I simply thought it was an interesting example and wanted something free to use.
Review of the Best Company Logos: Nike & IBM are Among The Most Powerful Ones

Is your website an open door or barrier to your church?

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Church website=church door.
Your website can either be an open door or a barrier to your church--it's your choice.

Today, if we have a question about anything, where do we look up information? If we want hours of operation, products offered, staff bios? If we want to know what movie is playing, what time a concert starts, what classes are offered at a college where do we do to find out? Obviously, we go to the website. It's the same whether we are looking up information about what computer to buy or what church to attend.

We judge the organization, its people, and its products based on the website. If the website gives us winter hours and it is spring; if the sale has been over for weeks or if the hours of operation are incorrect, we aren't likely to visit the business or have confidence in it. If the business is a franchise and the website is an obvious template, with little local personalization, we won't think much about the technical skills (equated with competence overall) of the staff. Again, we judge a church the same way.

Unfortunately many church websites don't meet the minimal standards.

Though lost customers may be bad for a business, the consequences for a church are much more serious. Following is an example of what can happen and then some suggestions for change.

True story here

A couple hadn't been able to attend church for some time after moving to a new community because the wife was ill. Her health improved somewhat and they were excited about attending church the following Sunday. It wasn't easy for her to get up early, take the needed medications, and prepare for church, but they loved going to church and after checking out many churches in the area found one on the web they wanted to visit. The website told them the details, time it started, directions, and they assumed, all they needed to know.

As they walked through the doors they were met by a woman who said, "do you know what is going on today?'

"No," they replied.

"We are not having church today, we are doing a community service day. You can stay and work or go somewhere else."

When the couple asked why this was not on the website—the woman replied, "It probably should have been. I'll pass that on."

It was not a pleasant encounter and the couple left.

What if. . .

The couple who related the story to me, consulted the web again, and went to another church later that morning. They were upset at that church and may or may not visit again, but they are believers in Jesus and will eventually find a church home.

However, what if the visitors had been a couple in emotional crises? What if they were not believers in Jesus and had finally worked up the courage to visit a church only to be told that it was a day for the insiders to do a project and that they were not included? What if it was the last time a person who had been hurt by church leaders in the past decided to try one more time to attend before giving up on church completely?

Of course we can't know the situation of every person who comes through our doors and of course there are always people who won't read notices no matter where we post them, but there are things we can do to prevent potential spiritual disasters and that in addition are simply good business sense and good manners.

A primary recommendation

Keep your website CURRENT! Not only on your home page should you have any changes that differ from your normal schedule, but also on the pages that list ongoing events. For example if your service is cancelled for a work day, on the home page, if you have rotating headers, one should say "WORKDAY this SUNDAY—no regularly scheduled services.

A similar message should be on ALL listings of your service times throughout the website. This is because you never know where people will drop into a website based on the results of a search engine.  If you've done these things and a visitor still shows up – honestly apologize and ask them how you could have communicated more effectively.

A foundational to-do—learn how to create a living website

Your website is not only a static brochure, but should be a living, ever-changing communication vehicle with your community. Having said that, there is also place on your website for static information that rarely changes—staff bios, overall vision and mission of the church, etc.  Information like this is essential and having it in a consistent location is one of the primary benefits of a website as opposed to the ever-flowing river of social media.

Social media is at best an interactive communication tool useful most often with people who are already interested in or involved in your church—but it is a lousy tool to find out about the background of the staff, the beliefs of the church, or for an overview of the children's ministry. A website is the perfect tool for this factual information, but even though this information stays relatively the same, it must also be updated immediately when things change.

To make your website living, you must have a website that the church office staff knows how to modify. Before the objections start, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for members of the church office staff to not know how to modify your website. Churches have had access to the Internet for over 20 years and most churches have had websites in some form for over 10 years. But for some reason, many church communicators, including pastors and church office staff think they can't create a website, modify an article, or create a blog and that simply is not true.

Get a grip people—if you want to communicate to your world today, you must to learn the language of the digital world. It isn't that hard, it is exciting, and can be tremendous fun. You've learned how to drive a car, use a computer, and any number of additional skills for your work and life. You can learn this.

More will be coming on this site about websites and how to create them, but in advance of that, there is an abundance of instructional videos, books, websites, and tutorials on how to create websites and blogs with WordPress— the free and easiest way to do it.

Finally, all the above isn't simply a push for church staffs to update their websites, so visitors aren't turned away; it's about doing all we can to help people find Jesus. Throughout history missionaries have learned new languages, given up family, safety, and comfort to share the gospel. Our challenge is to become fluent cyber communicators, let's not be found wanting in this.

Introducing a new Columnist for Effective Church Communications: Ewald Wuschke

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Ewald Wuschke, our new columnist for ECC.
ECC is thrilled to announce a new columnist for our site: Ewald Wuschke.

I met Ewald many years ago when I did a church communication seminar in Canada. Over the years he has frequently commented on articles on this website and given me extremely helpful advice. His recent materials were so helpful I decided to ask him to become a more frequent columnist for Effective Church Communications and was thrilled when he said "yes." He's given us three articles on Windows 8 and I look forward to much more helpful advice in the years to come. Below is his brief bio and some additional personal notes he sent:

Bio of Ewald Wuschke

Ewald Wuschke is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Richmond, BC, Canada.  He works part-time at the church as an Administrative Assistant, helps lead an ESL bible class, prepares PowerPoint for worship services, and tries to find enough time to maintain the church website.
Additional personal notes: The items I have written come after lots of experimenting and researching--but always with the goal to solve some issue at hand.  I learn best by helping others, and welcome questions others may have.  Can't answer all, but enjoy trying to.

Is your church ready for when Microsoft drops support for XP and Windows 7?

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How does the decision to quit support for Windows XP and 7 affect your church?
How does the decision to quit support for Windows XP and 7 affect your church?

It's good to hold on to some older things: traditions, friends, treasured memories—computer operating systems, not so much.

I confess, though I work in technology every day, with the exception of Camtasia (the program I use to create training videos) I HATE to upgrade perfectly good working software. Like I know many of you, that includes MS Publisher 2007 and 2010.

An operating system is another thing. It is the foundation for everything your computer does and if it is too out-dated, or not supported anymore by the company that made it, like what is happening with Windows XP, scheduled for April 8, 2014, it can be dangerous to the security of your work. Support for Windows 7 is also scheduled for either 2015 or 2020 (more about that later in the article).

If you want more details, for an excellent overall article on the what will happen when Microsoft no longer supports XP, check out the following one by USA TODAY. I like it because it isn't by a particular reseller and so isn't aggressively pushing the purchase of a new machine. It also has a humorous video about the demise of Windows XP.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2014/02/11/windows-xp-the-end-is-coming-fast/5392269/

What to do? Some personal advice

My advice (and I do not claim to be a hardware/software expert, so what follows is merely my opinion) first concerns what not to do:

DON'T even try to upgrade to Windows 8 on an old XP computer. It won't work, your software won't work, and the bulletin still has to go out and unless you have a typewriter hanging around in the office, you'll be out of luck.

And, unlike what many resellers tell you, I wouldn't rush into a Windows 8 machine. Here are the current stats on operating systems, from the same article above:

Windows 7. . . has a 47.49% share. Microsoft's more recent operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, come in with modest 6.63% and 3.95% market shares, respectively.

I love my Windows 7 machine and simply haven't had the money or time to switch to Windows 8 (and it doesn't seem like many other people in the world have either). You can get really great deals on Windows 7 machines. Walmart sells them online as does Amazon and many other reputable online resellers. If you want to make the big jump to a Windows 8 machine--that will save you having the face the upgrade decision again in few years or depending upon when Microsoft stops supporting Windows 7. The question follows: "When will Microsoft end support for Windows 7?" There are various reports floating around, but the best answer I've found is following:

Microsoft will stop mainstream support on January 12, 2015. But the company will keep providing extended support until January 14, 2020.

"Well, thank you," you're probably saying. "That's as clear as a new industry acronym."

Let me explain:

Through January 12, 2015, Microsoft will provide the same complete support you have today. You'll receive both security and non-security updates. Your warranty claims will be considered and possibly honored. If your license came with no-charge incident support (yes, it exists), you'll continue to receive it. Microsoft may even add features and change the design (but not, I hope, removing the Start menu).

But in 2015, Windows 7 will go onto extended support, which just covers the basics. You'll still receive free security updates, but non-security-related hotfixes will only be available on a paid subscription--and you'll have to start the subscription before April 15, 2015 (if you live in the USA, that's a date with unpleasant associations in any year). There will be no free support, Microsoft won't honor warranty claims, and the company will not add new features.

By the way, XP's mainstream support ended on April 14, 2009; Vista's ended on April 12 of this year. So if you're satisfied with the support you're getting on this operating systems, you probably won't have much to worry about with Windows 7 for another seven years.

For what it's worth, XP's extended support ends on April 8, 2014. Vista's will end on April 11, 2017.

from: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010820/how-long-will-microsoft-support-windows-7.html

One more reason that adds to the uncertainty in this situation is that Microsoft just got a CEO and since Windows 8 has clearly not been embraced by the buying public, it's uncertain what we'll see in the coming year. It could be a more recent repeat of the Vista disaster and may be discarded or modified in a similar way. I have no idea, but I also wouldn't spend a lot of money getting a system that may change drastically.

What to do in your church office?

The most important thing is to know what is happening and when. You do need to deal with the ending for the support of XP primarily because when Microsoft no longer supports security updates, with all the malicious virus and other harmful material on the web, your computer could easily become infected and  make life very difficult for you.

Take time to talk about it with your church business manager, pastor, technology adviser. The decision will be totally different for different churches based on your size, complexity, budget, and the time and skills available to people who must use the programs. Don't let technology or the latest updates be your master. Technology is your servant to help you do ministry more effectively and considering the people and ministry implications must be an important part of your decision. What might be essential for a large, urban church with a big budget might be a ministry nightmare for a small, cash-challenged church where one person does all the office work.

Talk to other churches in your area. Pray for wisdom—the Lord cares deeply about your everyday tasks in the church as you work hard to share his message. Trust him to help you make your decision and He will.

As I said earlier, my opinions here are based on my situation and I know many ministry communication situations are different. Personally, I may get a Windows 8 machine if the new CEO announces support for it,but I know I'll switch over to it kicking and screaming. How much I keep running Windows 7 will depend on how well the Windows 8 machine (whatever version that might be t the time) handles the software I use to help all of you. With Windows 8 there is also the question of Office 360 and I'm not ready to tackle that yet. I'm doing a lot of work with Google Docs now and I'll pass on that after I learn it better (am really liking it so far)—it's free as opposed to a never-ending cost for Office Cloud subscriptions—which is a definite bonus for cash-challenged ministries.

***IMPORTANT UPDATE: Skimming the New York Times online today (2-14-2014), I came across the following article that I strongly recommend you read--it gives additional practical advice on the challenge of ever-changing technology. One caveat--we can't all afford Apple hardware, so ignore that part if it doesn't apply, but good overall advice anyway. Just click the title here to go to it: How to Survive the Next Wave of Technology Extinction

If you have comments or experience in this area, please do share them in the comment section here! Really need/want your comments on this!