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.

Open Letter in response to a church secretary whose job was cut

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I received the email below from a church secretary whose church terminated her job because of the challenging financial times we are in. In the time spent praying over how to answer wisely, I realized that an answer to her questions and some comments on her situation might be useful to other church communicators, so I am answering in the form of an Open Letter.  Below is her email and then my response, her name and church are confidential.

In this tough economy many churches have had to make the tough decision to no longer have a secretary.  I am trying to communicate to the congregation that I love the Church and support the decision that was made.  On the other hand when I am in service I want to cry because for me this drastic a change is very scary.  So I may need a break not from God but from the Church so I can refocus and not be the cause of any problems (many do not agree with the decision).  Do you have any suggestions on how to communicate this in a positive way to the congregation.  (PS - I have not been able to have a Sunday to just worship since I started 3 years ago.  People always assume I am working if I am here, despite reminder that I will take care of that when I am working on Monday)

My response, an open letter

First of all, let me say that I honestly feel the pain that underlies your question. It is more than theory—my husband was on staff of a large church and we had a huge and successful Single Adult ministry that was our life—and his position was terminated because of budget cuts. While serving as a bi-vocational pastor since then, we have had some interesting experiences with churches promising to pay and “budgets just not working out.” Whatever the reason, when money, one’s income, and all those sorts of financial things get tied up in our church life, it not only becomes challenging financially, but messy and potentially very destructive to our own spiritual health and that of others in the church.

Ultimately, what you decide to do is between you and the Lord Jesus and I know you will be spending much time in prayer and in His Word to decide your actions, but since you asked, let me share some thoughts that I trust are guided by Biblical principles. I will try to summarize your concerns and then offer some thoughts and Biblical advice on them. [Read more...]

Why it is incorrect to think that graphic images mean the same thing to everyone who sees them

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Images should be used only if they add to the message expressed primarily in words. They are not enough in and of themselves to communicate much of anything. They may look nice, they may create an emotion, designers may congratulate each other on their brilliance when they share their creations, but if you want to communicate a significant Christian message, images alone won’t do it.

Some of you may object: “But, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Whenever I hear that statement, I always respond with the question, “What thousand?”

People often make the first statement as some sort of understood truth that images say more than words do. That is simply not true. Reality is that the same picture can mean as many different things to as many people who look at it. Not convinced? [Read more...]

Disaster recovery at ECC; foolish thriftiness; operating system updates & PageMaker disappointment

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I thought I had good computer backup systems in place so that I can serve all of folks who come to my website in the best possible way. My website is continuously backed up by a premier hosting company; my videos are all on a separate server and system; I have a separate drive on which I continually back up projects in process, but something happened this last week that I did not foresee and that could have had potentially disastrous consequences for the resources that I provide for you.

It came about in an area that I least expected—as a consequence of why I assumed was my thrifty care of computers and software. Because many of you work in churches with older computer and software, this tale will be useful for you to read; if you use PageMaker (I know not many, but a significant number of you do) it is essential reading. Regardless of your software or computer use, please consider what I learned from my recent challenges.

How my thriftiness became a problem

One of my favorite sayings from my German Mennonite, thrifty upbringing is:

Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Do without.

Though I feel this is a wise way to live in much of our lives so that we can use our resources for the Kingdom of God, in some areas being thrifty simply does not work. One of those areas is in computers and upgrades. I am in the process of recovering from major computer hardware and software failure and I’d like to share what I’ve learned in case you might be in a similar situation. The first example below concerns my specific problems with PageMaker and the XP operating system. After that is important advice on backups and upgrades.

PageMaker and the XP operating system

Here is what happened to me: I use both a desktop and a laptop computer. My desktop model is an HP computer running Windows XP with 3GB of RAM, I’m not quite sure how old it is, but I got it second-hand about 4 years ago. My laptop is an HP running Vista, it’s a bit newer, and I think maybe 3 or 4 years old.

Even though I believe in making things last as long as they can, I knew the desktop computer was approaching death and so I have been conscientious about backing up projects I was working on with it (more on that recommendation later).  I also knew that for some reason, it was the only computer that PageMaker seemed to work really well on. Not only in general functionality, but it was the only computer where I could create a PDF easily with the PageMaker files (which I have to be able to do to publish the e-books I create for you) and it was also the only machine that would run the PageMaker spell-checker.

I had problems with PageMaker on the laptop, but I assumed that was because I didn’t install it correctly.

The desktop began making loud clanking noises. I opened it up and cleaned out the dust, carefully using compressed air. It ran smoothly for a few days. Then it died a quiet death. It would simply not turn on.  I had most of my files backed up so I assumed that if is just reinstalled PageMaker on the laptop, all would be well and work would continue as usual.

It didn’t work out as planned

After days of installing and uninstalling, I realized something serious was going on. PageMaker would not function properly on the laptop. I called Adobe support and was told my software was no longer supported and they said I needed to buy new software and click, they were done with me. Because I do not have the time or money to buy and learn InDesign this week, I was in a bit of dilemma.  I have dozens of manuscripts of updated versions of e-books in PageMaker and many of them are just at the brink of being published for you. I have the on backup files….but it seemed that I didn’t have a way to finish and publish them.

I thought maybe the Adobe people were just being nasty and the problem was with the laptop computer. My first solution was that I’d simply buy a new cheap laptop and load up my PageMaker on it and get back to work. I went shopping and oh my, the pretty screens on the new systems made me want one badly. But in addition to being thrifty, I’ve learned to never buy new equipment impulsive, no matter how much I think I need it. I was praying for wisdom and I do believe the Lord put a check in my spirit so I wouldn’t buy a new system.

I decided to do some extended research. After lengthy research on the various tech forums here is what I finally found out:

  • PageMaker stopped being made as a program with PageMaker 7
  • PageMaker will not run on Vista or anything more recent
  • You may be able to install it, but many of components (a primary one being the dictionaries and the spell-checker) simply will not run on anything other than XP today and there is no way around it.
  • XP is the last operating system that will run PageMaker
  • Adobe still sells PageMaker 7 as a new program and they don’t tell you upfront (you have to read the specs carefully) that it will not run on anything past XP.

Well, that wasn’t good news. A new laptop, no matter how pretty the screen or how much RAM it might have would not solve any of my problems.  If I want to get the materials that are almost ready to go and out to you in a timely manner, I need to be able to access the files as they are on an XP system. That means I need an XP machine.

More research and I hope a solution

A friend at church said he’d give me his old computer….but it was running the newer Vista operating system (there is “old” and then there is my version of “old, but making due”).

I decided to take in my dead computer to a locally owned computer store and see if it could be fixed—maybe it was a simple solution.

The bad news is that not only had the power source died (I hoped that was all), but the motherboard (the heart and soul) of the computer was shorting out—it was dead, dead.

The good news—the computer guys are able to build me a new XP system. They can take the license from the old computer (Microsoft charges $150 for that) and apply it to the new one. I can get a very simple, inexpensive, what is now considered “low end” system, but it will be more than adequate for my needs to finish the PageMaker books.

Just because new computers don’t come with XP doesn’t mean that can’t be put into a new box and that’s what the computer guys are in the process of doing.

One more thing—RAM and upgrading your system

I know that more RAM usually means a better functioning computer in terms of its ability to handle graphics and since I’m doing a lot of videos I thought maybe I’d add some additional RAM and that would last me a good while longer.

But as I talked to them about the new system, I found out that 3MB of RAM is all that XP can handle (actually 3.25, but it doesn’t come in fractional amounts) and any more than that is a waste of money.
The videos and materials I create now have been working just fine with 3MB, so unless I greatly change my way of doing things, that should work out well for the foreseeable future.

The spiritual lessons in this situation

My first instinct is to rail against computer companies who don’t care about saving money and church people on a budget and being forced to upgrade even when what I have is working perfectly well to do what I need it to do—except when it doesn’t. And then I feel like I’m hostage to their upgrade demands that I won’t be able to do the work I need to do if I don’t buy what they force me to buy.

But we are commanded to do “all things without griping and complaining (Phil. 2:14-15) and I do know that God is in charge of all things, even computer upgrades. I also know He will supply all my needs (Phil. 4:19) as I need them for me to do the work He has called me to do.  We are also commanded to give thanks in all situations (1 Thes. 5:18). I think it is very important in times like this to remember that God is in charge of our technology and our interactions with it. We never step out of His commands for us to trust and obey Him no matter what the technology challenges.

It is so easy to think that God is only involved in the “spiritual” parts of our lives, but I think one reason that Jesus became a man was to show us that everything, every fleshy, daily, work or leisure part of our lives is under his control and is to be lived as Jesus would want us to live. Everything we go through can be a lesson to help us live as Jesus wants and to help us listen to His voice.

I am so thankful I didn’t simply rush ahead and buy a new laptop. It wouldn’t have worked; I wouldn’t have the system I needed for the work I need to do. If I hadn’t taken the time to research the problems, I wouldn’t know about the PageMaker limitation that may affect many of you also. If I hadn’t prayed and waited, I would not have experienced God’s gentle intervention in this area of my life and the growing confidence of His love and care in the midst of challenges.

Practical lessons learned

I did some things right, some things wrong, and some things I need to do more research on. Here’s some advice from these lessons:

What I did right:

  • Almost continuous backups of files. Though systems are far more stable than in the past, big crashes can still occur. I have a Buffalo 500GB backup drive continuously connected to my system that I’m working on, laptop or desktop and I try (Ok, sometimes I fail at this) backing up every project as I go along. Because I’d been doing this, the complete shut-down without warning of the desktop, was not a huge content disaster.
  • Waiting and praying before rushing out to buy a new system to solve all my problems.
  • Checking the professional forums online for solutions and suggestions.
  • Using good old MS Publisher for most of my web-based work. LOVE that program and it continues to work well to create so many church-appropriate publications.
  • Contacting a local computer store with techs who were honest and who kindly worked to find a real (and cheap) solution that would work for me instead of just selling me a new system that wouldn’t.

What I did that was wrong:

  • I did not realize how drastically an operating system affects software.
  • I incorrectly assumed I could keep using my beloved PageMaker on any system as long as my install disk could function.
  • I never checked on software compatibility with an operating system—yeah, really dumb, but it was simply never an issue before.

What I need to work on:

  • I need to do a LOT more research before I get a new system. In the coming year I want to greatly upgrade my use of video and extend of created books and CD materials. But before I get any new equipment or software, I’ll make sure they all work together.
  • I need to find out a good web-based system for backups.  Though my Buffalo drive is great and my husband has instructions that in event of emergency evacuation grab the Buffalo drive and run, it is not an infallible piece of software.

My work plans for now:

I am extremely thankful, that at least for now, my MS Publisher files seem to work on all systems.  I use MS Publisher for all the templates I make for all of you and at least for the foreseeable future, it seems like MS Publisher 2007 will continue to work on the computers I have.

I will use the newly redone XP desktop to finish the current e-books I’m working on and will then upgrade to InDesign (this is the upgraded version of PageMaker) on that computer. I will transfer all the PageMaker files to InDesign on the older computer before moving them to a new system.

***KEY CLARIFICATION: Once a book is in e-book format, available either on the www.effectivechurchcom.com Downloads Storefront, or on the www.lulu.com/yvonprehn online storefront for my books and CDs it is in a PDF format that will work on any computer system you have.

I do hope that funds will allow me to purchase a newer, more powerful computer system so that I can use Windows 7, Office 2010 and InDesign . I do try to stay in the latest decade anyway of new software, so I can be somewhat compatible with what others are using.  I will learn how to use all of these new programs by using the online learning available through www.lynda.com, the company I have recommended in the past and use constantly to keep learning new things about the computer and the software I have.

I am not an “early adapter” of new technology and am not overly thrilled about having to learn InDesign. I’ve used it some in the past. I was not impressed and was irritated by all the, what seemed to me, extra junk that PageMaker didn’t force me to deal with. But to create truly professional books with all they need in terms of typography, indexing, organization, etc., the Adobe products are a necessity. My beloved MS Publisher will do almost anything for churches well, except for long, complex, professional books.

I will continue to pray for wisdom for me and for all of you. I know it is really hard in many churches to stay updated with equipment and software and to pay for upgrades in any of these areas even when they are desperately needed.  When you are trying to juggle ministry challenges the last thing you want is to have to figure out if your software is compatible with your current computer upgrade. I am praying for wisdom to help you in all the ways I can through this website and for all of you so that with my advice or not, the knowledge of web forums or not, that you will take time in every computer challenge to pray and listen to Jesus.  Remember that in technology challenges, as in all of life:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:7

Having fun and not sinning is not the point of the Christian life or of Christian communications

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Is having fun what defines a Christian? Is FUN what makes a church even worthwhile? Is fun why we do what we do (whatever it is) in the Christian life?

When you look at many current church communications, you'd assume the answer was "yes." A recent scanning of material on the web as I was researching alternative Halloween events overwhelmingly advertised events or promoted activities where the FUN promised is promoted as the primary reason people should attend. Though the focus of this blog is on the combination of Halloween communications and the emphasis of FUN (intentional shouting with the all capital letters), the same concerns and cautions apply to our communication of many church outreach events.

How fun becomes the primary motivation for Halloween alternative events

Much of the thinking process behind many of these "Christian" alternatives to Halloween on the web seems to go something like this:

  1. Halloween is evil.
  2. To take part in a traditional secular celebration of Halloween is evil and sinful.
  3. Christians shouldn't do evil and sin.
  4. Instead Christians should have good, clean fun.
  5. Therefore our church will do a fun event for Halloween.
  6. People will see we are Christians by our fun.

I don't have a problem with the list up to #3—much of traditional Halloween celebrations are evil. Maybe not as evil as some timid folks fear, but probably not activities that would fall into the class of edifying Christian activities. Dressing up as demons and witches and glorifying magic is not what Christians ought to be doing. Sending your kids out alone to beg for candy in most areas today isn't safe.  But the alternative to fighting evil or working to fulfill the Great Commission is not to simply have safe fun. [Read more...]

e-book: How to be more successful in recruiting volunteers for church outreach events

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Case Study CoverThis booklet both goes along with the ECC Training Video: A case study to help you be more successful in recruiting volunteers example a church trunk or treat, but it is also a great stand-alone instructional booklet that will give you specific advice on how to recruit any time of the year.

The most important thing (in additional to lots of prayer) to get people to sign up as volunteers in your church is for you to give them clear and complete information about the event you want them to volunteer for and how to sign up to be part of it.

Remember, having a successful volunteer turn-out isn't just about you--it is about helping people grow in their faith and doing work that is pleasing to our Lord.

This e-book is free for Effective Church Communication Members. You can download it by clicking the link below. If you are not a member, click here for membership information and how to join.

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CLICK HERE to download How to be more successful in recruiting volunteers for church outreach events.