If asked, "Are you serving yourself or your people with your church communications?" of course I'd answer "My people." But this morning I read an email newsletter that challenged my assumptions.

The newsletter is from Gerry McGovern, a secular web guru and consultant, who consistently provides thought-provoking materials that have useful application in church communications. Today in his newsletter he had an article, “WEB PROFESSIONAL: ARE YOU READY TO SERVE?”

Those of us who do communications work in churches like to think that we are motivated by service, but are we really? Read the extended quote below and replace his work “customers” with those you are trying to reach and grow in Jesus. {+}

"It is impossible to create a website with excellent service if there is not a culture of service within the web team that manages the website. All great web teams are founded on a philosophy of service. They like and are interested in their customers. They are constantly thinking about their customers' needs. They want and like to serve.

Many web teams are unfortunately filled with people who have little interest in serving. In fact, many web teams don't even accept that their primary job is to serve customers.

Some web teams think that their job is to manage technology. They spend their time thinking about technology. They get excited by talk of content management systems, search engines, portals, RSS feedback and mobile computing.

Some web teams think about traditional communications. They have all this content to put up. They think that their job ends after they have written the content. The want to communicate at, rather than to, customers, and they expect customers to listen.

Some web teams are excited by things like branding and graphic design. They often change a website because they're bored with the old one. They secretly long for Flash Intros and sometimes create website designs more for their peers to admire than for customers to do stuff on.

Web teams tend to be isolated from customers, and because of this isolation a culture of service rarely exists. In some organizations, web teams are not even allowed to talk to customers! It is simply impossible to design an effective self-service website without a deep understanding of, and ongoing interaction with, customers.

Great web teams constantly talk about the needs of their customers. The technology, the content, and the graphics only exist in the context of creating a more effective self-service environment.

From: http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/ Content management solutions by Gerry McGovern,
Note: I strongly recommend that you go to the website and sign up for his newsletter, great ideas, challenges and insights that you can apply to church communications.

Let me repeat his last paragraph:

It is simply impossible to design an effective self-service website without a deep understanding of, and ongoing interaction with, customers. Great web teams constantly talk about the needs of their customers. The technology, the content, and the graphics only exist in the context of creating a more effective self-service environment.

In not only our websites, but in all our church communications it is so easy to talk at people instead of listening to then, to get overwhelmed by technology, or to work to please our peers instead of constantly seeking to meet the needs of those we serve in the church.

Dealing with technology—the latest web graphic or whatever, is often much more fun than figuring out why the youth group volunteers don’t understand how to use your new interactive calendar or appreciate the innovative graphics you are using.

But if we do these things we aren't serving—and serving is never easy. Jesus took off his robes, wrapped himself in towel and washed the disciple’s feet—and then he told us to do likewise. We need to strip off anything in our communications work that keeps us from serving the people Jesus has given to us. We need to constantly think about their needs; we need to be thinking about how to meet them, and praying for the strength and wisdom to do that.