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.

Want to get to know the audience for your church? Just ask.

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Ask questions to learn how to reach people for Jesus
If you want to know the audience the Lord gave you to reach for Him, ask questions!

In one of the presentations on marketing at MarCom 2015, the presenter talked about the importance of understanding your audience better so you can serve them better.

He went on to quote the following statistics:

87% of Millennials say they believe in Jesus

47% say they go to church

The question we need to answer is: Why such a big difference? Why do so many say they believe in Jesus, but don't go to church?

The answer isn't rocket science. The advice they gave answer was to get out in your community and ask.

It really is that simple. You can't look it up somewhere; you can't do a study. If you want to know the answer to why people don't go to church in your community, just ask them.

But don't ask the person directly because you don't want the person to be defensive. Instead, ask them "Why don't people today like to go to church?"

You'll find that when you ask about people in general, the person you are asking will almost always give you their personal answer.The "people" they talk about are themselves and their friends. This is invaluable marketing research for reaching your community.

Effective Church Communication application ideas

A great way to put this into practice is for a group of you from church to go out to a mall or other gathering place in your community, tell people you are taking a 3 question religious opinion survey and ask if they could give you 60 seconds of their time (it really doesn't take long). Here are the questions:

1. Do you believe in Jesus? (no lengthy answer needed, just yes or no)

2. Do most of people you know go to church? (yes or no)

3. Why do you think people go or don't like to go to church? (Here let them talk as much as they want and take notes, but don't push for lengthy answers.)

Afterwards, thank them for their time and if at all possible, have a business card that says something like this to give to each person:

Thanks so much for taking time
to answer our questions!

We really do value your opinion.

If you'd like to find out more about Jesus
please come to our church (add or info)
or visit our website (add info) or
 contact me (if you are comfortable sharing a personal email).

After each person has asked 3-5 or up to 10 people, meet back at church or someone's home and share the results. Ask these questions of your group:

What did you learn about the people in our community you didn't know before?

What was the biggest surprise?

How can we use what we learned to reach these people for Jesus?

Then pick ONE thing you can do and do it in the coming month. Don't make it complex, it can be as simple as changing how you view the people around you.

Close your time by praying for the individuals you spoke to and continue to remember them in prayer.

Last bits of advice

You can do this as a small group, a staff or parts of staff, or a few interested people in the church. Don't make a big deal committee project out of it or something that needs 5 levels of approval before you find out more about the people in your community who need Jesus.

This is not a "witnessing" project—you are simply trying to learn more about the people the Lord has given you to reach in your community. If you have the opportunity and want to share more, that's fine, but you don't have to.

Don't be afraid. Be an objective interviewer and you'll learn a lot. Pray for the Lord's insight and wisdom to use what you've learned to reach your community for Him.

Finally, REPEAT the process.You want to keep in touch with the people you are trying to reach. Don't try to figure them out—get to know them.

 

NEH 4 It’s OK to be afraid, but don’t allow fear to silence your vision

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Lesson 4 from Nehemiah for church communicators

Fear can be crippling. You might have a vision for what your communications could do to change your church. You might have a vision of a new website, one that is up-to-date and one that in-depth answers the questions of seekers and members; you might want to start a mobile phone daily devotional; you might want to totally redo the bulletin so it clearly explains your liturgical service; you might want to recruit and train a team of communication volunteers. Or maybe you simply want to figure out how to use the computer software you've been given without a mental meltdown each time you open it.

Whatever your vision and dream in church communications, don't be surprised if you experience fear as you contemplate making your dream reality. Also to carry out the next step in your communication ministry often takes the permission and support of church leadership who may not seem to have church communications as a priority in their view of the church. Maybe you have been told "no" in the past and it's scary to even think about bringing up a costly or controversial topic.

Nehemiah experienced that fear when the king asked him what was going on because he looked so sad and the Bible records Nehemiah's response:

"I was very much afraid (Neh. 2:2)."

Lessons we learn from Nehemiah's admission of fear:

1. He was afraid; he was very afraid. Fear is a natural response to a scary situation. Sometimes if you aren't afraid when you approach making changes or suggesting a new ministry, you aren't paying attention to reality.

2.Though it is normal and sometimes even healthy to feel fear, it is never OK to let our fear keep us from pressing ahead. Nehemiah told the king that he was sad because of the situation in Jerusalem. Fear can keep us from bringing up problems we see because we are afraid of a reaction from those in charge.

We always must make certain that we express concerns "with gentleness and respect," but simply because we are afraid of a reaction is never a reason not to express valid concerns.

Because Nehemiah expressed his concern in spite of his fear, the king replied:

"What is it you want? (Neh. 2:4)"

There are never any guarantees to positive answers, but no matter what the outcome, don't let fear cripple your vision of serving God with your church communications.

What to do before anything else in church communications, part one

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Nehemiah prayed before he worked
Nehemiah prayed before he worked and so should we if we want God's blessing on our work.

Lesson 2 from Nehemiah for church communicators

Nehemiah allowed his heart to be broken over the distress of the people and the city of Jerusalem. He knew their situation had, in some ways, a rather simple solution: rebuild the walls. It was a technical, practical, manageable solution.

So what did he do? Did he draw up plans, detail a work schedule, put together a budget before going to the king? Those were logical things to do and necessary somewhere in the process, but that is not what Nehemiah did first.

First he prayed. Even more noteworthy is that he did not begin his prayers be praying for success; he began his prayer by fasting, confessing his sins, confessing the corporate sins of his people, and asking for forgiveness:

"Neh.1: 4 For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: 'O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses."

Before he did anything else, before rushing forward with his plans, Nehemiah humbled himself before God and by confessing his sins, made himself a clean vessel for God to use.

His example is a challenge to all of us.

When was the last time you fasted and prayed over your church communications? There is something about fasting that forces us to say "no" to ourselves and that discipline alone is great preparation for church communications work. The ability to say "no" to what we want done, when and how we want it done, is a great skill for successful church communications work.

Take some time to try it. Maybe not even a whole day, maybe even just half a day. After a few years of not doing it, once again I have made it my practice to fast part or all Mondays. I find this somehow humbles my heart and refocuses my energies to serve God as I start the week.

Fasting and penitential prayer is not all Nehemiah did as he began his work for God, but it is a challenging example for all of us as we work in church communications.

The most important thing you can do starting the year as a church communicator

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This stained glass window reminds us that Christ is King, but until He returns we need His Word to strengthen us in our daily battles.
This stained glass window reminds us that Christ is King, but until He returns we need His Word to strengthen us in our daily battles.

The most important thing you can do starting the year as a church communicator has nothing to do with getting new equipment, designing a better website, or having time for training classes in the latest software upgrade.

It has everything to do with strengthening your walk with your Lord.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Eph. 6:12-13)

Working for the Lord in church communications is hard. The bottom-line reality is that we are in a war. And in any war, one of the first things the enemy tries to knock out the communications equipment of their opponent. As we've seen in recent years, changes in government, huge movements, wars large and small, have often depended on the success or failure of communications. Today, if a government wants to cripple dissent, the first target they attack is to cut off the web and social media. When people can plan, strategize, and encourage each other through communications they can be an invincible army, without communications they are isolated individuals without focus or purpose.

Church communications have the same purpose

You aren’t just “doing the bulletin” or some other isolated project. You are the communication center for spiritual warfare, success or failure for your church. When you got into communications work for your church or ministry you entered one of the most intense areas of spiritual warfare raging today. Satan wants to knock you out.

Troubles with hardware, software, and co-workers are to be expected. Especially people problems should be no surprise because Satan is “the accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10) and one of the easiest ways to cripple you in the battle is to get you fighting with your fellow soldiers. Don’t let him win; don’t take on his job.

Remember also that you are in a war that has already been won. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished!” When he rose from the grave, he conquered sin and death.

Because of Jesus’ finished work, our battle resembles the fighting of the resistance fighters in France at the end of WW2. The allies landed on D-Day and basically the war was over, but until Paris was liberated, the war wasn’t over for the French Resistance. The resistance army still had to fight. If you study the history of the resistance, you find that one of their primary weapons was communications. “Freedom is coming—the war is over—hold on until the victors arrive!” That was their message and ours is the same.

Your most powerful weapon—God's Word

We may be involved in spiritual warfare, but we don’t have to fight alone. We can expect help for the battle. Our help never comes ultimately from new equipment, or a more peaceful work situation, or more considerate workers. Our help comes from our Lord and from doing our work according to his Word.

In the midst of a description of how to handle ourselves in daily spiritual warfare, the Message translation reminds us that:

Eph. 6: 3-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. You've got to be strong in His Word if you are going to be able to do all that you need to do as a church communicator.

To help you do that I encourage you to do what I do every year and that is to read through the Bible in chronological order. Though we are a few days into the year, please start this adventure with me (I apologize for not getting it out sooner—rotten sinus infection and death in our extended family have slowed me down a bit). We are doing it together at my church and below are links to some materials I have put together on this. I can't urge you enough to do this—it will change your life, not only as a communicator, but overall as a growing disciple of Jesus.

Why read through the Bible in Chronological Order
http://untilfulllight.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/why-read-through-the-bible-in-chronological-order/

Download Chronological Bible reading plans
http://untilfulllight.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/why-read-through-the-bible-in-chronological-order/

Video: Ways to read through your Bible in Chronological Order
http://untilfulllight.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/video-ways-to-read-through-your-bible-in-chronological-order/

Overview of Genesis and Job, foundations for answers to the big questions of life
http://untilfulllight.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/overview-of-genesis-and-job-foundations-for-answers-to-the-big-questions-of-life/

Job intro: Know the end of the story before you read the book of Job
http://untilfulllight.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/job-intro-know-the-end-of-the-story-before-you-read-this-one/

Finally, get into God's Word so your work will have purpose and power

If you don’t train yourself to look at the battle you are in as spiritual warfare, if you don’t draw your strength from Jesus by spending time in His Word and prayer, your job will be much more difficult than it should be.

God did not put you in your work to simply survive. Do your work with joy and passion, with your eyes on heaven and know that though the daily battles might be difficult, the war is over, victory is assured, and your King is coming.

Want to attract young families to your church? These communication tips may help

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Lots of tech tools and challenges are needed to reach younger audiences.
Lots of tech tools and challenges are needed to reach younger audiences.

Many churches in America have aging congregations and a constant prayer in all of them is that they attract young families to the church.

A primary response to this need is for churches to upgrade their children's programs and make certain their nurseries are spotless, attractive, and well-staffed. Though facilities responses are essential, other communication responses are also important if your church wants to have a family come back more than once.

You've got to speak the same language as younger people

Imagine if you were invited to a party by a close friend. The friend tells you that the people are great and you'll have a fantastic time. You approach the party with excitement—but when you open the door, you discover that the party guests are all speaking the language of their native country and English isn't allowed. They are all English speakers, but they prefer to not speak it at their parties. They smile and are very nice. They offer you food; they have a game room for your kids; but when you try to talk to them, they shake their head and say your language isn't allowed. You will probably leave as quickly as you can and decide you never want to associate with that group again.

The language of many young people today is technology and if you don't speak that language, they will feel about as welcome as the guest in the story above.

Technology communication tips

Attitude is one of the most important things in learning to speak the language of technology.  You may not know how to do the things that are suggested below, but admitting that your church is working on these areas and perhaps even asking for help to implement them, will go a long way to making technology speakers feel at home.

None of the comments that follow should be taken as a recommendation that you do away with any of your current means of church communications. You still need printed Bibles, email, phone calls, postcards, and whatever else the people in your church use for communications. The challenge today is that we can't do away with past means of communication, but we continuously need to add new ones and here are some to consider:

Allow the use of cell phones and tablets in church and adult education classes

This seems so basic, but I still see church bulletins that tell people not to use their phone even to read their Bibles in church. One church went so far as to give a mini-lecture in print on how irreverent it was to read the Bible on your phone and how distracting it was to those around you.

I don't imagine many who were used to reading the Bible on their phones came back a second time to that church.

In contrast, at another church when it's morning time to read the Scripture for the morning, the Pastor invites people to follow along, "either on the screen in front, your printed Bible, or whatever electronic device you enjoy using."

It isn't surprising that this church, with a large aging congregation, has recently been running announcements in the bulletin asking for volunteers in the ever-growing children's programs.

Be sure your website is responsive and constantly updated

A responsive website is one that can be easily accessed on a smart phone.  A responsive website resizes so that text can easily be read on the smaller screen. A website that isn't responsive can be accessed with a smart phone, but it's hard to read and extremely difficult to find anything on it. For people who use their smart phones to look up every part of their lives, if your church makes that impossible, they won't bother to go to a desktop computer or call the church office.

Making a church website responsive can be as simple as changing the underlying template for the site, if your site is built using WordPress.

For a more complete explanation of what responsive sites look like and how they work, CLICK HERE https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2012/09/a-primer-on-responsive-websites-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-important/—this article is a couple of years old, but is a good illustration of them.

Text important messages

Email is no longer the latest and most efficient way to contact people. Many people today don't ever look at a desktop computer unless their job requires them to. They access all the media and information they need through their smart phone and seldom look at email. It can be depressing to realize after all the work you do on creating email newsletters that many people won't look at them.

Texting is the next challenge to learn if you want to communicate with the people who don't access email. Here is an article that tells you how to send group texts on your smart phone: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/mobile-phone/3472964/how-send-group-texts-from-android-iphone/

Have the option to give electronically

Many people pay all their bills electronically today and some have few or no paper checks. If you want them to give to your church, you need a system where they can do this. Not only will this make it easier for people who prefer to pay this way, but many churches have discovered that electronic giving makes contributions much more consistent. I was going to link you to a Christian Computing article about this, but they switched to a Wix site and don't have a search box, so the best advice on this would be to ask churches in your area what software  they are using and if they like it.

Have your pastor's sermons and those of other teachers available online, preferably on iTunes

Sunday is no longer a sacred day and many people have changing work schedules. Because of that, they may not be able to attend church regularly. If people miss, they may want to hear the sermon and if the only way you have them available, if you do, is on CD or tapes, many younger people simply won't bother. Many of the church website templates have automatic ways to put audio files on your site. Getting your material on iTunes is more complex (I still haven't done it, hope to do an article about it soon), but important to do it if you want to make your message available.

Make social media more than a logo on your bulletin or a link on your website

If you or someone on staff isn't regularly interacting with your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+ accounts, don't just put these on your bulletin or as a link on your website because that's the "in" thing to do. These tools are called "social media" for a reason. If you aren't involved with them, don't bother. Better though is to get a volunteer who loves interacting on these sites and will do it for the church.

A final note—the technology advice above is for more than younger families

Confession time here—though I do think everything I said above applies to attracting young families to your church, the article above could also have been labeled, "Some tech communication  lapses in churches today that really bug Yvon."

I am far from being described as a member of the young family target audience, but my love of and involvement with technology make all the issues above important to me. I was motivated to write it after viewing one too many church bulletins and church websites that didn't have these things and personally being bothered by them.

The point here is not about my cranky preferences—it is about being all things to all people that we might win some, no matter what technology they use or what age they are.