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; Effective Church Communications can help.

Yvon Prehn's Church Communication Blog

The Bible tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, (Luke 6:45)” or as the J.B. Phillips translation puts it “For a man’s words will always express what has been treasured in his heart.”

My goal in these blog entries (actually in all of the ECC Ministry, but particularly here) is to give your heart and mind a biblical viewpoint and foundation in church communications, so that your communications, whatever form they take, will reflect God’s Word and not primarily secular marketing or current cultural views, fears, or attitudes.

I used the word “primarily” quite intentionally in the previous statement because though we learn from secular marketing and contemporary culture, these influences should not be primary in our work. The primary influence on our work is God’s Word. God’s Word informs the Effective Church Communication ministry in our goal, which is to help church communicators create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission.

Learning from, observing, and sharing other sources, while staying true to a biblical perspective and providing useful commentary is a challenging path to walk. No doubt I will often make mistakes, but to serve you in this way is my goal in these blogs.

Four guidelines for the challenge of ever-changing communication channels

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Digital composite of web pagesAt one time I thought technology would never get any better than the self-correcting typewriter and press-on letters. Now I'm learning to create HD videos and podcasts.  As I've researched video and podcast hosting and distribution systems, at times my brain felt like a jumble of data that would never sort its way into a linear path of what to do next. I'm getting it figured out, but as I'm working out the next steps, I reminded myself of four guidelines I've used in the past to encourage people to try computers and websites without losing the focus on the importance of fully fulfilling the Great Commission. These helped me and may be useful if you are facing new challenges in communication technology:

#1—Don't confuse the media with the message

The media, the tool you use to craft and share your message is and will be constantly changing. Media changes always seem overwhelming and they are often difficult to get through. The change from typewriters to computers for church office communications, from cut and paste layout to MS Publisher to create the church bulletin, from print only to the expectations of a website and social media communication assortment for every church, from flowers to adorn the pulpit to multi-media projection systems—all of these have taken place in the recent experience of the church. The challenge is not only in learning how to use them, but to not allow the demands of the technology to overwhelm the priority of your message. Technology can be extraordinary demanding, but it must never be your North Star. Every person, every church has a North Star which guides all your communications whether you are conscious of it or not. The only appropriate North Star for the church communicator is to fully fulfill the Great Commission—to help people come to know Jesus as Savior and to grow to maturity in Him. The media is not our message—our message is our message. If our eye is on the goal of sharing Jesus truly and completely and growing followers into disciples , if that is the core of our message, though there are many parts of it and many steps in sharing it, we won't be thrown off course when new tools appear. [Read more...]

Effective Church Communications ranks on PAGE 1 of Google Search! and advice for your church to rank well

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ECC on Page one of Google SearchNot only one time, but 3 times!

This morning I decided to check to see where we are in terms of Google Search, so I entered in the generic "church communications" and this is what came up—3 listings on page one! To the left is a screen grab of it.

I was very happy to see that because I don't buy ad space, use paid SEO (search engine optimization) services, or do any of the dubious key word loading and all sorts of things that some recommend to get a site listed in even the first 5 pages of Google search.

What I work very hard to do is to provide church communicators with worthwhile, useful content. Google has stated repeatedly that is what they are honestly looking for when they rank websites.

I trust the results affirm we're doing some things right.

How this applies to your church

[Read more...]

The most important communications you’ll be doing this busy holiday season

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The most important thing in the balance of church communications
In the midst of balancing many things this holiday season, always keep your eye on what is most important to Jesus.

As we go into the busy fall and winter season of church special events and outreach, it's easy to focus on the visible, tangible aspects of our church communications: the design and graphics we use, a discussion on what should be printed and what should be sent out digitally. All these are important, but they aren't the most important thing.

As we prepare for the huge amount of work ahead, we need to stop and as church communicators and as a church staff commit to what is most important in our upcoming communications. To do that as disciples of Jesus, let's look at what is most important to Jesus.

How do we determine what's most important to Jesus?

We don't have to wonder—the four Gospels paint a clear picture of Jesus' priorities. Clearly, his priority was people. He spent his time with people, teaching, challenging, touching them. One of the most astounding things about his interactions with people was how he seemed to go out of his way to interact with people considered unimportant by the rest of society: lepers, the blind, tax-collectors, women with bad reputations.

Though he preached to crowds, we have many stories of how he focused on individuals. In John 3 we have the record of his conversation with Nicodemus, where one of the most important summaries of his mission and purpose, John 3:16 was shared with one man, not announced to a crowd. In Luke 8 he stops on the way to heal an important man's daughter to talk to a woman with a crippling, life-long disease. Though she was "unclean" to the rest of her world, Jesus took time, spoke to her and healed her.

One of the most important summaries of what is important to Jesus is in Matt: 25:37 through 40, when at the final judgment he summarizes what he considers most worthy of reward:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I've often thought how foolish it is for us to argue about the signs of end times and wonder about what will happen, when Jesus has clearly shown us what we wants us to be about before that time comes. If we want it to go well for us in the last judgment, we want to be about what is pleasing to Jesus. With this background of a clear picture of the priorities of our Lord, let's get practical. [Read more...]

Please, don’t be phony friendly and publish your email address if you don’t want to answer it

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Once again, I was sadly shocked by someone who (I won't give the name so as not to embarrass a brother in Christ), who has a ministry proposing to tell churches how to be successful. Perhaps he can; I'll never know based on a recent email interaction with his company. Here is what happened and following a brief retelling, some advice for all of us.

I am working to get some materials into a more professional form for on-demand publishing and noticed this person worked with a company I was considering. I sent a short email asking for a brief response, did he find the company useful to work with?

His email address and CONTACT ME --were all clearly displayed. In addition, on his email page, he specifically invited people to email him personally.

I didn't expect much-- a "Yeah, they were OK" or "No, stay away" would have been fine. What I got back after several days was an email from one of his marketing manager informing me he was traveling and wouldn't have time to answer my email. She knew he used that company, but also several others also. No comments, no "I'll get back to you." End of email.

Don't do that please

It was a simple business request and I couldn't believe how bad I felt with her answer. I wondered if I'd use their contact form for consulting (that was another option) if Mr. X would have had time to interact with me. Again, I'll never know.

The lesson I came away with and wanted to share is that we must be so careful that we do not portray one persona online when we are a totally different person. It is perfectly OK if the head of an organization or ministry or church doesn't want to answer their own emails. The problem comes in when you say you will, when you invite people to email you and you don't.

Excuses don't count. I traveled for over 20 years and somehow managed to keep up on ministry emails. My life schedule now is very challenging and I continue the effort. I am the first to admit I'm not perfect in answering emails as promptly as I sometimes wish I could, but I do try hard and I hope I've never rudely dismissed someone (I apologize greatly if I have.)

Ministry application

You never know what is behind an email--the emotions, the real needs. I imagine most of you reading this do answer your emails, but during the holiday season especially, make an extra effort. We don't want anyone to feel ignored or less than important.

Have an honest conversation with your church staff and don't simply publish email contact information if people aren't going to answer. If they prefer texting, make that clear or show people how to get email on their phones and how to quickly respond. If they don't want to answer emails, be honest and remove their email contact or have it clear that someone else will answer them. If you have someone answering for you, be sure they do it with courtesy.

The person who answered the email I received was simply dismissive and rude when she really could have gracefully salvaged the situation with a little time (several typos also showed how quickly it was answered). For a ministry that loudly proclaims how they want to serve others in their ministry promotion page, I couldn't help but wonder how she identified service.

It isn't the length of a response that matters in emails, it is how we value the person with whom we are communicating and that comes through clearly. Pray that we all remember the importance of the one little sheep the Good Shepherd went after and that we focus the same love, care, and attention on every email interaction we have with people during this busy holiday season and always.