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.

Bait and switch is not a tool for church communication–two sad examples of it

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bait and switchThough bait and switch most often refers to the retail realm, it can also apply in many other areas as this definition from Wikipedia clarifies: "Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud, most commonly used in retail sales but also applicable to other contexts."

The Wikipedia article goes on to describe how bait and switch is used in many areas of contemporary life including the obvious teaser rates for the airline and travel industry, hotel and resort pictures that show non-existent levels of excellence, dating sites that post fake profiles, and methods of authoring legislation that hide the complete intent of a proposed bill.

This use of bait and switch, of a headline or link promising one thing, but not delivering what was expected, has become so pervasive in the media that many readers are no longer shocked or outraged, but meekly and quietly assume that you can't trust much of what you read or hear and if you get taken in by false of misleading claims, you, the reader, simply were not careful enough.

Caveat emptor, "Let the buyer beware," may be the rule for anything we read from the secular market place, but it should not need to be our response to communications from writers and organizations that claim Jesus as Lord. Sadly, this isn't always the case.

Remember who you represent

Christian communicators serve the Savior who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

We are Christ's ambassadors, as 2 Cor. 5:20 says, "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God"

Let that sink in. As a Christian communicator, you speak for God. A core description of your communications should be that they are true.

To make that practical to you in your church communication work, following, I'll discuss:

  • How the reality that we are Christ's ambassadors applies in Christian communication
  • Some overall guidance on how we should communicate as ambassadors
  • Two examples of bait and switch in Christian communications
  • Application and advice on how not to be guilty of bait and switch  in your communications

[Read more...]

Free ebook on Basic English Grammar and a helpful website for writing advice

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This book is a free ebook on the site link below. It is a helpful review for what we all learned a long time ago.

We could all do better on our writing, grammar, and editorial skills and this website has a wealth of articles to help. In addition, they also have a very useful FREE Ebook on the Basics of English grammar. They send out a daily newsletter with short writing tips that I don't always read, but have found useful.

They also have a number of blog articles they link to that are excellent reminders and training to help us keep quality in our church communications.

Be a bit careful of the advertisements on their site. For example, I didn't like the big display ad on self-publishing "for only $100." You can self-publish books for free, you don' t need to pay someone to do it for you. That's one of the reasons we do self publishing. But overall, lots of useful material.

CLICK HERE to go to the site overall

CLICK HERE to go to the page to download the FREE Basic English Grammar ebook.

Yvon Prehn Interviewed on The Gospel Blog

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"Why bother to do church communications?"

"Who do we do the church bulletin for?"

"What are some of the biggest mistakes people make in church communications?"

"How did you get started in this ministry?" [Read more...]

Effective Delegation, The Ultimate Balancing Act, Part 2

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

In Part 1, Gayle shared the foundation of why and how to delegate. This article goes into specific advice on how to make the delegation experience a successful one for you and your volunteers.

• Be available.
Once your worker has directions and starts the job you can get on with your own tasks. Before you do, assure the recruit you are available for questions. For most jobs it is also advantageous to establish checkpoints—agreed upon times you check on the task’s progress. Resist any urge to pop in more often. Trusting people is essential to effective delegation.

• Encourage, appreciate, recognize.
The key to having a good supply of enthusiastic workers is to make heroes of the ones you already have. Even the busiest people enjoy, and will want to make time for, opportunities to serve where their contributions are appreciated. Recall how you felt last time someone gave you a spontaneous “Good job!” Words are powerful. Be generous with your honest praise.

Many churches with regular corps of volunteers have clever ways to identify them: shirts, hats, and pins with a special logo; regular dinners or luncheons; an honor roll in the newsletter or on the website. You will think of many more ways to show your appreciation for these important people—not just the work they produce.

• Evaluate results.
Delegation is more of an art than a science. Situations and people are different; there are no magic rules—only reliable guidelines. Don’t expect instant success. Your other skills have matured and improved with practice—so will your skills of delegation .

Gauge how delegation is working for you by asking yourself some hard questions after each assignment is completed.

• Was time saved? Can I expect that in the future?
• Was the work done well?
• Did I pick the right person for the task?
• Was this a positive experience for all?
• What techniques would I repeat?
• What would I do differently?

• Put aside excuses.
Church office professionals offer a lot of reasons for choosing not to delegate: it is easier to do it myself; the job is mine so I should do it; I couldn’t find anyone to take this on; I don’t have time to explain to someone; it might not turn out well; I would just have to do it over. You can probably add an excuse or two of your own.

Each reason is plausible. Any one could persuade you to just “do it myself.” Nevertheless, the risks are slight compared to the benefits: your own professional growth, the opportunities for service provided, time and effort used most effectively, and a more balanced work load—for starters.

Take the risk. Delegate.

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For Part One of  "Effective Delegation, The Ultimate Balancing Act" CLICK HERE

You might also enjoy:

DDevotions Print Coverevotions for Church Communicators

This is a great book to give out as a thank-you to anyone involved as a volunteer in the church communications ministry. Click on the book to go to the link that tells you more about it.

 

 

 

"You are One of the Great Ones and far more important than you may realize," an encouragement for all church communicators

CLICK HERE or on the image to read one of the devotions from the book above. CLICK HERE to go to a download of a FREE flyer that you can get to share.