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.

The biggest mistakes made by Christian communicators, part one

By 1 Comment

This listing of mistakes is both a report and a commentary on a presentation at the Outreach Convention in San Diego, November 2010 by Phil Cooke, a writer and commentator on media, faith, and culture.

Phil is one of those rare individuals who is in touch with current  culture while at the same time someone who has a passionate devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In addition, he is a dynamic presenter, both fun to listen to and extremely thought provoking.

In addition to presenting his comments, I’ll be adding my additions to them.

Mistake #1:  thinking that that value of your message means people will pay attention to it

This one is my comment on his statement that current studies show most people are bombarded with over 5,000 messages a day. Because of that, he added that it isn’t enough to just have a great message.

We have the greatest message, that’s a given—eternal salvation freely given to rebellious humanity, who neither earn it, deserve it, or even after they accept it, are seldom thankful for it. Having the greatest message, isn’t the same thing as communicating it.

Resting on the value of their message, some church communications don’t work very hard on making their communication clear, creative, or something that even makes sense to people outside the church. Communication that results in action is hard work.

Mistake #2: Bad writing

Phil Cooke had a number of examples of this including a picture of a billboard that said:

Sinners is Welcome

The next one was a church sign that had lost some letters and said:

Disciples of Chris

Phil went on to say that grammar and spelling are the basics of our toolbox as communicators.  Just as any athlete knows he must stay strong in the fundamentals, we’ve also got to be careful about these areas.

My comments: today there seems to be the idea that if the design is fancy enough, the words don’t matter, but words are what clarify our message. If they are muddled, your audience may walk away with a nice feeling, but little else.

If you feel your writing needs improvement, there are lots of writing classes online, but one of the best ways to learn to write is to read good writers. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorites and I like to have his clear, logical writing in my mind as I try to write.

Don’t forget reading your Bible, not only to learn and grow in your faith, but to train your mind and writing. If you think God’s thoughts clearly and if his Word is the foundation of your life, your writing will reflect it. Many of the great writers of the past had the Bible as their primary instructor in life and writing and we do well to follow their example.

Mistake #3: Lose the Lingo

Many people outside the church today did not grow up with any understanding of Christian images, references, vocabulary. The primary cultural vocabulary for many today is the media. One example of the problems this can cause is for a person who saw the Alien movies where the monster comes bursting out of the chest of its victim. What do you think that person hears when he attends church and the pastor talks about how “Jesus will come and live inside you.”

Our first response might be to laugh, but to muddle serious spiritual truth because we don’t take time to think through what our spiritual jargon is saying to a person raised outside the church.

____________

To go to part two of this series, click here.

Put some calm in your holidays

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note:  How sad it is that the simple celebration of thankfulness and the birth of our Savior have been transformed into a time of frantic expectations. Gayle Hilligoss provides some great advice on how to restore peace to the celebration of the Prince of Peace.

The comparison hit home with several office professionals enjoying a fall luncheon. “During the holidays I feel like I’m trapped in a snow globe of to-do lists,” remarked a longtime administrative assistant. Her table mates nodded. Each one knew well the sensation of having scores of demands swirling about her.

Conversation turned to ways they might weather the storm better this year. All agreed trimming tasks would be a challenge, but could be done. Some said they had already made strides toward maintaining saner holiday schedules and were anxious to explore even more ideas.

"To me, attitude is the key,” offered a pastor’s assistant who shared her positive experiences over the past few years. “I had to get over the idea holidays should be all hurry-scurry. What I discovered was that real blessings of the season are missed when every minute is packed with activities—even if they are good activities.”

Another reformed over-achiever noted, “The best thing I did was to take control of my personal  agenda. When I quit trying to bake every cookie, make every decoration, and maintain every family tradition, I found the time and energy to actually focus on the reason for the season.”

• Make two lists of goals, one for work and one for home.
It may seem like a paradox, but making these two important lists now prevents the  need to make lots of trivial lists later. Decide what you want to achieve during the vital weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. About each task ask, “Is this worth my time and effort? and “Is there an easier way to do this?” Be selective; list only those activities and achievements that truly matter to you. Fun is important. Schedule some!

• Trim your calendar.
Pitch all but what really counts toward a meaningful holiday experience. Save optional jobs and appointments for another time. (I routinely schedule annual checkups for October to have that all done before holiday time; when Halloween candy hits the shelves, I hit my appointment book.) Avoid taking on projects and plans that steer you away from your stated holiday goals. Don’t waste any of this special time doing what can be done later—or not at all.

• Protect your personal time.
All year around, and especially during the holidays, give yourself daily or at least weekly private time to relax and refresh. Do what you like—walk, exercise, read, take a class, enjoy a hobby. Or do nothing at all. But, do keep this appointment with yourself.

• Forget about being a perfectionist.
Nothing paralyzes accomplishment, saps joy from achievement, and undermines good intentions like the irrational drive to be perfect. It is vital to know when to say, “This is good. Time to move on.”

• Be realistic in your expectations.
Memories, not to mention a plethora of magazines, can create an unreasonable scenario of what the holidays should be. The church offers many opportunities to celebrate Christ’s birth, the community presents scores of ways to share with others. No time of year has more to live up to. Stay grounded. Kids will still be kids. People can still be inconsiderate. Time and energy constraints hang on. Problems won’t solve themselves. The computer can still crash. Life goes on.

Nevertheless, expect blessings. They are there to be claimed. Enjoy!

Measure success correctly—or why a big turnout doesn’t necessarily mean a successful event

By 2 Comments

How do you measure success in a church outreach event? Immediately after any event is a great time to evaluate past actions and plan future successes.

A great turnout doesn't equal great results

I recently looked at a church website that celebrated the great success of their fall outreach by listing the number of hot dogs served and bags of candy given away. Though I understand they were celebrating that they got a great turnout for their event, a great turnout alone does not make for a successful church event, especially for this kind of event. If you do even the most minimal advertising, it's difficult not to get a great turnout when you are giving away free food and candy. [Read more...]

YOU CAN DO IT! all the church communications you need to do, in-house, using your people, and at low cost

By 1 Comment

You can do it! All you need to in church communications.
You can do it! All you need to in church communications.

For your church communications, we've come a long way since the start of the digital revolution.  As we've progressed, more and more of the tasks of communication that were difficult have become easier with the development of resources that enable your church to create cost-effective and professional results, in all areas of church communications.

I've launched this website to help you;  I've got lots of resources designed to help you and more will be released on a continuing basis. I trust the information here will give you  inspiration and practical training, but overall, again, and again, outside whatever I can provide, my core message  is YOU CAN DO IT!

YOU, in your church, with your people can create all the communications you need to reach the people the Lord called you to reach and to grow your congregation to Christian maturity.

The Lord calls and gifts his people to do his work-you may not feel like, you may not want to, but no matter how quickly changing the technology, no matter how old or young you are, no matter where your church is located or how small your budget, you can do all the communications you need to win your community to Jesus and to help your people grow in their faith.

Following are expanded reasons why you can and should do your communications work in-house, in your church, by your church people.

Content is primary and should be personal

In your communication ministry periodically it's important to remind ourselves why we communicate anything at all in the church. We are doing it to fully fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus to go into all the world, preach the gospel, and make disciples. It isn't the technology that we use that is of primary importance, but the content of our message.

Though the core message of every church, salvation in Jesus, is the same for every church, every church will express the gospel in its own unique way and no one can express it better to the audience your church is called to reach than the people in your church. [Read more...]

Pledge Card/Committment Card Sample that includes more than money and reminds us of our committment to discipleship

By Leave a Comment

In church we often talk about giving our "time, talent, and treasure," but when it is time for the congregation to give its annual pledge, many churches only ask for money. In this wonderful sample from Gordon M., his church asks for not only a monetary pledge, but asks for very important commitments in all areas of spiritual growth, as shown below. It is only after these areas that the financial part of the card comes in. Here is the sample text, the PDFs and editable files are described below.

Pray for Duncan Memorial at least   ___ Daily  ___Weekly ___Monthly

Worship at Duncan Memorial (or elsewhere) ___Weekly  ___ 2x/Month  ___ Monthly

Discipleship Growth Group participation (Accountability/Bible Study/Prayer/Sunday School, etc.)  ___Yes

Volunteer to help with other Duncan Memorial ministries:  ___Children/Youth Sunday School   ___Serve on Committee

___Meals  ___Office Help  ___Yard Work/Maintenance  ___Visitation  ___Mission  ___ Other ____

Serve the poor at least one hour ___ Weekly  ___ Monthly  ___ Quarterly

Share our faith with others and/or invite others to experience Christ here  ___Yes

On the back of the card is a Tithe Chart.

I like so much about this card because not only does it ask for commitment, but it very strongly reminds church members that being a Christian involves prayer, worship, discipleship, volunteering, helping the poor and sharing our faith. As leaders in the church, we need to remind our people that ALL of these actions are important in our faith and this card is a fantastic reminder.

Below is what the card looks like on the Front and Back.

 Below the images is a link and you can download Two Zip Files:

One is titled "Commitment Cards" and it has a PDF, 3-up of the card, a PNG image if you wanted to put it on PowerPoint or use it for training, plus an editable MS Publisher file so that you can modify the file and make one for your church.

The Second file is titled "Tithe Chart" and it has a PDF of the chart, 3 up, ready for you to print, a PNG image to use on PowerPoint (show it to the congregation and encourage them to look it over and pray about it) and an editable MS Publisher file of the chart. You probably don't want to modify the chart, but you may want to change the header to personalize it for your church.

The files can be accessed below the images.  Again a HUGE thank you to Gordon! You've blessed us all!!!

Committment Card Image

To access the files click on the link, download the ZIP file and SAVE IT to your desktop. Then just click on it to open the files. Remember you do have to have MS Publisher to open the files, but anyone should be able to use the PDFs and the PNG image files.

For the Commitment Card ZIP FILE, click here.

For the Tithe Card ZIP FILE, click here.