Effective Church Communications

The Effective Church Communication ministry from Yvon Prehn provides inspiration, training, and resources to help your church create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. It focuses on Bible-based and timeless principles and strategies that work no matter what digital or print channel you use to create your communications. The site has links to many free TEMPLATES and other resources, plus links to free TRAINING VIDEOS, and a RESOURCE LIBRARY for church communicators. 

The Effective Church Communication ministry from Yvon Prehn provides inspiration, training, and resources to help your church create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. It focuses on Bible-based and timeless principles and strategies that work no matter what digital or print channel you use to create your communications. The site has links to many free TEMPLATES and other resources, plus links to free TRAINING VIDEOS, and a RESOURCE LIBRARY for church communicators.

One person can change the direction of your church communications

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Nehemiah has lessons for church communicators
Nehemiah has lessons for church communicators in terms of vision, hard work, and how to trust God.

Lesson 1 from Nehemiah for church communicators

Out of the 66 books of the Bible, 39 of them are the names of people.

Ordinary people no different from you or me with one difference--they allowed an extraordinary God to use them for his purposes. As you consider the communications needs of your church, you might be tempted to think there is nothing you can do, but God can use you in the same way he used the people of the Bible to change the course of your church, your church communications, and your community in extraordinary ways.

As an inspiration, let's look at Nehemiah. He was an official in the palace in Babylon, with no doubt a comfortable life. That changed when he heard about the situation of his fellow Jews back at Jerusalem, when the word came that they were, "in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire (Neh. 1:3)."

Most likely a lot of people heard that report. Many in Babylon and the thousands living in Jerusalem knew there was a huge problem. But one man let it break his heart and he took that heartbreak to God and did something about it.

My heart is broken over the state of communications in many churches today, where lots of time and money is spent creating things that might be technologically perfect, but that are not communicating the gospel and the basics of growing in the faith. That they are not accomplishing what they should be is clear with the number of churches closing, declining church attendance, and the lack of Biblical knowledge and lifestyle among professed Christians.

The evidence that church communication is broken is all around us, so what can we do about it? Through my ministry and this blog I hope to help build you up to be a more effective church communicator. I am committed to doing that. But my ministry aside, I want to take this example of Nehemiah as a challenge and encouragement to you.

Nehemiah was just one person, but God used him to change the course of a nation. As you look at the communication situation of your church, you may think you are only one person and you can't do much--but you can! Not because of any skill or creativity or wisdom in you, though you should develop all your skills and gifts to use in God's service, but ultimately because you serve an extraordinary God who can do extraordinary things through you.

I'm reading through Nehemiah in my devotions and I'll continue to share lessons that might be useful to church communicators.

Effective Church Com: why is it based on the Great Commission?

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Because the Christian gospel, the story of Jesus, which is the basis of the Great Commission is the only worthwhile and practically possible foundation upon which to do church communications.

Church communications is difficult and often thankless, underpaid, and under-resourced work. It is demanding, stressful, and repetitive. It has to be done for an audience that often doesn't want to hear what you have to say and if they do, they often don't like how you say it.

A love of technology, a desire to be recognized as a great graphic design artist, a brilliant and successful strategic communicator, or church marketing genius are not foundations that will hold you up working in church communications. Though earthly goals and skills can be useful in the tasks of church communications, if you do not have a foundation that reaches into eternity, it won't hold.

The Great Commission foundation is the rock-bottom belief that Jesus is God in the flesh, that he came to earth, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and that only by trusting in him, can people have their sins forgiven and spend forever with him. To share that message in its fullness, to move people from outside the church to become committed disciples is what it means to fully fulfill the Great Commission. To fully fulfill the Great Commission is what defines and motivates effective church communication.

If that is not your foundation, as the apostle Paul said, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (I Cor. 15:19)."

To help you see how the Great Commission motivates effective church communication and to equip and enable you to do it is the purpose of this ministry. There are many great folks out there, both in the secular and Christian world who teach and focus on many aspects of technology and communication, and may the Lord bless them all as they contribute to equipping church communicators, but my focus and my way of evaluating church communications has at its core always asks this one question: are your church communications moving people closer to come to know Jesus and to grow up to maturity in Him?

You also communciate by what you don't do—the importance of the people channel

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True story here: a couple had started attending a new church. Excited about it, when the church asked for volunteers to work at various tasks for the Easter service, they signed up, adding a little note telling how they were looking forward to doing this, really wanted to serve wherever needed, would come early to make sure they could be put to work.

A week went by and two. No response from the church via email or phone.

At the Easter service, the person in charge of volunteers by chance encountered them, "Oh, I didn't get around to calling you—I have enough people now, but do you think you could stay after to clean up?"

The couple honestly had a firm commitment to be somewhere directly after the service, but I doubt even without it, if they would have volunteered to help. Sadly, I doubt if they will volunteer for much of anything again.

What you don't do can hurt deeply

I'm sure the person in charge of the big Easter production didn't mean to be unkind, but she was. She didn't mean to make these new folks feel unwanted and ignored but she did.

This illustrates the very important power of the people channel in communication. We pay close attention to our print and digital channels in our church communications, but the people channel is equally important. No matter how great your graphics or content, if you treat people rudely (and to not respond to a request for volunteers is very rude), that is what they will remember.

Never ask for something in a church publication, if you don't follow up. Even if you have to say you have enough volunteers, have the courtesy to call and let people know.

People are far more fragile in their emotions that they will often let on and we must honor every effort they make to reach out to the church. To not do that communicates loudly that you don't care.

Don't launch a website too soon

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People go to church websites for information.

I constantly emphasize that in my seminars—they are not going to your church website for their multi-media thrill of the week. A flash intro, moving parts, great graphics—these do not equate to a great church.

I was reminded of these lessons, when this week, I was looking at a new church website. This church was very excited about finally having the money to do a really "professional" website and they paid a bucket of money for it, as I discovered when I clicked on the link at the bottom of the page that took me to the company that made it. It had a great opening page, lots of moving parts, and color and excitement.

But I really wondered about the integrity of the company that created it and the wisdom of the folks at the church who ordered it because many of the placeholders for content, e.g. bios of the staff, including the senior pastor, schedules, photo albums, details about the various ministries in the church,  were all empty.

The place-holders were there, but little content was behind the initial click.

As a potential visitor or seeker, if I was checking out a church I don't think I'd be very impressed with one that had a fancy opening page, but didn't tell me a thing about the senior pastor or any of the other staff.

PLEASE, put content on your church websites and don't launch until you have all the sections with something in them. You don't have to have a deep and extensive website at the beginning, but the basics, such as who is the pastor, and the basics about core ministries are really essential.

Without content, it's worse than no website at all—it says this church didn't plan ahead, this church cares more about show than substance. This is definitely not the kind of information you want people to get from your website.

Do we really want to serve others with our church communications?

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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.