A recap from our February 2017 meeting.

In February, we gathered with church communications leaders at East 91st Street Christian Church and led three discussion groups. Here were the main points from each group: 

Strategy

  1. Don't discredit your knowledge or forget you have experience when you're working with different ministries or leaders. Take the time to get to know them and understand where they're coming from, so you can give them options and recommendations. "This might not work, but THIS might work." 
  2. Build trust with the people you're working with. When you say no, you might lose trust, so get to know them on a relational level. 
  3. Think about the end user and not the requester. 
  4. Make time for yourself to be able to strategize alone but also with your team. You might need a different space or a closed door, but it will be worth it so you're able to do all the things you need to do. 

Teamwork

  1. Getting everyone onboard with the same thing is really important. Mission and vision is especially important. Unpack it with staff and ask them how they are living it out. 
  2. As you're working with other people, be willing to stand your ground. Ask yourself, "What's the worst that can happen?" Also challenge your fears. "Can I have gumption, initiative and take charge?" 
  3. Encourage your church to run like an agency because you're balancing multiple projects with many ministries. Help people see what goes into your work because a lot of times, people don't understand how much time a project really takes to complete. Time yourself and see how long it takes you to do a project. Then you can have factual proof to show people how long their projects might take. 
  4. Don't keep everything bottled up. You have to share what's on your heart, even if it's frustrations. If you're the quiet one in the meeting, make sure you speak up. If you're an extrovert, be the ambassador for the quiet ones in the room and open the door to give them permission to share. 

Technology

  1. Facebook Live could really help ramp up your ministry efforts. Facebook will show these videos to 10x the number of people. They are easy to shoot and require little preparation. Plus, the quality and expectation of a Facebook Live video isn't very high, so you can keep it casual without having to worry about a ton of production value, lighting or sound equipment (although we recommend thinking about camera angles and lighting before you jump onto Facebook Live). Use Facebook Live to go behind-the-scenes, teach throughout the week or interview a ministry leader or volunteer. 
  2. Utilizing Facebook Groups (instead of individual ministry or location pages) can help you build community. It's a great way to empower volunteers or staff members to use social media. This way, people can create niche groups that feel natural to them without you having to worry about keeping your brand intact for the public.  
  3. Most communications leaders would LOVE for their pastors and staff to share content on social media. One church said that they create shareable content like social graphics and photos each week that church staff can share! Easy peasy. 
  4. A few churches have started using video in emails when communicating to volunteers. This helps increase the number of people who get the information they need since most people do not read emails anymore, especially if they are full of many details. 

Remember Galatians 6:9 – "Let us not grow weary of doing good." You have an important job, and whether you see it or not, you are impacting change! In need of some encouragement? Listen to Dave Faust, Associate Minister at E91.

 

If all else fails, open The Church Communicator's Coloring Calendar and have a good laugh.