Often the issue in church communications is deeper than what is first presented. Is this true for your church or situation?
I recently spoke with a potential client. “Margaret,” a gifted communications team lay leader, contacted us because her church's leadership team had determined that getting a new website was a top priority. As Margaret spoke on the phone I searched for the site and quickly discovered that Margaret and her leaders were wise. If they hope to reach people in today's culture, then they certainly need a better web presence.
Their site was visually flat, didn’t point visitors to critical information, and lacked the structure to effectively promote primary messages. In an affluent suburb of a major metropolitan area, with a highly tech-savvy demographic, this site was simply ... not good. They wanted it “fixed,” quickly.
As we dove deeper into their overall communications strategy and reviewed the church's other communications vehicles, along with the people, processes, practices and thinking that bring messages into being – I discovered what I anticipated. Their communications issues were much deeper than any new website could fix. In fact, a new website would likely just give them a prettier version of their poorly organized and poorly presented information.
While I applaud their desire to have a better website, they currently lack the fundamentals of a good communications strategy and the staffing, expertise and disciplines that would bring real improvement. The saddest part is they are currently unwilling or unable to explore those deeper issues.
Does any of this describe your church or your situation? If so, consider these excellent resources to help you discover better communications thinking and practices:
Do you have other great resources to share? Let’s learn from each other.