The Beginner’s Guide to Church Communication

From what I hear and see around the Internet and in conversations with people in churches, church communications seems to be a growing topic of concentration.

For good reason.

Communication, both with the church members and attenders as well as communication with those in our community, is essential to a growing and vibrant church. Whether we admit it or not, all churches market to some extent and all churches have some sort of “brand.”

I’ve been doing just that for a few years now. I’ve messed up a lot. I’ve missed a lot. I still miss a lot. But, I have learned some things the hard way.

Here’s a short, beginner’s guide to all things church communication…

Recognize Your Context

One of the Church’s biggest problems today is that it continues to operate mostly oblivious to the surrounding culture. Sure, the contemporary church movement has tried to fix this, but we’re still left with a bunch of local churches doing what the megachurch in another city or state is doing. We have to do what works in our context.

That goes for communications as well. When communicating, work within your context. If you have a rural setting, speak to rural people. If you’re in a place that doesn’t use twitter, don’t post all of your information to twitter and expect people to adapt. Use what the people use. Text them. Facebook them. Instagram them. Use side of the road signs. Whatever your culture uses, use it. Whatever it doesn’t, don’t waste your resources.

Repeat with Consistency

Consistency is key with just about anything. Whatever you do, do it consistently to excel at it. The truth is, many churches fail to communicate to their community because they don’t do
it consistently. Without consistency, they have no voice in the community. One billboard, Facebook update, table at your city’s festival, or anything just once on occasion doesn’t work. Do it consistently.

Do it consistently… with a consistent voice and brand. Make it all work together, make it all look like it fits together. When you or I talk or write, we develop a voice. People can know it’s me just be the way I communicate. Let people see that with your church. Let that voice shine through. People will connect and listen much more closely.

Remember to be Concise

Today’s attention spans are short. Keep your communication short. Don’t communicate everything that you could, only communicate what you must. How do you know the difference? What is significant to the vision? To the kingdom? To the future?

That’s it. Get these 3 things right. Work on them. Put them in your communications manual. Put them in your culture. They’ll make a huge difference!

Here are some more church communication resources you can count on…

My Posts – 5 Ways to Create Conversation – 3 Hidden Keys to Communication – 10 Twitter Tips

People – Tim Peters – Sayge Resources – Scott McClellan – Phil Bowdle