church communication

Defining the purpose of your website is most likely going to dictate the direction of a lot more than you likely realize. Here is the reality: by now, as church leaders, we know several things. We know that we need a website, it needs to feel modern, and it needs to look attractive. We know (or should know) that it needs to be responsive, that we want it to show up in Google, that we want it to be easy to add events and sermons … the list can go on and on.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, what better time than now to take time as a church staff to thank your volunteers? Having just come off Pastor Appreciation Month where congregations have (hopefully) been encouraged to thank their pastors, turning now to approach the myriad of volunteers in your church and community and showering them with appreciation seems, well, just natural.

Although secular media generally glosses over the spiritual component of Christmas, this holiday is one of the most important religious celebrations for Christians of nearly all denominations. This means that during the holiday season, churches have a lot of activity going on. Winter festivals, Christmas church services, holiday potlucks, and other occasions can bring in a lot of people. During this sacred time of year, it’s important to keep your church connected.

Yup, it’s a busy time of year. I get it. But don’t confuse “being busy” with being productive. And definitely don’t forget to properly prepare your tech team so that they can be productive. Sometimes the most beneficial thing we can do is step away from the hectic schedules and incessant demands for attention, and instead turn our energy to engaging with our fellow team members.

As we head into the busiest season for churches, now is the time to wrap your head around Facebook as your new best friend for church event outreach. It's one of the best (and least expensive) ways to share your event, be it a Fall Festival, Trunk or Treat, Harvest Party, or holiday event, getting your church message seen on Facebook is becoming more challenging every day.

Canva is a wonderful online graphic design tool for church communicators (and everyone else who's ever had to design a flyer or graphic). I've used Canva to design graphics for this site, presentations, social media headers, Facebook images, and much more. It's an incredibly easy tool to use that can help with a plethora of design needs.

I live, eat and breathe social media for a living. While you probably don't, there are for sure valuable lessons to be learned from the social media landscape that can be applied to your church. I’m not a marketer by trade, but I’ve been a relatively active user of various social media platforms since I first heard that AOL Instant Messenger door creak open for the first time when I was in elementary school.

Sometimes I just wonder why software licensing is so complicated. There are multiple versions of the same software - professional versions, home versions, enterprise versions, versions from 2008, 2010, 2012 and on and on.
Any IT system is much much easier to maintain when all the computers and even other devices are running the same software. What is a church office manager to do?