church communication

Planting a church is hard work. In the early stages, a small group of people handles the brunt of the workload. Sunday set-up, child care, budgets, communications, you name it. Resources may be low, but solutions are still necessary. Thankfully, technology can help ease some of the burdens.

Over the last week, we've had fun reading through the survey results that were submitted for our first ever church technology reader survey. While only 58 church leaders responded, the sizes of churches range from 15 people to 15,000 giving us a really great bird's eye view of ministry at every level from small to mega. The range of job roles by responders also covers every aspect of ministry from attender, to volunteer, to support staff, to pastor giving us a pretty well-rounded view of churches. We've included some stats via graphics below to unpack what technology tools churches are using.

LinkedIn is a great way for you to connect with pastors and other church leaders. To use it effectively, there are a few things to keep in mind. The following infographic outlines strategies for...

Since before anyone can remember, human beings have been telling stories to each other. Stories have the ability to capture the imagination while passing on important information. Storytelling can entertain and educate, inform and inspire. Even Jesus used storytelling (or parables) extensively when teaching the multitudes. How else could one expect hungry crowds to sit on the hard ground for hours on end listening to a sermon? Most of us can barely last thirty minutes on a cushy chair. We owe much to Aristotle who formalized storytelling with the three act structure commonly used in theater. Storytelling has evolved from oral to written and now visual through the medium of film and video. "Story is the equipment of life." - Robert McKee, Story

I am writing this during the weekend where much of the Northeast (and some of the Southeast) of the United States is reeling from a series of blizzards that dumped 18-30 inches of snow. I just received a message from one church regarding how they are cancelling service in order to maintain some of the wisdom of keeping folks off the road. And while I do agree with keeping folks from driving in dangerous conditions, many of our weather-cancellation messages just stop at "don't come out this week, we'll pick up next week."

As I talk to church leaders, I'm amazed by the consistency of the challenges they face. One of the biggest questions they ask comes down to their church communications. How do we get people to respond to communications and attend events? How do we get people to respond to communications and attend events?

In today’s world we are inundated by sales pitches that over promise and over simplify. In response to this, we as ministry leaders, become skeptical of anything that even remotely smells of a sales pitch. Because of our skepticism, we have fallen into the temptation of making things harder than they need to be. Guest follow-up has been a casualty of this battle for far too long in churches and ministries across the country.

As we roll into the new year and close out 2015, we look ahead to make improvements and growth for the upcoming year. Because technology is constantly changing and updating, our church website may not be up to current design and functionality standards. If you are missing any of the features mentioned below, you should seriously consider upgrading to a more modern design and content management system (CMS). Here is a set of features you should include in your church website's New Year’s resolution list.