Communication

We all know and realize that most pastors and ministry staff operate on tight church and personal budgets. It's just the reality of being in ministry. Expensive degrees and copious years of schooling to do not promise a luxurious salary. However, if you get creative (or have a spouse who works at a more high-paying position) this doesn't have to be a deterrent to being in ministry. At Christmastime, however, often we feel the penny-pinch both in our church finances and in our personal finances.

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.

As is custom on Thanksgiving Day, giving thanks for all we have can be easy or hard depending on what's going on in our lives. If things are tough, it's often hard to give God our thanks; when things are going well, sometimes we forget to thank God too. We praise God first because he loved us and sent his only son to die for us on the cross (John 3:16),--everything else should be gravy.

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.

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.

In a 2001 journal article (I was 11 years old, for perspective), Mark Prensky, a thought leader in the educational technology world, coined the term “Digital Natives” to describe young people who do not know a world without video games, computers, Internet, and more. You are a Digital Native if you were born after 1980—so that would include all Millennials and every generation that follows.

Being a pastor today is no easy task. Living, working and existing where you have to have a reasonable grasp of social media alongside copious degrees and ministry certifications, off-the-hook skills with people of every age range, speaking skills, shepherding abilities, and non-stop energy to deal with difficult people and relationships.