Communication

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.

What is culture? What does a good culture look or feel like? How do you build a good culture? These are all great questions, but they can be hard to answer for most people. A good culture can mean having quality volunteers, happier staff, fewer mistakes in services, and a greater sense of accomplishment. Whether you meant to or not, you’ve helped build a culture for your team. Is it a good one? There are a few key reasons you should focus on intentionally building a positive culture.

It’s way too early to see Christmas in public, but it’s never too early for your church to start planning Christmas. That might cause some of you to break out in hives. If even thinking about starting to plan Christmas festivities for your church feels daunting, you’re not alone. But technology can help. There are a lot of ways you can make your Christmas efforts more productive—and maintain your sanity—with the judicious use of technology.

Creating custom-looking church graphics for upcoming sermon series, bible studies, children's ministry and youth ministry is no simple task. If you ever tried to open up Photoshop without any training (or downloaded GIMP, a free no-frills version of Photoshop), you know that graphic designers are worth their weight in gold. If your position at church (either as a staff person or volunteer) requires you to be responsible for church graphics and church communication, this article offers four options for how to go about creating or outsourcing for the graphics you need to effectively communicate with you church attenders.

A common calculation in the business world is return on investment, or ROI. Finding the ROI of your social media marketing, however, can be difficult. The normal factors may not be as obvious as in other ROI calculations. For churches, looking at social media ROI can be trickier. Ministry isn't always trackable in the same way sales are.

Beep … beep … beep … beep… When you’re being treated in a hospital, that’s a good sound to hear. It means your heart is beating and the electronic monitor is working properly. Your pulse is only one of many numbers (metrics) that doctors, nurses, and technicians consider when gauging your health. Do you remember the last time you had lab work done, and how many different factors were measured and reported? It’s mind-boggling. But here’s the thing: All of these medical metrics are only indirect measures of your health.

After celebrating two years in our church plant, we finally have seven teenagers in our youth group. Our church was started by 30 millennials who wanted to create a new faith community in our town for folks like them—people who didn’t feel safe in a traditional church setting but who desperately wanted to connect with a body of believers on a weekly basis.

A new small group can be an intimidating experience for many people. They may be unsure of what to expect, worried about saying or doing the wrong thing, or simply uncomfortable sharing faith experiences with others. If you are a group leader, you have an opportunity to resolve these feelings quickly so the group can be a comfortable and productive experience. Here are five icebreakers that can help your new small group to get off on the right foot.