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COMMUNICATIONS
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5 Areas of Church Communication to Focus On in 2021

1/19/2021

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       Just as we set personal goals at the beginning of a new year, it’s important to do the same for our church communication strategies. As the digital world continues to grow in importance, it is easy to become overwhelmed and confused on where to start. This is where I suggest setting small but achievable goals! Below are five areas I believe are important to focus on in the upcoming year:

       1. Use digital communication to engage but not replace personal communication:

       With the pandemic we’ve seen digital means of communication become essential, making it easy to lean heavily on it even as restrictions lift. While digital communication will remain an important component going forward, maintaining other forms of communication is just as essential. Members and newcomers alike want to feel like they are a part of a community, which means wanting to be cared for and wanting to care for others. 

       Here are just a few ideas on how to connect deeper as a congregation using both digital and other forms of  communication:
  1. Encourage small group meetings over Zoom outside of formal services and meetings to connect on a personal level. 
  2. Start a phone tree or an organized system for members to call and check in on one another. If you have something in place already, assess the effectiveness. Are there ways to include newer members? Are there lonely members who may need more frequent phone calls? Is there a member you think would be great to connect with a certain person in their time of need?
  3. Ask around to see how you can better meet the needs of those in your church community. The best part is you don’t have to be a pastor to do this! It’s a sign of health in a congregation when members are freely checking in on one another outside of the pastor’s ask. 

      2. Clean up and/or update your website: 

       If you haven’t updated your website design in the last five years, it’s time to make it happen. If you need help redesigning your website, reach out to me at [email protected]. I can help at little to no cost to your church! Tips for updating your website: 
  1. Your homepage should clearly direct visitors and members alike to details of digital and in-person worship services with a list of how you are respecting COVID safety precautions
  2. Update your website on a monthly, if not a weekly, basis. Clean out old information, photos, events, etc., so your website doesn’t look outdated or abandoned. 
  3. Link out to your social media in an obvious spot on the website, usually the header and the footer are great places for this. 

       3. Have digital components for your newsletter and giving: 

       If you are still avoiding a digital newsletter and/or online giving, make 2021 the year to lean into it. The great part is you can set up both of these at little to no cost! Both make it much easier for members to connect and give without jumping through additional hoops. The easier you make it for people to learn more about your community, the easier it will be for them to join in and participate. 
  1. Mailchimp is a newsletter platform that is free if you have under 2,000 subscribers. 
  2. If you need a list of affordable giving platforms feel free to email me and I’ll send a list of options. 

       4. Don’t try to do it all! Focus on what you are doing well, then add one small thing at a time: 

       You may be feeling the pressure to have a presence on every single social media platform along with a perfectly conducted livestream or prerecorded service. But I’d actually suggest not trying to do all of this.

       Start by looking at what you are already doing. If you only have a website and a Facebook page, great! Start there! See what can be improved on those two spaces. Maybe you’ve been putting off something for quite a while now. Focus on becoming more effective on the platforms you are on before creating a presence on another one.

      If you are ready to add another social media platform, awesome! Pick one that you’d like to explore, and again, set small goals to work toward creating an effective presence. It’s far more important to have a presence of quality over quantity. You are only adding to the unnecessary noise of the internet if you aren’t taking the time to post content that your congregation or visitors care about. 

5. Continue to be upfront about safety precautions as the pandemic continues: 

       We are all tired of COVID ruling our lives, but that doesn’t mean we throw out safety measures all together or assume everyone knows the rules by now. 

       Continue to communicate clearly with your congregations as restrictions lift or become more strict. While people may not be happy to have their traditions disrupted, the safety of our neighbors is of utmost importance. 

       Use your channels of communication to update members on added or lifted safety precautions, cancelled services, etc. Make sure the information is on the homepage of your website and posted clearly on your social media for those who may be planning to visit. 

       While resolutions can set us up for disappointment, setting small goals and working toward them throughout the year is far more effective. Start small this year while updating your communications strategy and know I’m here to help! Reach out to me at [email protected] with any questions you have about your communications goal setting.
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Communication Etiquette 101: Tips for Better Email & Zoom Conversations

11/10/2020

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While some of the tips below may seem obvious to some, I find time and time again as a Communication Coordinator for the district that my daily digital conversations lack basic etiquette. Formal handwritten letters and hard copies are becoming a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean proper use of grammar and tone should go away with it! Here are  a few tips on how to better communicate in a digital sense:  

Tips for Email Etiquette: 
  • Respond by smartphone only if the recipient needs an urgent answer from you. If the email requires a longer response, please use your laptop or desktop computer instead. It’s usually better to take time to spellcheck and please leave emojis out of it!
  • Keep your emails kind, professional, and to the point:
    • Kind: Remember that another person is on the receiving end of your email! Sometimes a short, robotic response will seem cold and cause the recipient to think you are upset with them. Warm up your email with an exclamation point, a question about how the person is doing, and/or a nice sign-off (i.e. I hope you are doing well!)
    • Professional: Address the recipient of your email at the start with a greeting (i.e. Good morning Laura,), then write out the body of your email with appropriate paragraph breaks, and finish it with a kind sign-off followed by your signature. 
    • To the point: If your email is turning into longer than two or three short paragraphs, it may be best to send an attachment with a shorter email message or schedule a phone call instead. 

Tips for Zoom Etiquette:
  • Attendee tips:
    • Keep yourself muted when you are not speaking so others aren’t distracted by your background noise. 
    • Look professional. Even though getting ready for the day can be a challenge while working from home, it’s important to pull yourself together for Zoom meetings. It’s still a meeting after all! 
    • Engage in the chat or Q&A before cutting off the speaker. Unless it is an open conversation where you can freely unmute yourself, don’t assume it’s your turn to speak. Everyone’s time needs to be respected during a Zoom meeting.
  • Host tips: 
    • Ask everyone to mute themselves unless they are meant to speak freely during the meeting 
    • Lay out communication guidelines at the beginning 
      • Specifically state if you’d like people to communicate by unmuting themselves or in the chat/raising their hand
      • Let others know if there will be time set aside throughout the meeting or at the end to ask questions or comment. This way you won’t be interrupted as often. 
    • Give opportunities for people to engage with the meeting by utilizing the polling feature, raise hand function, Q&A, and chat.  
    I hope you found these tips helpful! If you have suggestions for better communications etiquette please email me at [email protected]. I will be releasing more articles in this series dealing with newsletters, social media, and website communication. Thanks for taking the time to read!
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5 Ways to Communicate Clearly as Restrictions Lift

5/27/2020

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        As we prepare to gather back in person anxiety continues to grow as many questions about reopening go unanswered. As pastors and lay ministry, it undoubtedly is a challenging time where high expectations are placed upon you to provide parishioners with concrete, anxiety-easing answers. Though not all questions can be answered satisfactorily, clear communication is one effective way to speak into this time of the unknown. Here are a few ways to communicate clearly in the coming months as restrictions begin to lift in our communities.

1. Develop a clear, easy-to-read, instructive document that outlines the following:
  - Phases the church intends on implementing as restrictions lift in accordance with local authority mandates. Here are a couple of examples to explore:
          - Example from St. John’s Bloomfield 
          - Relaunching the Church by the Billy Graham Center
    -  What is required during each phase:
          - Cleaning supplies that will be used to disinfect
          - Social distancing rules
          - Amount of people allowed to enter
     -  What people can expect to change:        
           - Changes in regard to greeting others, communion, etc.

          - Singing/Music 
          - New ways of entering/leaving the building
          - New signs/instructions posted around the church (see point #4)
    - What is expected from parishioners:
          - Wearing a mask
          - Distance apart
          - Diligence in hand washing
          - Follow any signs posted (see point #4)

2. Post this document in an accessible place on your website. Save the document in PDF format and place it on an easy to find place on your website which can then be linked to and shared on your newsletter and social media. Print it out and send it to everyone in your congregation, especially to those who don’t respond to digital communication. It may be helpful to develop a Pandemic Response Committee of your own within the church to help look over this document before distributing, or bring existing lay ministry on board to help prepare the church for changes and reinforce the importance of these changes. 

3. Prepare your response to pushback. Develop kind but firm responses with your Pandemic Response Committee if you’ve gathered one, or among lay ministry, to handle situations before they arise. People may push for phases to end sooner, to not wear masks, etc. Keep referring back to the document you’ve created, which again, should be in an easy-to-find place whether online or a hard copy version. Reiterate that the first priority is to keep people as safe as possible, which may look like being overly cautious to some. The pastor alone should not be responsible for handling all of the pushback, which is why it’s so important to have a response team or lay ministry informed and on board to help support the pastor and point back to the document you’ve distributed.

4. Print out posters and instructions for your church building to post on the outside doors and within the building to remind people of safety measures. Before meeting in person it may be a good idea to take pictures of the posters throughout your building and put them in your newsletter and/or social media to prepare members for the changes being made before they get to the building itself. It will take a bit of the shock out of seeing their church building for the first time looking a bit different than they remember. Here are some posters from the CDC available for public use:
  • CDC: Proper way to wear a face covering
  • CDC: Stop the spread of germs
  • Link to all CDC posters

5. When entering a new phase, or returning to a previous phase, communicate it with all of your parishioners beforehand through your digital newsletter, during announcements, and by making phone calls. Point back to the original document you’ve put together about which phase you are entering or returning to and explain what this will look like. Your response team and/or lay ministry can help the pastor with this communication by helping to make phone calls and standing firm with the pastor if pushback occurs.  

         While there are many uncertainties as we move forward in this pandemic, communication remains a key component in moving forward together. Leaders in the church can not possibly answer every question due to the nature of the virus, but with clear communication are better able to address those questions that can be answered. If you have questions on how you can better communicate with your congregation please don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].
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Communicating Effectively During a Crisis: 8 Tips For Communicators & Leaders in the Church

3/25/2020

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By: Susan Becher Schultz, LCMS NJ District Communications Coordinator
Special thanks to Pastor Casey Kegley & Pastor Nathan Schultz for letting me pick their brains for this blog.
During times of crisis, especially one as imminent and widespread as the coronavirus, knowing how to communicate effectively with our communities can be difficult. As we grapple with loss of control over our schedules, careers, and finances, there’s a tendency to either over-communicate in order to gain back some sense of control, or to shut down and struggle to communicate at all. While both are understandable responses, there are many ways to communicate with our communities in ways that provide connection, togetherness, and support, without underlying attempts to fix the situation at hand. 
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  1. Stay in touch with your audience, but don’t over-communicate. While times of crisis incite an understandable response of fear, part of our responsibility as communicators and leaders is to help ease that sense of fear through clear communication. By bombing inboxes with emails constantly, creating multiple social media posts and livestreams hourly, and frantically making phone calls, it is likely to pile on top of the already rising panic.
           Instead, develop a plan to communicate within reason. Are you producing a piece of content because it serves your community well or because you feel you have to be doing something at this moment? Would you want to be hearing from someone as often as you are sending out communication? While this is a time to communicate more than you normally would, this is not a time to create more panic in your community. 
  2. Communicate any relevant news or updates in a clear and straightforward manner. Create a webpage on your website specifically for the crisis and keep it updated. Direct people to this page on your social media, website, and newsletter. Provide clear calls to action when posting about livestreams, events, meetings, etc., with properly linked buttons and hyperlinks. 
            While caring, thoughtful language should be used, don’t try to sugarcoat the crisis itself. We are dealing with a virus that is highly contagious at best, proven quite deadly at its worst. If we as communicators and leaders fully acknowledge the severity of the crisis at hand it sends a message to our communities that they too need to take it seriously and follow instructions to stay safe.
  3. Acknowledge the fear and uncertainty of the situation. This is a time to be in solitude, reflection, and prayer. Not only are we in the midst of a pandemic, we are also in a time of Lent, where we are called to admit our brokenness, our limits as humans, and our weaknesses. A time when we need the solace of a God who sent His Son to walk through darkness, deep pain, and isolation before us yet still delivered on his promise of eternal life. As Christians we are equipped to sit with pain and truly acknowledge human suffering in all of its complexities. While there is always hope, we don’t downplay or ignore the very real suffering the world is experiencing at this moment.
  4. Communicate to your specific community, do not try to emulate other pastors who have amassed thousands of online followers. Most likely the people who are joining your online services are those who are already part of your existing community, and those who are new are interested to see what your community looks like, not how cool or fancy you appear online. This shift to increased digital communication isn’t about becoming the hottest church on the internet, it’s about authentically communicating with your specific community who gather to connect with one another.
  5. Use digital communication as a tool to connect with your community during this time, but rest assured this is not a tool to replace in-person community. Now is a great time to learn how to better utilize digital communication for your church and promote more community connection both online and in person when the quarantine lifts. While this crisis will surely change how we operate going forward, it has also made it clear how important it is to meet with one another in person. 
  6. Don’t be the only voice your community hears from. Make sure to share resources from both leaders outside of your immediate community and from members within your community. One person cannot be the expert on everything, especially with so many unknowns. Share resources that have been of help to you as you navigate these uncertain times and encourage your community to digitally connect or call one another outside of online church gatherings. 
  7. Find ways to listen more than you speak. Ask your community how you can improve in communicating with them. This may be asking them via digital communication or through an actual phone call or Facetime. Invite them to ask you questions and give suggestions on how you can better connect with them. Each church has members with specific needs so make a point to speak with them on how you can meet their needs now that you can no longer meet in person
  8. Provide your community with resources on how they can help, give, and contribute. While we practice social distancing and stay home in order to love our neighbors during this time, we also acknowledge there are plenty of needs that we can help to fill financially or by other means. Create a list of resources on your website, or via a Google Doc or shareable PDF, to share with your community. Continue to update this list with ways to give as you discover those who are in need. While many of us can’t be on the front lines of this crisis, there are always ways to help those in need.

       This is unnavigated territory for all of us. As communicators and leaders we aren’t immune to the same feelings of those we communicate with. While it is our job to convey connection, community, and hope during this time of crisis, let us openly admit that we are human and by no means have the ability to fix this crisis. After we do all we can to communicate and connect with our communities, we too have a call to reflect, do less, and care for ourselves during this time. Please stay home as much as possible, stay healthy, and stay in touch - we’re all in this together.

​I hope you found this blog helpful, thank you for taking the time to read! Email me at [email protected] with any questions, suggestions, or thoughts on future blog topics.
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Susan Becher Schultz began working at the LCMS NJ District and The Kairos Network as a Communications Coordinator in April of 2019. Before moving to New Jersey with her husband Rev. Nathan Schultz, she worked for a revenue operations startup as well as a digital marketing startup, both based in the St. Louis area. She also owned and operated her own floral design business, Simple Unity, from 2015-2019. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Textile and Apparel Management and a minor in Business.
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10 Do's and Don'ts of Digital Communication in the Church

1/30/2020

4 Comments

 
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by: Communications Coordinator Susan Becher Schultz
DON'T: Add random christian quotes, bible verses, christian jokes/graphics to your social media just to fill out content and to look like an active church.
DO: Create a strategy to include meaningful posts with a mix of the following:
- A video, link to an audio recording, or a quote or bible verse that directly relates to the previous/upcoming sermon or bible study. Think of something that will help people remember the sermon throughout the week.
- Promote upcoming events (use Canva.com or another design platform to create graphics)
- Showcase photos of church members actively participating in an event, bible study, in a community outreach event, etc. Make sure you have their permission first!
- A thoughtful tidbit directly from the pastor. Possibly a quick video to remind of main points from the sermon, questions to keep in mind, etc. Can be in blog, video, or graphic format.
- Share from another page in the LCMS community such as lcms.org or njdistrict.org
- A post to promote newsletter sign-up or a new page on the website
- Reminders of upcoming service or events times
- Be creative and think of other ways to show the personality of your church community!

DON'T: Record and post random videos just because video is a popular communication tool right now.
DO: Spend time creating a well-thought out video strategy to cover a specific topic or question that is being asked not only in your church community but in the outside community that may be looking for a new place to worship. Have a plan to record something other than just the pastor talking at the audience, make the video visually interesting, invite guest speakers, and ask questions of your audience. 

DON'T: Expect a huge number of people in the community to show up to your event just because you posted it to social media. 
DO: Research a need in your community that is not being met and create an event geared towards that need after speaking with members in the community. Then begin to share the event with other community social media pages, such as Facebook groups in your city, across your social media, on your website, in your newsletter, and have members share the event post with their network. Create both digital graphics to promote online as well as a paper flyer to hand out or post on bulletin boards, or even to mail out. 

DON'T: Sign up for all social media platforms which may include Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, and Blogspot, etc., out of fear of falling behind in the social media world.
DO: Research where your audience is active and build specific strategies based on that particular platform, stick to 1-3 platforms that you can post to consistently, and possibly add another platform as time goes on if you have the capacity. Always start with a Facebook business page, then possibly explore Instagram and Youtube to see if it works for your church community. 

DON'T: Put every single church detail, update, and announcement into your digital newsletter.
DO: Decide what works best for your church in terms of how often to send a newsletter. Maybe it's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on the amount of events going on at your congregation, or the capacity to create and send newsletters. Whatever you decide, include the most important upcoming events and topics and keep it short and to the point. The cleaner and easier to read the better. Use buttons to direct people away from the newsletter and to your website if there is a lot of information involved.

DON'T: Try to be trendy by using every filter, hashtag, and feature on social media.
DO: Use the social media platform, whatever one or few it may be, to authentically connect with your audience. You can add in a filter here and there as you grow acquainted with the platform, but since churches are trying to reach a wide-range of ages keep the communication simple and easy to access without going overboard. Younger generations can see straight through your attempt to look cool!

DON'T: Rely on your digital communications to reinvigorate the church and fix all your problems.
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DO: While digital communications is a great way to get the word out about your church's existence, connect with your members, invite in new members, explain what you believe, and give a snapshot of your church community; it's not going to fix every issue and bring life completely back into your church. It is an extremely helpful tool for keeping members informed and bringing new people to your church on Sunday, but once they walk through your doors it's up to the congregation (please note, not just the pastor) to make them feel welcome. If you haven't yet, develop a healthy greeting program that doesn't overwhelm visitors. 
Providing an easy to use 'New Here' card on the back of the pews which the pastor can introduce at the beginning of worship is a great way to provide a no-pressure connection with your church. ​
DON'T: Overcrowd your website's homepage with information about the church.
DO: Simplify your website with only need-to-know information for visitors, especially on the home page; those who are long-time members or more familiar with who you are can go to the other navigation tabs (though they need to be well-organized and easy to navigate) to find what they need. Creating a 'Current Member' tab is a great way to direct members towards what they need. What we want is for those coming to the website for the first time to have the information they need on the very first page they see.

DON'T: Be afraid to sign up and offer an online giving platform to your congregation. 
DO: Speak with your leadership on why online giving is important and why the additional fee to use a platform shouldn't deter you from offering it. According to Nonprofit Source, 60% of church members are willing to give to their church digitally. Oftentimes, new members and visitors will be younger and more able to give online than to write a check or give cash.

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DON'T: Give up on updating your website or social media because it all just seems too difficult to keep up.
DO: Reach out to me at [email protected], I'm the New Jersey District Communications Coordinator and will set up a time to speak more about your digital communications. I'll have a conversation with you and help you map out a digital communications strategy at no charge! Plus you can stay updated by checking this Communications blog and send me an email when you have questions.

I hope you’ve found the information in this blog helpful! Keep an eye out for more blogs from me that will dive deeper into free/affordable communication tools to use, comparing social media platforms, using analytics, website design, creating digital newsletters, and other relevant information on communications in the church. If you have a question, a suggestion for a blog topic, or would like to loop me in on a meeting with your communications team feel free to email me at [email protected].
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Susan Becher Schultz began working at the LCMS NJ District and The Kairos Network as a Communications Coordinator in April of 2019. Before moving to New Jersey with her husband Rev. Nathan Schultz, she worked for a revenue operations startup as well as a digital marketing startup, both based in the St. Louis area. She also owned and operated her own floral design business, Simple Unity, from 2015-2019. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Textile and Apparel Management and a minor in Business.
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Digital Communications Strategy in the Church: Getting Started

11/25/2019

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By: Susan Becher Schultz, Communications Coordinator for the LCMS NJ District
     When approaching the ever-evolving world of digital, the task of putting a digital communications strategy in place at your church likely seems completely overwhelming. The questions I hear around putting a strategy in place go a little something like this: 
  • Where do I even begin?
  • If I’m not an expert and don’t know how to do this stuff, why even try?
  • Does this mean I have to sign up for every social platform and livestream every single ministry and movement my church makes?
  • Why should I spend precious church budget on communication tools that no one knows how to use?
  • How as a pastor am I going to take on such a large project when I have more than enough to handle already?​
     With these and many similar valid questions asked, it does seem easier to forget it and stick to the old trusty ways of communication via the paper bulletin and post-service announcements and call it a day. Done, problem solved!
      Only in this case the problem persists and worsens. If we reject all forms of digital communication, we reject opportunities to connect with not only the outside community but on another level our own internal church communities. There becomes a ‘them’ that likes one way of communicating, and a ‘they’ that likes another. Good communication, digital and nondigital, is inclusive, authentic, and evolves to continue to meet the needs of people. The goal here is to create healthy communication in our churches that loops everyone in, not only those who love a hard copy and not only those who prefer to use online giving. Good communication is meaningful and designed for everyone.  

Start Where You Are 

    The key to finding a healthy way to communicate that works for your church is about finding balance; this isn’t a race or competition to be the fanciest high-tech superstar church, but to find the best ways to communicate with the congregation, the community, and those you hope to bring through your door on Sunday morning. People can easily see through when you are trying too hard, but on the other hand, there is a level of expectation as we come into 2020 to have a functional website, a digital newsletter, and at least one social media platform utilized regularly.  
     
This is where I extend an invitation to start looking at what is already in place at your congregation. What is already in place that can be improved upon? Most likely there is a website, but maybe it hasn’t been updated in a number of years. Maybe there is a printed newsletter sent out monthly that does a great job communicating to some members, but likely there are many who prefer to view everything on their mobile device. Set aside time to write out the communication channels you currently have in place and keep these in mind as we move to the next step. 

Find the Right People

     Along the same line of starting with what you’ve got, it’s a good idea to start with who you have as well. All churches are different; maybe you have an employee or a few employees interested in expanding their job roles into digital communication. Maybe you have congregation members that would love to help out in this arena. Maybe there’s a high school student who is looking for an internship to add to their resume (call it something fancy like Digital Communications Manager). There may be one person interested in social media, and another in the website, or one person who would love to do it all.
     Think through who you view as a good fit for this role, but also consider if this person is skilled, willing to commit, and has the time to give to this role. Extend a friendly invitation to this person to join the communications team, but make sure you give the space for them to say no or take time to think it through. You will need someone entirely dedicated and interested for this to be successful. 

      Keep in mind it’s best to keep this team small, whether it’s one person who has the skills to manage all channels of communication, or 2-4 people who agree to take on different channels, we want as few cooks in the kitchen as possible. Clear communication easily gets bogged down if too many people are in the room giving their thoughts and opinions. By having only the pastor and communication team/person involved, strategy is much easier to discuss, put in place, and improve upon going forward.
     If you haven’t caught on yet, it’s best if the pastor is not in charge of the entire communications strategy. By putting a team or point person together, it takes a huge workload off of the pastor, and allows the pastor to attend meetings and provide content, but otherwise focus on their many other responsibilities. Once a team is in place it’s time to move to the next step.  

Put a Simple Strategy in Place

     You’ve taken stock of your current communication platforms and gathered the right people, now what? This is a great time to contact your team or communications person and set your first meeting time. Even if you have one hired communications person, meeting with them on a regular basis is necessary to have a successful digital communications strategy. It’s a good idea to pick a time and day that is good for all involved parties on a recurring basis. If you have volunteers on your team, I suggest once a month in the long-term and possibly every two weeks for the first couple months as the ball gets rolling. If your communications person is a hired employee, ongoing weekly or bi-weekly meetings may work best to keep progress on track. This isn’t going to be a one-time meeting, but a continuous effort in order to improve and maintain communications on a regular basis. It’s imperative to continually improve which may mean phasing out what’s not working and trying something new that does. 
     This first meeting is a great time to invite me as the district Communications Coordinator to join in. Not only is it my job to effectively communicate for the district, but also to provide tools and support to congregations as we navigate the modern world of communications. I am happy to take a look at your current communication channels and help guide the conversation during the first meeting. 
     This first meeting will lay the foundation for your wider communication strategy, so it’s important to have a very focused first meeting.  Below is a list of suggestions for the first meeting agenda: 
  • Establish roles and expectations of each team member:
    • Pastor -  please be in attendance but try to keep your role minimal. You are there to support and suggest when needed, but the goal here is to free you up to do your best work as this is a large task that should be delegated to this team
    • Appoint one person as the agenda keeper to keep everyone on track during the meeting and move topics along. If there is one communications person, have this person keep a list to track previously discussed meeting topics and to-do lists. 
    • Clarify what channel (social media, newsletter, website) each person is in charge of. If there is one communications person, clarify exactly which channels are being used.
  • Review current communication strategies:
    • Make plans to improve/set up a mobile-friendly, fully functional website
    • Set up or make plans to improve at least one social media platform
    • Discuss your current newsletter and plans to go digital or improve
  • Confirm the next meeting time and that it works for everyone
  • Agenda keeper to write down all of the tasks delegated to each person in order to follow-up on them during the next meeting as well as new topics (decided by the group) for the next meeting
  • Establish the best way to communicate as a team going forward (google group, slack, group text message)

      If you’d like me to join in for a few meetings after the first to review new content and communication channels, I’m happy to help. I do expect within a few months your team will be up and running on their own. As you continue to meet with your communication team, slowly but surely a full communications strategy will form as your team or point person tracks engagement and learns what’s working, and not working, at your church. While it may take time to develop the team and make sure the right people are involved, it is entirely possible to have a manageable communications strategy where the pastor is involved on a very small level. 
     ​While I am fully aware the phrase ‘digital communications strategy’ may come across as menacing, when it’s broken down into small steps and customized for your church it’s all completely manageable. The beautiful thing about digital communications is we now have the full capability to connect with our communities in a more direct, meaningful, and far-reaching way than ever before. Now is a better time than ever to get started. 

I hope you’ve found the information in this blog helpful! Keep an eye out for more blogs from me that will dive deeper into free/affordable communication tools to use, comparing social media platforms, using analytics, website design, creating digital newsletters, and other relevant information on communications in the church. If you have a question, a suggestion for a blog topic, or would like to loop me in on a meeting with your communications team feel free to email me at [email protected].

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Susan Becher Schultz began working at the LCMS NJ District and The Kairos Network as a Communications Coordinator in April of 2019. Before moving to New Jersey with her husband Rev. Nathan Schultz, she worked for a revenue operations startup as well as a digital marketing startup, both based in the St. Louis area. She also owned and operated her own floral design business, Simple Unity, from 2015-2019. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Textile and Apparel Management and a minor in Business.
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