When I started working at Church Community Builder back on 2008, social media was still a mysterious (and sometimes scary) phenomenon for most church leaders. Now that we all realize it is the new norm for how our culture communicates, this has changed significantly. Pretty much every church leader I know has a presence on social media. The problem is that many still have a hard time truly understanding why. They get it in terms of ‘being there’, but they often miss it in terms of truly leveraging it. As a result, their strategies with social media aren't working.
You understand church communications isn't really about controlling a brand or a message. It's about what people hear and how that inspires them to move towards the place you want for them.
One of the most difficult aspects of ministry is to view your church through the eyes of your visitors. Everything your church does is based on the goal of reaching new people in your community. Some are churched, many are not. All have different perspectives that we can learn from. Unfortunately, many churches don’t have a clue why people come — and go.
The church usually gets a bad rap for being a few years behind the rest of society when it comes to leveraging new trends and technologies. Unfortunately, the track record tends to validate that reputation. Whether it was churches in the 16th century that banned the Bible from being printed in any language other than Latin, or churches in 2013 that just learned the importance of social media, it seems like the church has always had an aversion to the next ‘new’ thing.
Church communication is more than announcements, handouts, signage, and social media. It’s the big picture message of your church. The value your church places on communication directly impacts how you’re perceived by both your current members and unchurched people in your community.