I met Jerod Clark, part of the brains behind it, at the ECHO Conference [see, that's why you need to go... you make connections!] and have been following his work ever since. I was stoked to hear that he and his team recently launched Church Juice and was anxious to check it out. I believe it will be a great resource to add to your toolbox whether you’re doing print, design, marketing, or the web.

Church Juice is passionate about church communications. They offer free resources, training, community, and a blog to help energize your church communications.

On their blog they are asking questions like, “Is it OK to block someone from your church’s Facebook Page?” to, “Should communications policies be optional?” Yeah. You know you want to jump in on those conversations. They also offer great insights on what’s happening in the world around us and how it impacts the way we communicate.

One cool thing…Church Juice offers community space to post questions and share ideas with other church communications people at all experience levels. You don’t need to feel intimidated or too experienced to ask a question or share your thoughts. We get better at what we do by learning from others!

Church Juice also offers free resources… check out their white paper Website 101: Seven Basics Vital to a Good Site.

With Church Juice being new to the scene, there’s space for you to give input. If you have suggestions or ideas for content or resources let them know.

Ok, stop listening to me babble and go check out Church Juice today!

If you haven’t been convinced to get a copy by now, you are just plan ignorant.

So since I’m a ‘church communications guy’ I thought I’d devote my last post some thoughts on REWORK-ing Church Communications.

Stop Being a Communicator, Start Being a Curator

What makes a museum great is the stuff that’s not on the walls. Someone says no. A curator is involved, making conscious decisions about what should stay and what should go. It’s an editing process. There’s a lot more stuff off the walls than on the walls. It’s the stuff you leave out that matters. So constantly look for things to remove, simplify, and streamline. Be a curator. Stick to what’s truly essential. Pare things down until you’re left with only the most important stuff. Then do it again.

This pretty much echoes my hero Kem Meyer’s mantra “Less Clutter, Less Noise.” If you haven’t picked up you copy of her book, get it when you order REWORK. It should be required reading for any church communications person.  PS, have you noticed the similarities between the cover of her book and REWORK? Great minds think alike.

Stop Sounding So Profeshional.

Sound like you.  Language is often your first impression – why start it off with a lie? Don’t be afraid to be you. That applies to language you use everywhere – talk to customers the way you’d talk to friends.

We’re a church for Pete’s sake! While we should have proper grammar and sound somewhat intelligent, we shouldn’t come across as being polished and sterile. Your church has a distinct personality and a unique style… let that come across in all of your communications. Toss your copy of the AP Stylebook and discover your own voice. [I intentionally misspelled professional.]

Marketing isn’t a line in your budget.

“Marketing isn’t just a few individual events. It’s the sum total of everything you do.”

Marketing isn’t what we do to get people to come to our Easter and Christmas services. Marketing is everything we do… from print, web, email, social media to individual encounters people have with our churches. It’s not something you control but it’s something you can influence. What is what you’re doing saying about you? What needs to change?

Forget writing Press Releases.

“If you want to get someone’s attention, it’s silly to do exactly the same thing as everyone else. Do something meaningful. Be remarkable. Stand out. Be unforgettable. That’s how you’ll get the best coverage.”

Last year we put on the Cultivate Conference. Over 400 people came from around the country for a day to talk about the web, social media, and communications and how they impact the Church. The event got coverage in the Chicago Tribune and NBC Chicago. And you know what? We didn’t send a single press release.

Say No by Default

“Use the power of no to get your priorities straight. You rarely regret saying no. But you often wind up regretting saying yes. People avoid saying no because confrontation makes them uncomfortable. But the alternative is even worse. You drag things out, make things complicated, and work on ideas you don’t believe in.”

We get asked to do a lot. Too much in fact, because “it’s all for the Lord.” Some of you may not have the freedom to say no as much as you want to, but as someone who is guilty of saying yes too frequently, I’ll testify that the consequences of saying no far outweigh committing to something you didn’t want to do in the first place. I think one work around to saying no is by offering options. Don’t tell people what you can’t do, but put the ball back in their court by telling them what you can do instead. [That's a nicer way of saying, "your idea is stupid."]

Good Enough is Fine

“When good enough gets the job done, go for it. It’s way better than wasting resources or, even worse, doing nothing because you can’t afford the complex solution. And remember, you can usually turn good enough into great later.

My friend Shawn Wood has written a lot about “good enough” and is wrestling with excellence and what that means in the church space.

We’ll never be perfect so stop straining to get everything just right. Good enough is fine. I think half of the things we obsess over are things no one would even notice. That’s not an excuse to get lazy but it’s freedom from worrying about being perfect. In the grand scheme of things a font or a Pantone color isn’t going to mean life or death, so stop killing yourself trying to get it just right. Most of the time our desire to be perfect comes out of selfish ambition or pride anyway. Yes God is a God of excellence… but He’s God, we’re not.

Don’t Commit the Sin of Copy + Paste

The problem [with copying] is it skips understanding – and understanding is how you grow. You just repurpose the last layer instead of understanding the all the layers underneath. So much of the work an original creator puts into something is invisible. Be influenced, but don’t steal.

The cardinal sin of church communications is our use of copy + paste. I’m not going to do the original vs recycled argument, but will say this much: STOP IT!  Churches are notorious for copying. For some reason we  feel we have permission and entitlement to copy, steal or imitate what’s not ours. Open source is great, learning from others is invaluable, but every church has a unique audience and importing what worked somewhere else might not translate in your context. You learn the most by doing things yourself. And, God is the author of creativity [Genesis 1:1], maybe if we spend some time with Him some if it can rub off on us.

Closing Thought…

Communicating for the church is a big deal, especially in today’s hyper-connected world. We have the greatest message that’s out there, and all too often we do a pretty poor job of communicating it. I hope  we can REWORK the way we work and communicate so the greatest message that’s out there can be heard with clarity… that people might get connected to our church communities and ultimately, to Christ.

“God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16, The Message

This post was inspired by reading REWORK by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of 37signals. It’s an important book that I think should be required reading for any next generation church leader.

I’m giving away one more signed copy…? Here’s how to win…

1. Tweet This: I just entered to win a signed copy of REWORK! Comment here and RT to enter: http://bit.ly/detxNp.
2. Comment Below: With your Twitter handle [so I can verify you did step 1] and share something you’ve been challenged to REWORK in your church communications.
3. Check back at 5 PM CST Friday: I’ll randomly choose someone to win!

Congrats to @TonjaC… you snagged the last copy of REWORK!

I’m not a huge fan of policies. They take too long to write out and shouldn’t really be an issue as long as you are managing what you are doing well.

That being said, here’s a few tips on how we use Twitter…

Why Do You Use Twitter?

I think this is an important question every church needs to answer.

Don’t Twitter because everyone else does, consider your audience and your context and determine if that’s an effective way for you to interact with them [and if it’s worth your time].  If it seems like a large number of people in your church use Twitter, strongly consider how you could integrate it into your communications strategy.

How Did You Start?

We set up a Twitter account for Park and connected it to the general email address that all of our church-wide emails are sent from. We didn’t promote we were on Twitter, we just let the account sit there. In less than six months we accumulated over 100 followers without advertising we were on Twitter… people were finding us. The 100 mark was my milestone to begin Twittering, so we did… about a year ago.

Who Twitters for Park?

I do. No special reason why it’s just me – I’m just the one person who does it well, so it falls on my shoulders. Other staffers do have access to the account. [If you want multiple people to manage your Twitter account, CoTweet is a great product to check out.].

Who Do You Follow?

We will follow back anyone who mentions us, retweets us [and doesn’t appear to be SPAM], and anyone who follows us who is from Chicago.

Why Follow?

9 times out of 10, anyone who follows us attends our church. Following them gives us a great window into their day-to-day life. We’re able to see what they are talking about, what they care about, and what they are saying about their experience at Park. It’s free research!

What Do You Tweet About?

We Tweet about a number of different things. The idea is to use Twitter to connect people to information that matters to them. We try to Tweet at least a couple of times per day, not to create noise, but to keep us at the top of people’s minds. [Also, we will typically update our Facebook Page status each time we post a new Tweet.] And, we use Twitter to help generate traffic to our site.

People have to go to websites to get information; social media enables information go to people.

If you look at our blog stats, one of the largest referrers to our site is Twitter and Facebook. So, use any form of social media as a vehicle to get people to your site – or wherever you deem your “central point” for disseminating information.

An Example of a Week in Twitter at Park

• Mondays – we post a Tweet when audio/video of weekend services is posted.
• Tuesdays – we’ll Tweet about any events going on that week for people to connect with.
• Wednesdays – link to an online version of our weekly enewsletter.
• Thursdays – focus on the weekend and events people can connect with during the weekend.
• Fridays – FollowFriday! On Fridays we typically do the FollowFriday thing and recommend staff members or ministries that we support.
• Weekends – we Tweet quotes from weekend messages, repost Tweets of what people are saying, and respond to questions/comments people make about their experience at Park.

Remember the most important thing…

The keyword in social media that is often overlooked is the word social. It’s meant to be a conversation, not a lecture. Don’t turn social media into another broadcast point, use it as a place to engage with you audience, to listen to what they are saying, respond to their questions, and bring more humanity to your church/organization.

Create Lists for Your Staff

One of the things we did recently was create a Twitter list of all of our staff members who Tweet. It’s a simple way of connecting our audience with people who work behind-the-scenes and make Park what it is. Again, another way to “humanize” your church.

Does Park’s Pastor Twitter?

Yes. A number of them do. Our lead pastor is @JaxnC. I don’t think every pastor should Twitter… most should. I addressed that in a previous blog entry.

Is there a “Twolicy” for Park’s Staff?

No. We trust our staff. We view all social media, blogs, etc. as the personal responsibility of our staff members. It’s their outlet and their place to be free to express their views/opinions and not an area we need to manage or control. We do, however, remind them that they do represent Park and to be mindful of that as they tweet and blog. Thus far we haven’t had any incidents or issues arise for us to do anything more than tell them to remember who they represent!

Even If You Aren’t Going to Twitter, Secure Your Account

A friend of mine works at a VERY large church that jumped on the Twitter bandwagon awhile ago. Well, the church didn’t… someone else did. Someone started a Twitter account for the church and began tweeting for them, following people [myself included] and quickly accumulated many followers. The only challenge was they had no idea who was doing it. Long story short, it turned out someone who was attending the church had started the account… he graciously gave the login info to the church who now manages it, but the lesson here is simple: create an account for your church, even if there are no plans to use Twitter on the horizon. This is a great rule of thumb for any form of social media for that matter.

Closing Thought…

Twitter isn’t a end all, be all… but can certainly be a great way to connect with your audience. Just remember it’s not another broadcast channel, but another way to engage.

We’re still learning ways to use it and for now, this is what we’ve learned.

What about you? Are there lessons you and your organization/church have learned from using Twitter? Any successes? Any lessons learned? Share them!

Here goes…

From Jenni in Indiana:

Hey Tim!

Our pastor has started using Twiiter and we are very new to it. I wondered if you could give me some help with this. Here are my questions…

1. Is it better for the pastor to Twitter, or would it be beter for our church to Twitter?
2. Our pastor doesn’t know how to handle managing all of the responses he’s getting on Twitter. He feels bad about not being able to be in open dialogue with everyone but there’s no way he can personally respond to everyone. He is very compassionate and doesn’t want to offend anyone. IS there a way he can keep Tweeting but not offend people if he doesn’t respond to them?

Hey Jenni,

Depending on your pastor and how you think he can manage Twittering for himself, I think both your pastor and your church should Twitter.

One of the great things that Twitter can do for a pastor is make him more “human” to people; it’s a great way for people to get an inside look at his life, things he’s thinking, what he’s doing with his family, etc.

Many pastors who Twitter share a balance of info on their ministry and their personal life… and that’s a great thing.

Your pastor might not be able to respond to everyone, but that’s ok. You don’t have to respond to everyone who responds to you on Twitter. If, for instance, he posted something and many people replied to it, he could simply post a Tweet that says, “thanks everyone for your feedback on that…” I think that most people understand that it’s impossible to personally reply everyone.

I would say let your pastor’s Twitter be focused on him… his world, his life, things he’s thinking, leadership insights… and our pastor, who Twitters (@JaxnC) will often use it to ask questions/research for his messages to get people’s input or feedback.

Also, just like our church, he follows back everyone who follows him that lives in Chicago or appears to attend our church. Following people back creates a great tool for him to be able to see what people are talking about!

Before your pastor jumps on the Twitter bandwagon, I’d recommend you have him join, follow some of the different Twittering pastors that are out there, and let him get a feel for how other pastors use Twitter. If he thinks he’s up to the task, then open the floodgates. [Also, exercise your own discretion. You know your pastor best and know if he could manage a Twitter following!]

For our church Twitter account, we post information about events, news, and use it as a way to communicate to our church throughout the week.

Also, on Sundays we monitor it and as people mention us or reference us,  and we respond back to them or retweet things people say about their experience… it adds a great personal touch.

Leverage your church Twitter account as a way to extend your message and as a communication channel to reach people throughout the week.

Hope this helps!

Tim

HUGE thanks to everyone who came and supported, I hope it was a beneficial session for you guys! And a HUGE thanks to Jarbyco for hooking us up and letting us take questions via text! And, if you are in or near the Chicago area and want to continue the conversation, come check out Cultivate being hosted at Park on Oct 27!

—

A little about me…

• I’m 26, going on 27.
• I’ve been around doing church communications for almost 8 years now.
• I knew there was no money to be had in ministry and didn’t see the need of going to Bible college.
• Started at age 19 at Riverside Community Church in Peoria, Illinois as an intern for their college ministry.
• I started doing the bulletin for Riverside with a copy of Microsoft Publisher 98, some bad fonts, and clip art that I ripped off from an internet photo site.
• They say that “experience can be an educator,” and Riverside provided me a place to become an expert from learning from my mistakes.
• In May of 2007 I went on staff at Park Community Church in Chicago.

About Park

• Park was founded in 1989 by a group of 50 people who were a part of Moody Memorial Church that had a vision to see a church established in the downtown area of Chicago that would reach out to young, urban professionals.
• For 20 years, Park’s motto was: “have church will move” as they moved between various locations throughout the city.
• In June of 2008 Park opened their first building, located in the heart of the former Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago.
• Park now meets in two locations, soon to be three and has an average weekly attendance of around 2,000 people.

Challenge of Church Communications

• Oftentimes when I tell people I do church communications their initial response is, “oh… so you make the bulletin?”
• While it’s true that’s something I do, there’s honestly a lot more all of us do.
• Church communications is a broad category and many of us wear a lot of different hats and do a lot of different things.

What I do at Park

• I do anything the communicates outside of the auditorium
• Print (although we don’t do much)
• Web strategy
• Social Media (Twitter, Facebook)
• Texting
• Part of Park’s creative team that plans and designs services.

The Changing Face of Church Communications

• The way our world communicates has changed dramatically in the past few years.
• The way the church communicates is changing, too.
• 10 years ago the face of church communications was the church secretary.
• She used pre-printed bulletin shells that more than likely had misty nature images or Holy Spirit doves and Scripture.
• The church had 2 basic platforms from which it communicated: the front platform and the church bulletin.
• Church communications today today looks a lot different: we’ve got email,websites, Facebook, Twitter, texting and other social media.

Our Role is Important

• It’s really easy to get discouraged in our jobs because our job is essentially a very thankless task.
• We’re not the ones up front preaching or leading worship, oftentimes we’re just stuck behind our computer screens.
• It’s easy to feel like we’re not really “in ministry”
• But you and what you do is REALLY important.
• The future potential of the church rests in the hands of people who are thinking and creating ways to communicate the timeless message of the Gospel in a way that connects with the world around us.
• What we do is really important.
• One day as we were walking into a church a friend of mine said, “you know it’s crazy to think that the people who are coming here are here because of something you created.”
• Oftentimes the things we create (postcards, fliers, websites) are the first point of contact people have with our church.
• The need for people who are committed to Christ and who are innovating new ways to communicate are vital for the future of the church.

We Have A lot of  Critics and Not Many Contributors

• Too often the only feedback we get is negative.
• People never say, “wow that font changed my life…” or, “that stock image really moved me.”
• I used to have someone who would mark all of the errors in our bulletin and slide it under my office door.
• While many of our churches value communications and the role we play, in most cases we work as a staff of one. We’re on our own with limited resources, budget and support.

Do it Yourself Church Communications

• We’re going to use the analogy of building a house to creating a structure to support our church communications.

Foundation – Getting to the basics of what it means.

• “Church marketing” isn’t exactly found in the Bible.
• The closest thing to “marketing” is the marketplace where Jesus turned over the tables in the Temple.
• There are, however, a lot of great things that can illustrate our calling as church communicators.

Luke 14:16-23

• This and other verses (Matthew 28:19-20) show us that we are called to go and tell, to be witnesses and extend the invitation.
• Our competition isn’t the other church in town but the things that people are giving their time and attention to.
• The invitation that was sent in mass was rejected, but the in person invitation brought more people.
• From a marketing perspective, the way the early church grew in size and influence was through viral marketing. People telling other people. People bringing their friends.
• With all of the great resources we have available to us today I think the one we need to get better at is the personal invitation.
• Our job as communications people is to urge or to compel people to come, “that the house might be full.”

Survey – Get a Feel For the Land

• Who is your city? What is the demographic and psychographic of people in your community?
• Who is your church? Who are the people that come to your church?
• What do they respond to?
• How do they communicate?
• A major part of our job is to keep a pulse on our church and  our community.
• We can read reports and surveys but we can learn the most by simple observation.
• We need to be keenly aware of our community and who the people are that attend our church.

Chicago

• 2.9 million people
• 3rd largest city in the USA
• Neighborhood-centric
• it’s the “city that works”
• also known as the Second City
• Center for banking, finance, marketing and business
• “a drinking town with a sports problem”

Park

• Average age is 29
• 60% single
• Most have a minimum of a college degree
• Most work white collar jobs
• Online experts
• Most people will stay at Park for about 3 years
• Most are incredibly BUSY

Once you have a better understanding of your community and your church, you have a better context to filter your communication strategies through.

Blueprint – your guide & plan.

• Get a plan.
• What’s ONE thing you can do differently NOW?
• Focus on what your strengths are and build upon them.
• Focus on what you’ve got, not what you think we need.
• Don’t compare, be unique!
• Ask for help.
• A great resource is the Church Marketing Lab.
• I shared the story of how the Church Marketing Lab helped us develop our new logo.

There’s a difference between inspiration and imitation. Imitations are just cheap.

• Whatever you do, be yourself.
• If you’re not hip and trendy, don’t try to be.
• Your church is unique, celebrate that.
• Open source resources are great but don’t let them be an excuse of laziness.
• Just because it worked somewhere else doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you in your context.
• There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to church communications.
• If you must “borrow,” ask permission first.
• We serve the God of creativity (Gen 1:1), we need to seek Him!
• I’ve often found that the times when I’m at a creative block is when I’m not in communion with God.

Union Workers… aka our church staff and ministry leaders.

• Our jobs would be a lot easier if we didn’t have to deal with people.
• Replace your IM screen and Inbox with face-to-face conversations.
• Remove the word “NO” from your vocabulary.
• Give people options or alternatives, not ultimatums.
• Don’t bog people down with policies, style guides, etc.
• Take the time to get to know your staff.
• Get to know them and earn their trust.
• I didn’t make huge changes when I first started at Park, I took the time to get to know the culture of the staff, church and the city of Chicago first.
• That way, when I did start to make change I wasn’t “the new guy who we’re not sure about,” I was “Tim who we know and trust.”
• When you need to make change don’t just tell people about it, show them.
• I shared the story of how we made the switch to a monthly bulletin and instead of just telling people about it, I created a prototype and showed them what it would look like.

Some Learnings from the move to the monthly bulletin.

• Print budget went down by 75%.
• Our budget has moved from being 80% print/20% web to 20% print/80% web.
• The switch has increased traffic to our website and upped our email subscriptions.
• We initially printed it in color but switched to black and white in January to save money.
• The move has forced us to be more planned and ahead of schedule.
• It’s also forced us to be more creative.

Support Beams

• Determine the keys ways to communicate to your church.
• Decide what the key things are going to be and plan your budget to your strengths.

Park’s Key Things

• Our website. Soon to be re-launched, designed by CHANGEffect, powered by Ekklesia360#mce_temp_url#.
• Facebook. Over 1,200 fans and over 10 groups reaching over 3,000 people.
• Email. Over 4,000 subscribers. We use ConstantContact.
• Texting. We use texting in our services and as a means to communicate to our congregation throughout the week. We are huge fans of Jarbyco.
• Twitter @ParkChurch. We currently have over 550 followers.
• TheCommon.org used to connect people to ways to volunteer and serve.
• We’re soon transitioning to using the Cobblestone Community Network. A blog post about that is coming soon!

Interior Design – Words, Images and Language

Images

• Are the images you use a true reflection of who you are?
• Be who you are, not who you want to be.
• Don’t portray yourself to be something or someone you’re not.
• Use real images of real people in your church.
• People want to know there are people like them at your church.
• Use iStock for objects, concepts, and backgrounds… not people.

Words & Language

• Put people and their needs first.
• Go through your bulletin and highlight every mention of your church name. If your church name is first, re-write your copy!
• Avoid Christianese at all costs.
• Keep things concise and simple, not cute and fluffy.
• Talk like people in your church talk.
• Don’t just answer questions people are asking, ask questions people are asking.
• I shared the story of how we marketed our Alpha Course.

Curb Appeal – External Marketing

• Your church website is the front door to your church. Is it welcoming?
• Church websites used to be an accessory, today they are an absolute necessity.
• Your brand is driven more by what other people say than by what you say.
• I shared the story of the redesign of Park’s website and showed a sneak preview of our new website.

Closing Thought: Get a Hammer!

• I keep a hammer on my desk.
• No, I don’t use it on co-workers or my computer.
• It was a gift from a friend to be a reminder that everything I do is building the Kingdom of God, the Church.

I closed sharing this poem…

The Magnificent House of God

There is a house different from any other
Filled with light and love
Radiant with a glory that is totally irresistible to all.

It’s an open home
A huge welcome sign hangs from the door
Inside overflows with good food and bountiful supply
Laughter and healthy conversation
And for all who are questioning there are answers
An abundance of hope
Salvation is offered to all
Mercy and grace kiss each one.

A fire is crackling within its solid walls
Always there to warm and soothe
Gently drying tear-stained faces
Affirming the wandering soul and bringing strong counsel to
give clear direction to all negotiating this journey of life.

Captivating melodies fill every inch of every room
A new sound available even to the untrained ear
Causing every heart to willingly sing and every knee to humbly bow.

This is the House I give my life to build
To gather His Church and bring healing to the nations
This is the only House fit for a King
This is the magnificent House of God.

- Darlene Zschech

A former staff member of Big Idea Productions [creators of VeggieTales] and Willow Creek, Dawn Nicole frequently contributes to today’s leading-edge thinking of integrating Christianity and culture but is best known as a change agent who is intent on stretching imaginations, connecting people and making a difference.

—

How Texting Works

• Think of your phone as a tool for connecting with your audience in an intentional and controlled way.
• Texting is permission based.
• We have to think differently about texting than we do any other communication channel (i.e. direct marketing, email, etc).
• We need to be intentional and keep the special privilege and relationship we have with people.
• Some people say texting began in 1989 with a Motorola beeper.
• Japan first adopted text messaging; America is a bit behind.
• Texting the Great Debate. Texters in all countries use “lol”, “u”, “brb” and “gr8.”
• ~(_8^(\)   – Homer Simpson
• When American Idol used texting for voting, we got it.
• In the 3rd quarter of 2006, over 12 billion texts were passed through AT&T’s network.
• 87% of the US population has mobile phones.
• Over 110 billion text messages are sent every month (up 1,000% from a few years ago).
• Adults send/receive 357 text messages per month on average; compared to 204 phone calls.
• Teens/young adults send 1,742 text messages per month.
• Texting is a communication channel of the future.
• 87% of 13-27 yos send text messages… 73% of 15-37 year olds… 44% of 28-39 year olds; 18% of 40-49 year olds.

Textology Terms

• SMS – Short Message Service
• Shortcode – Your “address” … hard to create/approve with all carriers.
• Keywords – tell the system what to do. There’s more flexibility with keywords.

Applications of Texting in Church

• Text-to-Screen – user initiates contact. (asking questions to the pastor, etc); allows church.

1. Granger Community Church did a whole weekend called “Ask Anything” where people could text in their questions to the pastor.
2. Park Community Church does Q&A in every service. (that’s me!)

• Surveys & Polls – allows people to share their opinion and gets people engaged so they can participate, not just listen.
• Text Alerts – church initiates conversation with their church. Churches set up texting groups to alert them about upcoming events and news.
• Promos - an opportunity for an audience to engage and win something… think radio content.
• Bouncebacks – get people specific information about events/opportunities. (Example, you have a BBQ… you can have people text the word BBQ to your shortcode and a message bounces back to them with info about the BBQ).
• Two-Way Messaging – think ChaCha. Example: During church service times, you could allow people to text questions and have someone respond to them personally. (Mental note: We need to do this at Park!) It’s a great way to give them next steps… can change the way you communicate.

Bottom line… you need to check out Jarbyco!

Does the church leadership conversation focus too much on innovation, just enough, etc?

CW: We’re not focusing enough on it because our culture is changing so dramatically and rapidly.  People aren’t aware that the first-time visitors to church come to their websites. People consider hiring a great lead pastor, worship pastor, etc and not invest in their website and staffing in areas of media and technology. By using technology doesn’t mean using it for the cool factor, it means, evaluating where culture lives and what part we can and are called to redeem. If we can be were people are and use technology to drive forward the Kingdom, we need to.

LW: We need to be careful, as the Church, to not innovate for the sake of innovating. What’s the purpose and role of the local church in your community? And how can you innovate with that goal in mind Churches get ahead of themselves when they try to innovate for the sake of innovation.

BG: Collectively, the Church doesn’t understand or focus on it at all. There’s examples of churches that lose sight and think that how you use technology replaces why you do things. Technology is a tool. The “why” behind it is not to use technology, we use technology to build the church. We don’t understand how to live in a culture of change.  It’s easy to create a change but difficult to have a culture of change. People need to anticipate change. People need to learn to lean into change.

What are your sources of inspiration for creativity, innovation, connection, etc?

CE: Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill through The City; Andy Stanley, and John Piper.

CW: For tech and media, she gravitates towards people who are asking deeper questions. Carefully weighing what we’re doing it, why we’re doing it, and where’s the Scripture to back it. (Ill: John Piper vs Twitter). There’s a lot of polarization between pro and anti tech people. Beyond that, she believes we’re  just beginning to see the earliest iterations of what online community will look like. She looks to people like John Dyer and Shane Hipps.  We need to find our theological underpinnings to make sure what we’re standing on is what we should be standing on.

BG: In terms of online church, there’s a book called SimChurch that pulls together thoughts and questions about online church. A guy in France named Eric… who runs evangelistic websites that are specialized to different cultural website. Have seen over 1.2 million people come to Christ through their websites.  The thing he personally learns the most from is understanding why people use technology.

LW: Leaving the church world and diving into the coaching world, he’s inspired by the churches that people don’t know about that are doing things that are out of the box. (Ill: Shawn King and Courageous Church in Atlanta built via Facebook.)

SH: We have a tendency to look up, churches that are further ahead than we are. He’s looking at churches that are just starting that are taking risks and making quicker decisions than larger churches can. People like Shawn King, Pete Wilson and Carlos Whittaker, Dave Gibbons, etc.

Are there any current media tools trends that get you excited?

SH: Most excited about leadership and tools like Twitter that enable access to people you didn’t have access to before. And tools  that allow for people to create influence and learning. Also, through using Jarbyco, people are enabled to ask questions they would never ask. They’re getting questions people would never ask and are also able to see what their people care about.

LW: With the transition from church work to coaching, video chat is enabling face-to-face connections. It’s changing the way you can pour into leaders.

BG: Most excited about Carlos’ coaching network. Hehe. Running GoogleAdWords that are intersecting what people are searching for (porn, etc) and redirect them to their online church services. (Ill: Looking for Naked Ladies? Try church online instead.)

CW: LifeChurch.tv’s innovative tools… YouVersion.com, ChurchMetrics.com, church online, etc. And Jarybco… the ability to text and maintain connection with their congregation.

CE: Doing coffee and conversation, and allowing people the opportunity to ask at least five questions during the process of the message.

SH: Interesting that all of the things mentioned are not about broadcast, but about conversation and engaging people in conversation. It’s all about interaction.

How do you create a culture of change?

SH: We’re an 85 year old church and we are the story of that change. The change we needed was a cultural change… not a change of music, style, etc… it was a change of their DNA. There’s a difference between transition and change. Change typically has to do with the outer things we’d change (music, style, etc) – transition has to do with people’s hearts (how they think, what they feel, what they believe).  Churches have a real challenge with change. But if you think about who God is, He’s unchanging, but He’s all about changing us. It’s a journey. We tend to not talk about change and wonder why people are inflexible towards change. God is constantly changing us.  We want to be able to continually morph and change and make that culture of change a part of who we are.

LW: In Andy Stanley’s talk “Don’t Be That Couch” he talks about the “ugly couch” everyone hangs onto… for whatever reason. But sometimes we need to get rid of our ugly couches and replace them with something new. That marked a change from doing KidStuff once a week to once a month at NorthPoint.

CE: We must always be ready for change. We mustn’t hold on to things too tightly.

Complete this sentence. I like it to see when churches use media/technology to ____________.

CE: Drive home a spiritual truth.

SH: help reshape people’s perception of the Church and Christianity. We have a perception problem. The world’s problem isn’t so much with Jesus, but it’s with Christians and Christianity. We need to be wise with how we use technology… like Christian television… we can take it in the wrong direction. Or, we can be intentional about how we use it to celebrate and tell stories.

LW: create followers of Christ who weren’t followers of Christ. (Ill: LifeChurch.tv’s online campus’ “click the button if you’ve accepted Christ.”)

Evangelism on the internet; can it happen, how?

BG: It does happen. So it can happen. How is through all sorts of means… through the places we intersect with people online. Sometimes we overlook the most basic elements… it’s not about significant technology or websites, it starts with you. One of the most significant touch points they have online is their online prayer feature. It’s a one-on-one convo with someone on their team or volunteers. Prayer transcends space and culture, it has no barriers. What’s interesting about the web is that a lot of the criticism of it is the anonymity it creates, but the reality is that all of us walk around with emotional facades all day. Sometimes when the physical facade is removed it makes space for real, deep conversation.

LW: Asked people on his blog what church they go to, and someone responded “this is my church.”

Where do you draw the line on spending for tech excellence vs going towards others missions?

CE: It’s mission vs machine. When you look at a tech issue, is is going towards the mission of your church or the mission of the machine? Work towards the mission… reaching people for Christ. If the technology facilitates the mission, go for it. If it’s majoring on excellence to please people in the room, don’t.

SH: Hopefully they both try to accomplish to reach others.  Technology gives us an amazing tool to let people know what’s going on in the world around us. One of the biggest issues the church faces is ignorance. We need to help our people become more aware… awareness leads to us becoming agitated… and when we’re agitated, we’ll be moved to action.

BG: Answer will be different for everyone. It depends on what God has called your church to uniquely do. The answer lies in your calling… who are you called to be and called to reach? You have to make a choice of where you are going to land on the curve of quality and cost.

CW: There’s the hardware, technology in the room, the software, etc. Online technology is different. Many online services are free. So is Facebook. So is Twitter. Video streaming. Their are applications galore that people in our congregation have access to. The largest mission field in the world is online.

How do we leverage skills/ideas in other churches to connect us and minimize the duplication of effort?

LW: Churches have to get beyond competition and we’ve got to learn to share.

CW: The web makes collaboration simple and makes connection possible. It’s sometimes easier to connect with a pastor online than in person.

BG: VideoTeaching.com is an example they’ve developed… mainly formed out of relationships they’ve established with different pastors and church leaders. Sharing relationships is a way we can help other churches.  We need to learn to leverage the relationships we have.

SH: It comes down to intentionality of sharing an idea that worked.

What are some things that any church of any shape or size could use to leverage technology?

LW: There’s a 16 year old kid in your church that knows more about technology than all of your church staff. Find them and get them plugged in and involved.

CE: From the beginning they’ve had a young intern from Dallas Seminary and have now decided they need to technology pastor to explore the intersection of technology, media and theology.

BG: The emerging generation are late adopters of technology.

SH: So much of it is already developed… we just need to learn how to leverage it.

CW: Pull other people into your dialogue. Sometimes your most obvious errors are not apparent to you.

Is the role of technology in church services changing?

LW: One church in Phoenix is going to move from teaching via preaching to story telling through video.

SM: One of the least interactive times of people’s week could be when they sit in a church service.

CW: The interaction we need to create in our church services needs to be interaction between the people and God. The connection and interaction needs to lead them towards Christ.

—

• Just for fun: John’s full name is John Charles Dickey Dyer
• One of the worst things you can do is imagine that technology is neutral.
• There’s to camps… tech lovers and tech haters.
• Both sides use the word “change”
• Tech lovers say it will “change” for good.
• Tech haters say it will “change” for the worse.
• It’s hard to balance our use of technology.
• Humans make tools…. our tools make us.
• What we create has influence back on us.
• We become the things that we behold.
• Psalm 1 … if we sit with those who are righteous we become righteous.
• We tend to believe that about many things, but not about our use of technology.
• Technology is an extension of humanity.
• Technology can be an amputation of humanity.

Evolution of New Technology

• Excitement – “YES! I got a shovel!”
• Difficulty – After you use it, you get blisters
• Transformation – You get stronger as a result of using it.

What kind of tool do you want to become?

Technology often has unintended effects. Most of us don’t think a lot about those effects. We just use what we’re told to use… whatever comes along and what’s new. Do we really need it?

Ages of Technology

• Oral – community memorizes common information.
• Print – logical individuals. (aka… The Bible is true. The Bible says God exists. Therefore, God exists). Many of our beliefs rest on rationale before faith.
• Image – emotional story tellers. We are surrounded by images… we tend to think of how to emotionally convey things with story, instead of logic. That’s the technology we use today.
• Machine – tireless producers. We became what we beheld… machines worked hard, we should work hard.
• Computer – data gatherers.
• Interwebs – loosely re-connected community?

There’s a world of disconnection and reconnection that happens with technology. If someone bothers us, we can block or unfriend them. We have switches.

What the Scripture says about Technology

• The story moves from the garden to the city.
• Who made the stuff in the city?
• Our human creativity is written into the story.
• What we create plays into the story.
• The First Technology in the Bible: clothing (Genesis, Adam & Eve).
• Rebels against God – expresses Imago Dei
• God’s Imago Dei is reflected in our creativty.
• Redeems the effects of the Fall – Foreshadows His return.
• Cain and the City – Cain builds a city, a place that’s alternate from the garden. (Gen 4)
• All the people who made tools and art came from Cain’s city.
• Jesus and the Cross – Jesus was a carpenter. From his job we get the word “technology.” The very tool He worked with was the tool He died on.
• God and the new City – God recreates everything and redeems it.
• God redeems human works.
• We offer redemption through what we create but it can’t compare to what God will give us.

New Testament

• Paul constantly expressed his desire to be with people.  (2 Tim 1:4)
• John didn’t want to use technology, but he did! (2 John 1:12)
• They used technology when they couldn’t be present with people.

Technology should help us stay connected when we can’t be face-to-face with people. Being face-to-face matters. Community sometimes sucks. Being face to face means you have to have a commitment to people you don’t decide to be with. Online community is a different kind of community.

Using Technology without Technology Using You

1. Deny the premise. You can’t use technology without it affecting you.
2. Experiment with Technology. Do something different. (Ill: Don’t take a Bible to church, just sit and listen… experience it differently.)
3. What do I want to cultivate? What do you want to get? What does it require for me to be “good” at it? Is that something you want?
4. Work both through and against technology. Jesus came as a Jew… he fully absorbed the culture to be with them. At the same time, He worked against them, He condemned things they do. We have to be incarnate like Jesus was… meaning we work through and against our technological culture.
5. Use technology as a means, not an end. We use a car as a means to get to an end. Or, we get a crazy awesome car… and use it so owning it is the end, the goal.
6. Create for a new world. All we create, all we do should be for eternity… for something that’s lasting.
7. Become a tool. Influence others for the glory of God. Be a tool He can use.

Dawn Nicole Baldwin is a strategist with a passion to help churches reach people more effectively. She lives this out as founder and lead strategist of AspireOne and as a senior partner with Jarbyco, a mobile communications firm specializing in live events that works with organizations such as Park Community Church, Lifechurch.tv and Youth Specialties.

A former staff member of Big Idea Productions [creators of VeggieTales] and Willow Creek, Dawn Nicole frequently contributes to today’s leading-edge thinking of integrating Christianity and culture but is best known as a change agent who is intent on stretching imaginations, connecting people and making a difference.

About Cynthia Ware
Cynthia Ware is a consultant with an in depth expertise in two areas: online technologies and strategic church development.

Equipped with two decades of pastoral ministry and a Master’s Degree in New Media, Cynthia helps Christian leaders develop online communication strategies to compliment their ministry goals. She consults pastors, churches, ministries and non-profits in how to use their online presence to enrich and expand their ministry reach.

Besides consulting, she is an active public speaker & writer. This year she has presented at Biola University, the Internet Ministry Conference, Willow Creek’s Group Life Conference, the Dynamic Church Conference, Innovation3 and The Idea Camp.

Her personal blog, The Digital Sanctuary, encourages Christian leaders to explore, embrace and employ participatory media technologies to serve the Kingdom of God. Additionally, she is a co-contributor to several other online sites including Digital, the Leadership Network’stechnology blog. She is also an officer for many online Christian networks, websites and internet resources.

Since 2001, Cynthia and her husband Bob, an associate pastor, have lived in the greater Los Angeles area with their two teenage children and a lot of computers.

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Social Media – a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many).

• The church has existed as a monologue.
• We don’t want to be talked at, we want to be talked with.
• We don’t want to be talked to, we want to be talked with.
• We cannot project what our trajectories will be like through social media.
• Christianity is spread virally.
• Technology is opening a new door and opportunity for the church.
• Check out a new book called SimChurch… not released yet, about the number of people Christians are reaching online.
• Social media allows us to connect hubs and connect people with like-mindedness and passions and connect them.
• People now drive and author content.
• We need to shift our mindset in how we think how we should communicate.
• Facebook, Twitter, Web, YouVersion have changed the way we communicate.
• 250 million people are on Facebook.
• 4.6 million people are on Twitter.

What does that mean for us?

1. We can avoid it.
2. We can realize it’s already there, already happened, it’s free, and figure out what can we do with it.

Facebook

• The connections that happen online become far more tightly connected and woven than it used to through social media (e.g. when you post something to Facebook and people respond to it.).
• It’s not about publishing your sermon, it’s about finding places for people to connect in real and authentic ways (even though it’s virtual).
• Websites should not be static, they should be dynamic and link to social media.
• Use social media to start conversations.
• Key to Facebook is the number of people that are on it… the most vital dimensions of ministry are often on the edges.
• Courageous Church was pioneered via Facebook.
• Found an ad blast on Saturday is more effective than an ad a day.

Free & Paid Services

• File sharing is critical to new media.
• Flickr and YouTube are free, most people have accounts there.
• If your website is connected to YouTube or Facebook, there’s a high likelihood your website will be used as a “place” not just a “space.”
• Free spaces created interconnectivity.
• Ning is a great social media tool to use.
• Most churches pay per user for services like Unifyer, Cobblestone, etc which give churches a level of control and moderation. And they give a “safe zone” for members.
• Where you put your money is where your investment will be.
• Most churches see the web as being a vital part of their ministry, but don’t fund to staff and manage it.
• First-time visitors will come from your webpage first.
• If you opt for a private online community, connect it to Facebook, don’t abandon it.

Interactive Tools & Services

• Tokbox – video calls.
• Jarbyco – text messaging.
• Cover it Live & UStream – interactive chats.
• Usually the church is being seen as “slow” when it comes to these things. But, the Church seems to be blazing the way in thinking through how we can leverage these new social media platforms.

Churches to watch: LifeChurch.tv, Park Community Church (right on!)

• Each church has an opporutnity to innovate in their own way in accordnace with their own calling.
• That’s different than jumping in on other people’s  ideas.
• Salt loses its seasoning… it becomes like another instead of being it’s own unique flavor.
• Who do we want to reach? What do we want to accomplish? And how can technology help us get there?
• We need real life touch and connection but not miss the free connection points technology allows us.
• Go to where people are already at.

iCampuses

• Many churches are launching internet campuses.
• There’s not a “one size fits all” approach.
• Community is key.
• iCampuses to watch: LifeChurch.tv, New Hope, North Point, Flamingo Road

7 Deadly Sins of Social Media

• Lust – loving your audience is great, but take it slow. Don’t stalk or overwhelm your audience.  No one wants to be spammed by their church.
• Gluttony – don’t bite off more than you can chew.  Start slow with a few things instead of trying to do it all at once.
• Greed – it’s hard to shake hands while you’re reaching for someone’s wallet. Don’t pressure people to volunteer… don’t stalk people to do things they haven’t asked. Texting is permission based. Treat those relationships like gold.
• Sloth – avoid the temptation to “set it and forget it.” We need to be intentional!
• Wrath – there are a lot of people out there itching fora punch in the nose, but don’t be the one to give it to them. Be careful what gets posted in any social media channel.
• Envy – don’t be dissuaded by other people “doing it better than you.” Stay focused on the mission God has set before you.
• Pride – stay humble, rock star.

Questions to Consider When Diving into Social Media:

• What’s the goal?
• What is the best tool?
• How much does it cost?
• How will we create buy-in?
• When will we evaluate?
• How will we measure success?

It is worth it to experiment. The goal is to use the technology, not the technology using you. It’s a tool for enhanced communication. What works best for you might not work for someone else.

Key things to watch are GLOBAL and MOBILE.

Your congregation should be moving to paperless.

Churches should not have “turn your phone off” signs, they should have turn your phone on signs.”

It was May 2005.

I was working at Riverside Community Church in Peoria, IL. I was only a few years into my career as a Director of Communications. I had no clue what I was doing. Experience was being my educator and I spent a lot of time learning from my mistakes.

A fellow communications guy who was a mentor/big brother to me told me that I needed to go to an obscure town called Granger, Indiana, to hear this lady named Kem talk about communications.

Granger, Indiana? Kem? Shouldn’t it be Kim?

Anyway, I trusted his opinion and made the trek to Granger Community Church for one of their Wired Workshop to hear Kem Meyer talk about communication and why it mattered for the Church.

So, long story short, that was the beginning of a friendship that has brought me so much life, given me insight and inspiration, and equipped me to do my job better.

Kem Meyer has been an incredibly influential in my journey in the church communications world. Through her blog, speaking, and friendship, I’ve gained so much, and so you have no idea how excited I was when I first heard she was writing a book.

I had the privilege of getting a sneak peek of her book awhile back and I have to tell you, it should absolutely be required reading if you do communications, marketing, PR, web, or design… for churches or for wherever.

It will challenge your thinking, stretch your imagination and equip you to communicate clearly and concisely, with less noise and less clutter.

Pulling from both her experience at Granger and in corporate America, this book highlights lessons Kem has learned along the way.

Aside from all that, having had the chance to get to know Kem offline, I can tell you first hand she’s the real deal. She’s legit and her passion for God is what fuels her passion for communication and is why she’s so driven to help the church communicate in a way that helps people take their next step towards Christ.

It’s a book I wish I would have had when I was starting out… it would have saved me some hearteache. And I could have highlighted many parts of it and slipped it under the office door of my pastor to help him “get it.”
I’m not the best salesperson, so just take my advice: GET IT. READ IT.

You can download the first chapter here if you haven’t already checked it out. I’m sure if you read it, you’ll get get hooked and want to go and purchase your own copy.