Ensuring that everyone in a busy church is informed about upcoming events can be a daunting task. Doug Powe, Director of the Lewis Center, shares strategies that can significantly improve your communication efforts and help make sure your messages are effectively conveyed and received by your congregation.
Have you experienced some version of this scenario? You are planning a big event at the church. You advertise it in the newsletter and make weekly announcements during worship. But the day of the event, someone drives by, sees all the activity, and says, “I did not know we were having an event today?” If you weren’t in such disbelief you would scream in frustration. How could this person have no clue when you have promoted the event in worship and the newsletter?
It can be very challenging to make sure everyone knows what’s going on in a busy church. Let me share a few ideas that can help.
1. Prioritize what is most important.
How often have you sat through 15 minutes of announcements at the beginning or end of an hour-long worship experience? By the third or fourth announcement people are already making lunch plans. Make no more than one, or at most two, announcements, prioritizing what people most need to know. This means some information will have to be shared later or in other ways. For example, a trustee meeting is important, but does the whole church need to know about the meeting time? Communicating directly with those on the trustee committee would make more sense in this instance. Prioritizing what is shared will enhance the chances that individuals pay attention to what is being communicated.
2. Communicate in various mediums.
It is easy to think that if something is announced during worship everyone will know about it. Or to assume that if you put something in the newsletter everyone will read it. The truth is, some folk miss the announcements every week. Others never read the newsletter. So, communicating only in these ways will miss people. Using various forms of communication is key to making sure a message is received.
In today’s social media world, it can be helpful to post information on Facebook and to send younger parishioners a text. Communicating in multiple ways increases the chances that the message is received. You might put something in the newsletter six weeks out, start announcements about a month out, and use social media a few weeks out as a reminder to some and a way for others to receive the information for the first time. When it comes to advertising on social media, remember your announcement will reach a public audience. So, include all the important details and avoid using insider language or abbreviations.
3. Be clear and concise.
Regardless of the medium used to communicate, be clear and concise. It’s easy to tune out on a speaker if their announcement rambles on and on. If a written piece is too long some will immediately decide not to read it. One way to keep your message brief is to just give the essentials and then direct people to where they can find more information, perhaps on the church website or the last page of the newsletter. The key is to avoid overwhelming readers with every little detail in an initial communication.
4. State the expectation.
It is important to state what you want others to do. If you are having an event, do you want them just to show up? Do you need them to come early so they can help with set-up and greeting expected guests? If it is a meeting, do you need them to read a document and be prepared to discuss it? Make sure expectations are stated clearly so individuals know what you want them to do.
5. Have other leaders share information with their teams.
Enlist other church leaders to help communicate big events or meetings. Enlisting their help means you already have a small group of people who know what is happening and they will be able to share with those in their circles. This also helps with setting expectations. If you need five people from the hospitality team at an event the chances of recruiting these individuals increase when the hospitality chair communicates this need directly to the team. A general announcement is less effective because it’s easy for people hearing it to assume someone else will volunteer. Tapping the ministry leader can ensure more direct communication to the team.
Church communication is challenging and requires strategic effort. But it is possible to communicate more effectively by using various mediums, making sure that we are clear and concise, stating the expectations up front, prioritizing what is most important, and enlisting other leaders to help share the message.
Related Resources
- Good Communication Requires More Than Just Sharing Information by Ryan T. Hartwig and Warren Bird
- 4 Keys to More Effective Church Communication by Joel Snider
- Stop Beginning Worship with Boring Announcements by Jason Moore
