Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

How to be an effective church communication writer, part one

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How to be an effective church communication writer, part one
It isn't always easy to write effective church communications--these articles will help.

Most church communications begin with words, but the challenge is that writing is not easy for many church communicators. It's easy to forget that just because someone is a good preacher or office administrator or business manager that person is not necessarily a good writer or an expert on what makes for good written communication.

I was recently reminded of the reality in discussing effective church communications with a young pastor and I decided to put together a series of resources for him as well as for all of you. However, as I started this project I realized that I have a lot of advice and resources for writers (I've been a published writer since I was 16-years-old) and getting them updated, edited, and organized takes more than a few days. I also realized that it would be helpful for many of you if I didn't wait until I had them all together to share individual articles.

So here is Part One of How to be an Effective Church Communication Writer: Below is a series of articles on the ECC Website--just click to go to them. I am including the link if you want to share some of these with other church communicators. If you have questions about writing, please email me at yvon@effectivechurchcom.com and I'll answer them as part of this series.

Articles that will help you be a more effective writer:

What should be the length of church communications?
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2013/06/what-should-be-the-length-of-church-communications/

Why words are more important than images in church communications

As you write for different communication channels, don’t change the content or look of your message
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2008/09/multichannelcontent/

How to write visually in your church communications
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2013/06/how-to-write-visually-in-your-church-communications/

Writing as an act of discipleship
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2013/06/writing-as-an-act-of-discipleship/

Why words and images need each other–the feedback loop of meaning
https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2012/10/why-words-and-images-need-each-other-the-feedback-loop-of-meaning/

Become a writer and carry on the tradition of the great writers of the past

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Writers run a race of endurance
Writers run a race of endurance as they pass on their wisdom and insight to the next generation.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1-2)

Who has influenced your life through the written word? Maybe contemporary writers—Dallas Willard, C.S. Lewis, John Stott, Lee Stobel, Max Lucado. Maybe writers from the past—Luther, Augustine, Calvin, Wesley.

Whoever they might be, few of us would be where we are in our walk with the Lord without the written encouragement and teachings of those who have gone before us in writing about our faith. Do you feel that you might be called to join in this "cloud of witnesses" in Christian writing? If so, and if you aren't producing the communications on paper or online that you feel you should, what are you waiting for?

With your computer, you have on your desk the tools to produce everything from pamphlets to newsletters; blogs to books. With the web you have on-demand printing and distribution systems necessary to get it to readers anywhere in the world. You don't need the permission and support of national publishing companies to produce materials to teach and encourage your brothers and sisters in the faith.However, to actually make your writing dreams result in tangible products. . . . .

You may need to get rid of a few misconceptions about writing:

Often, it isn't fun—actually finishing a writing project, that is. It's fun to think about it. It's fun to plan, fun to imagine what it will be like when it's done. Fun to fantasize about being a writer or blogger. The work of drafts, rewriting, and publication itself, is often not fun.

I sometimes hear the phrase, "If it isn't fun, why do it?" Obedience to the call of God is only one of many answers to that inane, foolish question. Whether writing is fun or not has absolutely nothing to do with whether God is calling you do to it. If the fun quotient is the determiner for if you write or not, you will most likely produce little of lasting value.

You'll never have the time to do it. You'll probably never be able to take off for a month to a secluded cabin to finally get done the writing you want to. You will always have to fearlessly carve out the time out of a schedule that already seems too full.

You'll never be rested enough to do it. If you're involved in ministry and have something to share, writing isn't what will be first on your list when you get some rare time off. But, if you are called to write, be warned that the Lord will often not allow you to rest until you create what he has called you to create. You aren't alone--at a writer's conference many years ago, Anne Ortland shared that much of the significant work done for the Lord was done by very tired people and I've remembered her words through many late-night writing times. Most likely as you create the publications you need to create, be aware that obedience to that calling may not energize you, it may exhaust you. Keep writing anyway.

You'll never feel good enough to do it. Study your craft. Do your best; edit, rewrite, revise--but don't wait until you feel "good enough." Most writers experience self-doubt that has little to do with the true condition of their work. Here's one:

If only I could do this book properly. . . But I am assailed with my own ignorance and inability . . . . I didn’t work then or all week. …Hope to lose some of the frantic quality in my mind now. Can’t organize. … I’m jumpy. …Don’t know who will publish my book. Don’t know at all. . . . . .This book has become a misery to me because of my inadequacy.

notes from John Steinbeck's journal as he was finishing The Grapes of Wrath

This advice is not intended to encourage self-delusion. Get the advice of friends, mentors, editors, become objective and if you've done your best get your writing out there and see if the Lord uses it. Remember Satan is the accuser--never listen to him.

If you feel called to write, fix your eyes on Jesus and write. Obedience to him will make all your efforts worth it, fun or not, tired or not, now and forever, in ways your most extravagant dreams of being a writer cannot imagine.

How to write visually in your church communications

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people to SEE Help people what you are writing about
If you want people to SEE what you are writing about, here's how to do it.

Today many successful communications are visual. Television, movies, computer games, music videos, computer games, and social media, we are bombarded with powerful visual images.

No matter what medium you are writing for, it's important to realize that you don't need to rely strictly on the visual images you put on the page to create pictures in your reader's minds. Our imaginations are marvelous translators and words alone can create images as powerful as any video game.

How we do this is critical to the success of our church communications. We can place words on a page, but unless we create a clear and vivid picture in our reader's mind, our message isn't communicated. A selection of words alone doesn't communicate. Our words must contain the raw materials to create a visual image that give our emotions and will something to respond to.

Write to help people "see" a ministry

Let me illustrate what I mean. Consider below the two different ways of describing the same ministry:

Description #1-"Prison Fellowship has this wonderful pen pal program that ministers to people in jail."

What do you see in your mind's eye from this description? Probably not much.

Description #2- "Mark had been in prison for two years. During that time he had never had a visitor, never received a letter or phone call. His first contact with anyone outside the prison came the day he got his first letter from Jeff, his Prison Fellowship pen pal."

Do you see Mark? Of course you do. We all see a different Mark, but each one of us sees a lonely man in his cell opening a letter.

You see the person in the second description because it has concrete words that create visual images in your mind. General words like "wonderful" used in the first description call up completely different images in each person's mind. When you say "wonderful" to me, I think hot fudge sundae, not prison ministry. In the second description, you see Mark.

Write like Jesus taught

Jesus was a master at telling specific concrete stories that have challenged us for 2,000 years. For example, he didn't relate a theological essay on how God's love is part of his immutable character and is eternally consistent. He sat his disciples down one day and told them this story, "A man had two sons and one day one of them said, "Dad, I want the money now...."

Hearing those words we all see the story of the prodigal son and we see the Father's love as he waits for and welcomes him home.

Use the same technique when you write about your church or ministry. If your church needs youth workers, a notice in the bulletin that says, "We need people to help with the youth" may or may not generate much interest. But if you do a profile of a 50-year-old couple who the kids describe as "the coolest adults they know," that might encourage some participation from people who hadn't considered it before.

The Bible is filled with the stories of the experiences of individuals. When we think about the Bible what first comes to mind is not the doctrine of the atonement or the theology of spiritual gifts. We think of Moses and Ruth, of Mary and Peter. God used human lives to illustrate his messages and the writing you do to communicate your part in God's eternal story needs to do the same.

What should be the length of church communications? Bulletins, newsletters, website entries?

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What should be the length of church communications?
What should be the length of church communications? This article will show you why short isn't always best.

The answer to these questions isn’t as obvious as it might seem. I think initially, with our busy schedules today many people would instinctively answer “SHORT!” Almost no one complains that church website, bulletin, the printed newsletter is too short. But before you set an arbitrary rule such as "all website, blog and newsletter articles must be less than 500 words, or "the Bulletin can never be longer than 2 pages" consider the following statements that apply to both print and digital church communications:

Church communications contain a variety of written topics

Many church communications are news, notes, and announcements about upcoming activities that work well in short-form messages. But that isn't all--churches communicate vision-casting, teaching, history, and story-telling. Church communications include schedules, guidelines, rules (such as, what you need to do to become a volunteer in children's ministry), and ministry instruction. This variety of content requires a variety of length and the variety of communication no more needs to be the same length than all the articles and sections in a newspaper need to be the same length. The editorial requires a different amount of space than a box score and a lead article more than an ad selling a refrigerator.

The length should be appropriate to the topic

More important than setting an arbitrary length, the length of the communication should be appropriate to the topic. For example, if the senior pastor is explaining the vision of the church, inspiring members for outreach or missions, setting a new direction or challenging for a building campaign, that piece will need more space than directions to the church picnic.

 

Have layers of length on the same topic

Announcements of recurring events do not need long, lengthy explanations on why people should attend. Short, catchy announcements designed what I call “want-ad style” and that contain the name of the sponsoring person or group, purpose, starting and ending time, full contact information, cost and directions to get there and if childcare is provided are what is needed in a list of announcements. If more information is needed place a hyperlink to another page on your website or to the website if you are writing in your bulletin to a section that has more materials, background, or staff explanations.

Giving options like this—a basic list of connecting details that links to a longer explanation if wanted—is great for both people who are familiar with the church and visitors or newcomers. When you give people options like this you are respecting their need for however much information they want. If you decide for them, you will most likely not meet the needs of one group or another, but if you give options, everyone gets the information they want.

Longer material can be made more visually interesting by breaking it into sections

In both print and on the web, sections and lists can have headers and subheads that define the topics. You can also use bullet points or numbered lists, summarize key facts in a side-bar, pull out interesting or key quotes and highlight them, add a picture and caption. A page or two (print or digital) with these visual elements integrated into the content will be read more easily than a solid page or two of text with no breaks.

Give the sections titles that can be scanned for content, not labels

One of the biggest reasons people don't read through the event or announcement lists in either print or digital church communications is that for many of them you have to read the ENTIRE list to see if anything is useful to you or applies to you and your family. This happens because many of the subheads say the same thing:

  • Don't miss this!
  • Mark your calendars!
  • Greatest event ever!
  • This will change your life—be sure to come!

All of the above are rah-rah fluff and don't say anything, let alone encourage anyone to read the content or attend the event. Instead, consider subheads such as these:

  • Children's baptism class will be held on Sat. June 14
  • Summer camp for junior high July 1-8
  • Evangelism tent meeting will be held at the church in August
  • Digital Bible Study tools workshop to be held at church this Thursday, 7-8pm

With a subhead list like the one above a person could quickly skim through the topics or events, but would only need to read what applies to that person and their family.

Finally, focus on content, not length

Length, especially for digital communications where we don't need to worry about paper or printing costs, is one of the least important considerations for church communications.

No one ever says, "The 500-limit word count of that article changed my life!" But there are many stories of lives changes from reading the short verse of Jn. 3:16 to the longer book of Romans. Different people respond to different amounts of content.

No matter what the amount, be sure to create worthy content, making certain that your words are reflective of your Lord. If you do that, no matter what the length of your communication, they will all have a part (even if it is a tiny step) in fully fulfilling the Great Commission of helping people come to know Jesus as Savior and growing to mature discipleship.

Don't cut yourself short; don't waste words and babble on without editing, but say what you need to say to fulfill the message the Lord wants you to share today. Ask for His help. Little or long, He knows precisely what is needed.

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Writing as an act of discipleship

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As church communicators, the power and impact of our writing on the lives of those in our church will be a reflection of where our heart is with our Lord. Whether you plan it or not, who you are always comes out in your writing. Below is a challenge from Dallas Willard on discipleship and then one on writing from C.S. Lewis. Below them is a resource that will encourage your heart as a church communicator.

The challenge:

The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”
― Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship

Some advice on how a writer might meet the challenge:

If I have read the New Testament aright, it leaves no room for 'creativeness' even in a modified or metaphorical sense. Our whole destiny seems to lie in the opposite direction, in being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own, but borrowed, in becoming clean mirrors willed with image of a face that is not our. . . .An author should never conceive himself as bringing into existence beauty or wisdom which did not exist before, but simply and solely as trying to embody in terms of his own art some reflection of eternal Beauty and Wisdom. . . And always, of every idea and of every method the Christian will not ask, 'Is it mine?' but 'Is it good?'

C. S. Lewis, Christianity and Literature

A resource to strengthen your heart as you write

Devotions for Church Communicators
This devotion will remind you of the immense and eternal importance of the work you do.

This book, Devotions for Church Communicators was previously titled The heart of church communications. I may go back to that title when I reprint it. Regardless, it will help you tremendously to approach your communication work as a disciple of Jesus. It is free for Effective Church Communication Members and can be bought for immediate download or as a paperback or Kindle from the links below.

ECC Member download

Buy for immediate download or links to Kindle or print purchase