An op-ed article in The New York Times, "Catholicism Inc." by Bill Keller not only challenges the Catholic Church with some suggestions for change during this time of transition between popes, but it inspired me to make some communication suggestions for all churches, based on his ideas. What follows are quotes from the article, and then communication applications suggested by the quotes:
Catholicism is mostly a service industry . . . . and its deliverables have stood the test of millenniums: instruction in how to live a good life, sacraments to consecrate major milestones, comfort in times of distress, the cleansing therapy of confession, penance and absolution, a sense of place in the universal order and the promise of a celestial payoff. . . . .There is still a robust market for the faith. The problem — evident in the waning confidence of the customers as well as the rising market share of evangelical start-ups . . . is with the management.
Communication application: Though we might use different terms to describe the benefits of our individual churches, a common denominator is that our gracious Creator has met every need of the human soul now and for eternity in the freely offered salvation provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, or as he says, "The fundamental problems are not in the catalog."
He goes on to lay the cause for the problems with the management of our churches and church communications are a key part of that. If the core message of salvation is not getting across to your audience, if new people aren't coming to know Jesus as Savior and growing to mature disciples, if they are not sharing the good news with their friends, practicing their spiritual gifts, and being salt and light in their world, the problem is not with the culture or media or lack of time or the crippling demands of the modern world—the problem is with us, the managers, the communicators. We have to take responsibility for what is happening our church if the message we preach and teach (or assume we do) isn't a reality in changing lives before we can make necessary changes.
Ted Stenger, a corporate turnaround expert at the consulting firm Alix Partners and a devoted Catholic, pointed out that most big companies assemble their executives every few years for an intensive strategic review. The last time the church took stock was the Second Vatican Council, half a century ago. “The mission of the church is not going to change,” Stenger said. “But how you set objectives and tactics to deliver on the mission may in fact change.”
Communication application: Once we take responsibility, what can we do? As suggested above we need to take stock of our current situation and come up with strategic ways to deal with challenges. One challenge is that it's clear to most churches that communication channels have changed drastically in recent years—the web being the most obvious. Sadly, many churches, when they do realize a need for new channels or new methods, respond with surface changes, but not the core problems. Here are some examples of persistent communication problems in churches and some of the present, but ineffective, responses I see:
Churches don't use their bulletin to explain what is going on during the church service or link effectively to the website: as many articles on this website detail, the church bulletin is an incredibly important piece of information about the church and the Christian faith. It may be the first piece of Christian literature an unchurched person ever sees. I recommend (counter to the advice of many) that in this time of less understanding about the church in the culture outside the church than ever before, that church bulletins need to contain more, not less information. Instead, what I often see are bulletins that are upbeat and contemporary with slick printing and great graphics, but almost no content that tells a person who wanders into the church what the Christian faith is all about. Most church bulletins today also miss the opportunity to link effectively to their websites for more information.
Churches don't train their staff in new technology, but expect them to be proficient in it anyway: When computers and desktop publishing were first invented, it was not uncommon (and some of you remember this well) for a church secretary to come to church one morning, find her typewriter gone and be informed that she now had this new computer and software to create the bulletin with –by this coming Sunday and with no training in how to do it. Many tears, prayers, and extra hours somehow got it done. My ministry was launched to help. Today, I see the same situation with websites. A church decides they need a website or an updated one and the church communicator is told to do it. Again, often no training is provided on how to do it. Though there are many things on this site and my YouTube channel on creating websites, soon, I plan to do more to help churches create websites that are more than expanded Yellow Page ads (and the graphics have little to do with it).
When your church has a strategic meeting on church communication, be sure you address the continuing core issue—how to share the good news about salvation in Jesus and how to help people become mature disciples. Be sure whatever new channel or tool or graphic design you do does that. To simply change the graphics or design or to add a website without making certain they communicate the gospel and lives are changed might look good, but be lacking in eternal value.
A second big question might be how much latitude to give to the more than 220,000 parishes. McDonald’s has a basic menu that is consistent around the globe, but it gives local franchises license to adapt to local preferences — wine with your Big Mac in France, vegetarian dishes in India. You will find Catholic parishes in cities like New York and San Francisco where gay couples are warmly welcomed, women participate in the liturgy, and the sermons and music are joyously unconventional. You will find others that favor the Latin mass, incense and everything by the book. Rome could encourage the parishes to be laboratories of worship. Useem notes that in business (and in the military, by the way), giving field officers freedom to execute the mission produces creative solutions and “it’s also just a tremendous energizer.”
Communication application: not only within denominations, but within the ministries of a church, top-down control of every communication piece created by every department or expecting all needed communications to come from the church office, simply will not work today if you want your church to grow and prosper.
Churches overall and in every department need to create a lot of communications in both digital and print format for people to stay informed and be productive in their church involvement and Christian growth. That means more people need to be involved in the church communication process. The many articles and information on this site will help you train a team so it isn't just one person creating the communications.
As you might expect of an institution that measures time in centuries, the church has been slow to join the digital world. Pope Benedict, tweeting as @Pontifex, has 1.5 million followers, which is pretty good, but he has tweeted exactly 35 times — and the messages read like boilerplate composed by a dutiful intern. Bill Derrough, a specialist in corporate restructuring and a fund-raiser for Catholic charities, said that if parishes simply got the names of their members into the computer, they could organize meet-ups, share best practices, spread news.
Communication application: once again, don't just adapt the channel, but keep the same old core practices in place and think that makes your church contemporary. A Twitter account with the pastor's name on it, but that is written by a nameless, faithful, but misguided church communicator, is a lie to create and an insult to the people reading it. If the pastor does have time, understand, or want to tweet, that is perfectly OK. It isn't OK to fake it.
Seth Godin, marketing guru, prolific author, and business productivity inspirational blogger, doesn't tweet. He also doesn't allow comments on his blog. He focuses on what he does well and sticks to it. You don't have to jump into every new communication channel if it doesn't suit you.
On the other hand, there may be a person in your church who LOVES Twitter and would gladly be the voice of your church in that medium. Whatever you do, whatever channels you use, be honest and clear about who is creating them. Set goals and guidelines that will honor the church and at the same time allow creative freedom. Trust, but verify that they are met. Encourage, praise, and pray for the person ministering in the digital mission field just as you would any other missionary.
Facebook can be handled in the same way. There are few things more irritating than a church that advertises a Facebook page, but when a visitor goes to it to find out more about the church it is empty or only filled with pictures and no explanation of what the event is about or how the random photos tie in to anything about Jesus.
Final communication application: the article ends with a challenge, (quoted following) that reminds us that in all our times of change and transition, to make change meaningful, we must rely on our Lord. He is the one who sees the beginning and the end, he knows the hearts of your people and those you are attempting to reach and he can guide you to be faithful to his Word and purposes.
I realize that many devout Catholics recoil from suggestions of change, especially if the suggestions come from deserters like me. But troubled enterprises often benefit from a little outside counsel. And in the unlikely event that a new pope wants to bring the church closer to the 21st century, he will need all the help he can get. “This is a far tougher turnaround than the ones I have led,” said an executive who has helped save more than one foundering Fortune 500 company. “You might need to tap the guy that turned water into wine!”
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!