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 Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission.

Want to text your congregation, but don’t know how to text?

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If you want to text and don't have a phone or skills to do it, this company can help you do it on your computer.

As the Apostle Paul told us, we need to learn to be "all things to all people that we might win some," and today that often means making use of new communication technologies. Texting is one of the most popular ways to communicate today, but few church offices make effective use of it.
I just discovered a company, (actually they discovered me, more about that later) call-em-all that will text for you with a system that allows you to create text messages on your computer and then broadcast them to the people who on your list. They also have broadcast phone systems that you can do from your computer or a toll-free number.

Though I personally haven't tried them, I don't have a use for this service presently--I like them. I know that is a subjective opinion, but they contacted me because they wanted some material to help their church customers communicate in different ways to churches. I liked it that they weren't pushy in thinking that they had the only answer to church communication.  I talked to one of their staff--very nice, helpful person and I then spent some time on their website. They have great little instructional videos that show how to use all aspects of their system--take a look at them to understand the process.

The prices are reasonable and the products definitely worth checking out as an additional way to communicate to your congregation.

One more thing--they have a free trial so you can see how it works. Here is their website, check them out:
http://www.call-em-all.com/

FREE Bible Images, a video review

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This is a different kind of free image site. They have both illustrations and photos. They are different than other sites of free images that are mostly individual, unrelated images, in that they are in sets of images intended to be used as sets for Bible teaching.

As a Bible teacher, I really this because in the past I've had to search through many sites and images to get ones to go together to teach a topic. With this site they are already collected and ready to use. If anything, I've found they have more than enough needed.

In addition, though the pictures and images are historically and geographically accurate, they do not have any text or scripts other than the Bible reference so that there  is no cultural or language bias.

Below is a video review of the site and after that a link to a short video I created using the images.

How to use the images to create Bible teaching videos CLICK HERE to go to the video and instructions on how to create them.

How to create a Bible-teaching and story video using Free Bible Images

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Free Bible Images is a very interesting company that provides quality photos and images for teaching Bible stories. One way to use them is through animoto, which gives you a way to create videos.

I really enjoy using animoto to create short teaching and thought-provoking videos. Below is the video I created about the topic of if God cares when we mess up, using one of their photo sets about the prodigal son. This video took me much less time than similar ones I created in the past because all the images were available instead of me having to find them, modify them and put them in order.

How I did this:

1. I downloaded the images as a PowerPoint Presentation.
2. I deleted some images--you don't want to many in a short video presentation.
3. I saved the images as jpgs. Note: I am new at using the site and when I did this video didn't realize I could have just downloaded the set as a jpg file and deleted what I didn't want from that. I'm really looking forward to creating more using the site as a source for video Bible lessons.
4. I opened up www.animoto.com
5. Put in the files, created the text
6. Selected music, edited text, and edited text and re-edited text and pictures--This takes me the longest time because I want the words, music, pacing to be just right. This is one of the most important parts--you want to say the right words, include thoughtful messages, biblical challenges without being too wordy or vague. You want to spend time praying about the message and impact of your video. The video is under two minutes in length, but to make it powerful, you also need to make it shorter.
7. When done, hit the produce button, download and share.

Again, please check out FreeBibleImages.com for an ever-growing collection of wonderful material to help you teach Bible Lessons.

Why you don’t need to share your personal life on Facebook

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social-media--you don't have to participate
Though there are many wonderful ministry uses for Facebook and other social media--you DON'T have to participate in them--here's why.

We try new media tools because of the Biblical mandate to "be all things to all people to win some." But just because we try different tools to communicate our ministry, doesn't mean these tools can or should be used in the same way by everyone. If you are in a ministry that requires 24/7 social media interaction, and you love it—what follows is not for you. It's for people who may be very tech savvy, yet feel vaguely guilty and inadequate, for not sharing their personal lives to the digital world.

Here are 5 reasons why you don't have to feel guilty if you want to use Facebook and social media primarily for professional ministry news and updates and not for personal sharing:

#1: Your calling doesn't require it

When Paul first became a believer, he says, "I did not consult with any man" (Gal. 1:16). He goes on to say that he spent three years in Arabia and then went to Jerusalem, where he saw only Peter and James. He didn't return there for 14 years.

During those 17 years I'm sure a lot of networking, interaction, and the formation of the Christian faith was taking place in Jerusalem. Peter was busy preaching to multitudes and interacting with both Jews and Gentiles. That was God's calling for him—but it was not what Paul was called to do. One wonders if Paul had interacted with the disciples in Jerusalem instead of spending time in Arabia if he would have been able to rework the understanding of the Old Testament and reconcile it with God's inclusion of  the  Gentiles in the family of God. It was Paul's calling to do this alone. He needed to listen to only one voice while he did it.

Sometimes God calls people into constant, open interaction with others and today that requires social media sharing and interaction. Sometimes God calls people into silence and solitude.

Only you can determine God's calling for your life. Obedience to His call will influence the following considerations. [Read more...]

In the Church Office: What to delegate and why

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: this article was inspired by a comment from an ECC reader: "I was wondering what you determine can be delegated?  I guess I'm afraid that if I delegate tasks....or ask volunteers to help....that I will cause people (both those who hired me and others) to think "that's why we pay her---why are others doing her job???"  So how do I get around this?" Gayle's extremely practical answer follows.

WHAT TO DELEGATE AND WHY

Freeing your time for tasks only you can do is a primary reason to delegate. But, it is not the sole valid reason to share responsibilities. Your purpose may be to involve members in the work of the church, create appreciation for the administrative functions of ministry, provide opportunities for teamwork, increase general productivity, or to develop useful skills in paid and volunteer recruits.

Toward that end, consider delegating:

• Jobs someone might do better than you.
Perhaps creating flyers is not what you do well, but you know a person who absolutely thrives on layouts, fonts, and graphics. Ask.

• Parts of bigger projects.
Producing a church directory is one example of an assignment you may not want to turn over in its entirety, but smaller slices of it might be assigned to a few well-chosen assistants.

• Tasks you just don’t like doing.
Yes, that is an acceptable reason to delegate. You do best that which you enjoy—and, someone else could gain satisfaction from doing well that which you would just as soon not do at all.

• Assignments that will challenge others.
It can be to your advantage to turn loose of even some tasks you enjoy and handle well. Giving others opportunities to increase their abilities motivates and encourages.

• Tasks that increase the team’s strengths.
The old joke about the secretary having job security because she is the only one who knows where things filed is actually no joke at all. The office team is stronger when more than one person can do each vital job. Train someone to do the things that must be done. One never knows when an emergency will arise or when you will simply find yourself with too many priorities.

• Projects that allow you to move on to another level of responsibility.
This kind of delegation gives others the opportunity to take on skills you have already mastered so you can gain experience in even more advanced pursuits

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For more advice on how to effectively use volunteers in your church communication ministry, check out:

FREE Ebook: In the church office, to save time and your sanity: Divide your communication team into 2 production levels
There is never enough time to get all the work done that needs to be done in church communications. One way to solve this problem is to have volunteers do some of the work. However, many church office administrators and church leaders aren't comfortable doing this because they are concerned about the level of quality that volunteers product. Or they worry that they won't really be able to control what volunteers do.

 

Six Strategies BookEbook: Six Strategies for Effective Church Communications
Free for ECC Ebook and Template Club members, available for purchase and immediate download, all e-reader versions and in print at this link: