Probably one of the last things you want to worry about when starting a church is communications—but if you want your church to be strong from the start, it should be one of your first considerations. Following the foundational reminder below are 6 reasons why.
Christians are people of the Word—both the Word made flesh in Jesus and people of a very big Book that our Lord expects us to learn and obey. Christianity is a content-intensive religion, not one based primarily on emotion, but on a renewed mind, an intentional turning from self to the Savior, and a willing apprenticeship to be conformed to the image of Christ. All of these require clear, complete communication of essential truth.
#1: Our culture no longer has a Christian mindset.
All the philosophical babble about Post-Modernism etc. boils down to the reality that the background of Biblical, Christian culture, morality, and stories is no longer part of the mindset of our world. This is not a cause for "oh, isn't it awful" hang-wringing and working to vote in corporate morality. What is means is that a crucial part of knowing your audience, if you are truly a church plant reaching out to the unchurched and not simply robbing other churches with a more upbeat service, means your audience has no idea what you are talking about when you talk about Bible stories and church behavior that are most likely second-nature to you if you grew up in church.
#2: You have to explain everything to unchurched people.
This is where prayer, skill, creativity, and a lot of hard work in communication come in. You don't want to explain things in a wooden, talking down way, but as a natural part of everything you do. For example, it's vitally important to get information from visitors and one way to do that is through a Connection Card. To get the best response, you need to intentionally invite people to fill out the cards, in an upbeat, welcoming way. Here is a free ebook that explains this in more detail: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53563 you can also download a free Kindle version here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=yvon%20prehn%20Kindle
In addition to Connection Cards, pay special attention to your Church Bulletin and website. Be sure your church bulletin explains what is going on and then links to the website for more information. For more information on how to do these two things, this book explains and gives examples of how to make the most of the first piece of Christian literature many people see: your Church Bulletin. https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2012/06/ebook-are-printed-bulletins-still-needed-in-church/ The print bulletin can then give people links to your website where you can explain what you church is all about in more detail.
For example, suggest visitors go to the Visitor's Video section on the website. Have the lead pastor talk into the camera and welcome them. Have him or her talk about why they started the church and what is important to them. Have other videos where your staff explains what they do and their story of coming to know Jesus. Have a section that explains what communion is all about and why we sing songs (the idea of singing to worship is new to many who simply sing to feel better). A few notes on video production: anything will work to record them—these don't have to be fancy. PLEASE, don't try to be funny—this is not junior high school and amateur funny is awkward and uncomfortable to watch. You don't have to be super serious, just be yourself, but don't think about yourself and talk to the visitor as if you were face-to-face. Remember you represent Jesus.
#3: Keep in mind the limitations of social media.
Social media can update, give people a sense of what is going on in the church, and connect people who already know and care about each other. For a newcomer, it's like looking at a photo album without knowing who the people are. Social media is just that—social and not particularly informative about the Christian life.
If you aren't part of a group yet, you want information more than interaction. Make sure your website is a good a resource as the one for any product or company you checked out recently. As an exercise in what your church website should contain, Google "adventure tours." They don't simply have social media links—they are there, but they are only a tiny part of the website that tells you all about what the company does, who is in charge, what you can expect, what it costs, who to contact for questions. The Christian life is the greatest adventure of all eternity—and your website should reflect that.
#4: Remember everything you do communicates.
Scary, but true. If you don't explain what is going on as people come in and they all just jump up and start singing for 20 minutes (songs the visitor doesn't know and that are repeated again and again), if you pass around little crackers and juice with the lights dim and no explanation of why the snack is so stingy, if everybody seems to know everybody, if the bathrooms are messy and there is no signage of where kids go—don't be surprised if you don't get a lot of visitors returning.
Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see everything you do with the questioning, often fearful heart of a visitor. If you really want to know what they see and how it comes across hire an unchurched friend or neighbor to come to church and ask him or her afterwards what it all meant. Not if they liked it (people are too polite), but simply, what did your actions, your setting, your words, and your people communicate to them?
#5: Evaluate, don't estimate communication effectiveness.
As your church grows in numbers, communication will get more challenging because the days of "everybody knows" will be in the past. As you grow, honest evaluation of communications is vital because we so easily can deceive ourselves. When a lot is going on we can think we are successful in communication when our actual percentage response for what we are promoting may be in a steep decline. This most often happens in discipleship training. For example, in the early days of a church plant if 10 people show up for small group out of 30 on Sunday, it is exciting. When you are up to over 300 in Sunday morning attendance and only about 60 people are involved in small groups, yes, you doubled in numbers for small group attendance, but the percentage of involvement declined. What worked with a small group may need to be modified for a larger group.
#6: Keep growing and learning about communications.
This website has many resources that will help you. Take time, explore, read, and watch the free videos. You have been entrusted with the Words of Eternal Life. Continuously work hard to communicate them well.
