When Jesus left earth for heaven, one of the last things He said to the disciples was, “Go into all the earth and preach…”. This is about proclamation and a message. I guess it’s safe to say that the Church should be master communicators. We’ve had a head start because of that assignment. Take Paul the apostle, as an example. When he wasn’t communicating from the pulpit, he did so with the pen. His penmanship would shape, in one form or another, our understanding of how we should be as churches.
It was not only about his penmanship though. Did he ever think people would spend their lives studying and teaching his letters? If he lived in our time he would definitely be the blogging rockstar. He’d have a blue tick next to his name on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you name it. He’s a great example of how to harness tech for communication. One of the reasons he was effective in writing was the why.
Communication is at the heart of enagement both within the church and beyond its walls.
Jesus told the disciples to go and preach The Message so that disciples would be made. Paul’s intentions for writing letters becomes clear as you read them. Looking at Jesus and Paul’s examples, I don’t seem to find wasted words. They must have given careful thought to what they wanted to say. They had to be clear on why they were saying what they were saying.
Reasons Developing A Church Communication Strategy Has To Start With Why
Stewardship
The church and its leaders need to be faithful stewards of resources entrusted to their care. Why tells us the extent we devote our attention, time and other resources. Running a (paid) Facebook campaign or ads without a clear goal be an example of misuse.
Answers to, ‘why?’, give purpose to everything. They tell us the extent we devote attention, time and resources.
Marching Orders
Your why tells you, who and what you need. Nothing frustrates congregants like a request for help that’s as clear as mud. Knowing why you’re communicating helps clarify what, who and how you will communicate.
Unified And Consistent Message
Without a clear why, your church and its messaging can seem schizophrenic. The why is also a matter of consistency. Consistency establishes what people can expect. This predictability helps create a character your community can identify you by.
This is important if you want people to know you have a kind or warm environment to explore faith.
The Ultimate Goal
If you don’t know why you’re doing something you’ll never know if you’ve achieved it. Goals or milestones are born out of the bigger why.
What To Create
How will you know what to create if you don’t know why you’re creating it?
To Help You Get Started; We Communicate Because…
- We want people to come to faith.
- We want to see people grow in their faith.
- We’d like to see those in our church know what is going on in the life of the church.
- We’d like the community we’re in to get a glimpse of what it means to be a part of our congregation.
- We’d like to encourage other local churches around the world?
All these statements and many others your church can develop, set the framework. You can never say everything to everyone.
To Do
Have a conversation with your leaders and team. The purpose of the conversation is simple: “Why do we communicate?” Try to make your answers as practical as possible.
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