Eternities are changed through church communication work, but boy is it exhausting this time of year.  Perhaps it is time to recruit and train new communication volunteers to help ensure your church is ready for the onslaught of folks that make a rare appearance at church during the holiday season. Have you been creating a 'culture of invitation' by encouraging members to bring friends and loved ones to hear about the reason for the season? Have you asked members to "share" the church publicity posts on social media to widen your invitational net? Is the nursery in tip-top shape and are greeters ready to spot visitors and give them a personal welcome? Have you looked at your communication messages through the eyes of a guest unfamiliar with church jargon? Have you sent community bulletin boards and newspapers information on your holiday schedule of events -- with pictures? Do you have connection cards that provide an easy way to capture personal contact information...

Every church dreams of getting massive engagement on social media, but few know how to get there.  Regardless of what kind of business or organization you are, your goal on social is to get attention. Getting attention requires motivating your audience to "stop the scroll" and look at your content. Information "consumers" scroll mindlessly through endless information until something grabs them long enough to read it, watch it or click on it. What is your church posting that will do just that? The new trend in social media content breaks the previous rules of branding. The content that gets attention is unique. Unusual. Unpredictable. Another new strategy for social relates to the goal of taking the church to the audience rather than expecting them to come to the church. This is where most churches struggle. Most of the church content on social is advertising in-person events and activities. What if churches focused on helping people love God, love others and become ...

It only takes a few seconds for a visitor to form an opinion of a church website, so churches need to have all of the moving parts working together to engage their audiences. Here is a checklist to use when you audit your homepage from a guest's perspective: Headline: Most folks will read headlines and very little text, so make the prominent headline compelling. Focus on the visitor rather than the member. One example might be, " A safe place to explore your faith." Main Content: Does your text answer needs and prompt next steps? Are you providing service times, contact information, links to sermons, podcasts, social media as well as insight on beliefs, key staff and upcoming events? Social links:  Website usability studies demonstrate web visitors are greatly interested in social media links, so use this insight to cross promote your other communication forums---provided they are up to date and attractive! Contact info: To make it easy on the web guest, place ...

Disney is known for continually improving the guest experience. What if the local church had that reputation? One of the latest innovations from this experiential genius is the addition of powerful and more intimate settings for guests to interact with movie characters. Interacting directly with the story is hard to beat. Ponder how you can break your ministry into smaller communities to boost intimacy and strengthen relationships. How is your church reaching out to attract new first time guests? Have you considered a different demographic to draw in?  One church has offered a sermon series titled, ISIS, ISLAM and Jesus. Maybe you want to target retired folks in a new way. It's worth a thought or two to try something new. The Disney pros are always modifying their rides, adding a competitive aspect or new backgrounds perhaps. What is your church doing to increase the anticipation of its members? What fresh experiences can you provide to keep people engaged?  Another streng...

You can find examples in the Bible of fathers who discipline, fathers who comfort and mentor. This year, consider choosing several fathers of different ages in your congregation to share what they have learned about being a dad and what that has taught them about their heavenly father. Consider doing a smart phone video of interviews with youngsters in the nursery and children's area asking them what father's do all day. Consider creating a father's day devotion plan for families, and do "super hero" skit in church and special crafts in the kids areas. Perhaps you can host a contest where family members can nominate dads in various categories such as "Most Romantic Dad" or "Above & Beyond Dad" who goes the extra mile with a special needs child or neighbor in need. Have a hospitality room just for the menfolk with guy-style snacks and information about men's retreats, bible studies or events. Have a prominent sports figure drop by and ...

Mother's Day is the third highest attendance Sunday for churches because husbands and children often attend as a special blessing for their moms. Therefore, it is a fantastic day for outreach if you make the most of it. Tips: Encourage, recognize, pray for and celebrate moms Think about having a brunch for moms that day-- food always makes folks happy. Invite moms to attend weekday ministry events such as ladies' Bible studies, Mothers of Preschooler (MOPS) meetings, sewing groups or other places to plug in. (Consider a recipe card with a recipe on the front and ministry details on the backside.) Provide a way that members can invite others. Encourage them to look for guests and welcome them on Mother's Day. Give guests a takeaway printed on "seeded" paper that can be planted later. Perhaps list the website and social media addresses. Consider a ministry fair on Mom's Day that would showcase men's and youth ministries that would encourage gue...

How to Tell Powerful Stories Telling a powerful story is never an accident. A story is one of the most effective tools we have to communicate a faith message that resonates with the heart. Jesus modeled the power of a parable throughout the Bible. A story with powerful impact always features: 1) a person, 2) a problem, and 3) a before and after scenario. Telling that story requires identifying it, capturing and editing it to include the right balance of detail to touch the emotions. The impact is almost always found in the details, but mismanaging those details (too many, too few for example) can kill the impact. It is important to research ahead and have an angle before you start. Perhaps your story will spotlight the impact a ministry had had on one of your members or one of your ministry partner beneficiaries. Consider specific questions before you interview them, and build them up by smiling and encouraging them to share their experience honestly for the benefit of oth...