Wednesday AM -- Secret #3

Secret #3 – Compelling Communication


The opening speaker of this plenary was Rev. Ben Guess of our National office in Cleveland, and he spoke of new opportunities available in communication offered by the United Church of Christ. Before getting to the list of communication opportunities he suggested that new media is creating online communities that care for each other. He also said that new media is the impetus for new reformations.

Rev. Guess then moved on to list the things that Cleveland is working on to promote communication. The list includes:

– UCC News, once in print on a monthly basis but now discontinued, is now on the UCC website.

– The UCC News is also available in a “printable design copy” for those who do not have internet access.

– Still Speaking Magazine

– Our Church is Changing Lives (also available on You Tube)

– KYeP (Keeping You Posted) is distributed every Tuesday.

– Bulletin Inserts are available for KyeP

– There is a Daily Devotional available from the UCC

– Feed Your Spirit

– Mobile Version and UCC Apps will soon be available

– Faith Practices.org is about thousands of ways for different generations to practice their faith.

– “Still Speaking Voices” are vignettes of UCC folks talking about their faith.

– UCC Facebook Page. Only the United Methodists have a larger Facebook page than the UCC!



The second speaker was Rev. Michael Piazza again, and he talked about church marketing, but suggested that if you don’t feel comfortable talking about church marketing call it evangelism! He also proposed that marketing is a way for us to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in compelling ways to the world and people around us. He offered seven main points.

1. Marketing begins at home. This is not a helpful message for older established congregations since they most likely have already invited their friends to church. Your best bet for new visitors is most likely from your newest members. The second point of this thought is that you building/campus is your biggest billboard. It will say a lot about your congregation.

2. Consistent Persistence is vital. The repetition principle applies regardless of medium. By the time your target audience is hearing your message, your church may very well be tired of proclaiming/hearing it.

3. Tell Stories. Facts go straight to the head. Stories go straight to the heart. Tell stories in sermons, in worship, everywhere there is a message to be shared.

4. One size fits some. Consider using different methods of communications, such as visual, auditory, experiential, kinesthetic. Jesus did this too.

5. Use all your tools. Really use your website. Recognize that youth and young adults seldom read the paper. Use communication tools of the present, not past. Use the people in your congregation who know about these things!

6. Think Multi-leveled. As a pastor, don’t do it yourself. Invest your time in training someone. Spending time may be more efficient in the short term, but in the long term it is better to invest your time empowering, equipping others. This is a big point of the institute!

7. It’s about the experience. Good book – Richard Reising, Church marketing 101. Sell the experience. I.e. tell others what it would be like to visit your church. A helpful website might be www.churchmarketingsucks.com (I haven’t seen this yet)



Additional thoughts from Piazza include:

Have a web committee, don’t ask one person to do it.

Give ministries away.

Use Facebook.



One of my questions is, “Understanding that successful pastors delegate, what is the ration of actual hands on caring/ministry work vs delegating?



Secret 3 Workshop – Web presence and Social Networking

Led by David McCollough and Cameron Trimble

The primary focus of this workshop was creating good websites and the speaker’s outline can be found in the members section of www.progressiverenewal.com. It seems like a pretty comprehensive outline for a website. Remember though when building a website, seek to communicate, not only with members, but with visitors and people who are new to the neighborhood.

I find a grand paradox here. Technology, which often isolates people, is being used to connect people.

Cameron Trimble followed Mr. McCollough and took us into areas of web site management and social networking that made my head swim and made we wonder how, if ever, we could use the things she offered us, at St. Matt’s. She did suggest we use Facebook but also said that Facebook is on the way out. Stay tuned in with the kids to see what replaces it. She also mentioned social networking sites like Tweet Deck, Four Square, and Ning.

It should also be noted that as we are listening to the speakers here at the Institute, a separate computer and projector are displaying the Twitter page set up to comment on this meeting. We can actually offer comments about additional resources, words of encouragement, etc, to the online discussion and see it displayed as we listen. We are incredibly high tech here. I wonder how helpful that would be in Pleasant Valley! If oyu are interested in Tweeting with us, the meeting can found on http://twitter.com/newchurchleader. Click the Follow button.