Three casts of a Total Church Communications Strategy

Brandon Cox published a blog post on Resonate or Die titled Three Layers of a Total Church Communications Strategy. The three layers he describes are
  1. Communication Among the Leadership
  2. Communication Between the Pulpit and the Pew
  3. Communication From the Church to the Community
If you haven’t read the post, I encourage you to.  I think you’ll agree that for a church to function well, it has to communicate well on all three “layers.” But I believe there is more to it than that.
In addition to these three layers or casts, there are also three dimensions to each of these layers. For a church to really live out its calling, it must communicate in all three dimensions.

1) Speaking
Most churches live in this first dimension of church communication, speaking. The vast majority of time, energy, and resources and put into communicating the vision, mission, and values from the top down.
  • Communication among the leadership consists of the senior pastor communicating his vision to the church leaders in staff meetings, emails, etc.
  • Communications between the pulpit and the pew consists of sermons, the Sunday program, emails and newsletters from the staff to the congregation.
  • Communication from the church to the community consists of marketing, signage, evangelism and getting the church involved in the community.
These are all critically important facets of communication, but notice how in this first dimension all the information flows in one direction, from leader to followers.

2) Listening
The second dimension of church communications is listening. It’s providing ways for information to flow from the bottom up.
  • Communication among the leadership consists of the senior pastor getting ideas and input from other leaders.
  • Communication between the pulpit and the pew consists of surveys, communication cards that invite comments & feedback on services and ministries, putting email addresses in the program and on the website so people can get in touch with church leaders.
  • Communication between the church and the community consists of church leaders going to people in the community and asking, “How can we help?” “Where are your greatest needs?” “What’s hindering your relationship with God?”
If you really want to know how to help people, it starts with listening.

3) Facilitating
The third dimension of a total church communications strategy is facilitating communication among other people.
  • Communication among the leadership consists of leaders from different departments, discussing ideas and planning cross-ministry events without the direct oversight of the senior pastor.
  • Communication between the pulpit and the pew might be conversations had between church members on the church’s blog, forums, or Facebook page. It might be a member of the congregation organizing meals for a family that has a new baby, someone in the hospital, or experienced loss.
  • Communications between the church and the community consists of equipping people in the church to talk about their faith with friends, start a bible study at work, or serve outside the church in a teen pregnancy center.
This can be really scary for a lot of church leaders because when you facilitate, you lose control. What if some staff begin to focus more on their own side projects rather than the core church vision? What if some church members post some bad theology to the blog? What if a church member gets involved in the community and does something to embarrass the church?  These are all real possibilities.
But God doesn’t speak solely to and through senior pastors. And churches are not called to put forth perfect ministries staffed with obedient minions walking in lock-step to the vision of the senior pastor.
God speaks to and through every follower of Christ. And for a church to be attentive to what the Holy Spirit is doing in its midst, its communication must be three dimensional – speaking, listening, and facilitating.
What could your church do to become stronger in all three dimensions of church communication?
Thanks for Paul Steinbrueck is co-founder and CEO of OurChurch dot com and the writter of this article.

10 Reasons Every Author Should Blog

A very interesting article about blogging. Thanks a lot to our friend Paul Steinbrueck from OurChurch (dot) Com.  "Yesterday on my personal blog, I reviewed Ed Cyzewski’s new book, A Path to Publishing.  In the book Ed writes,
 “I strongly suggest that you consider developing a regularly updated blog as a first priority.”

Blogging provides a number of essential benefits to becoming a successful author.  Here are 10.
1) A blog provides a place for authors to practice writing.
2) A blog provides a place for authors to flesh out ideas, getting feedback from readers about them.
3) A blog provides a place to connect with readers and potential buyers of their books.
4) A blog provides authors a place to connect with other bloggers and authors who could help promote their book.
5) A blog provides authors a place to post reviews of other books and participate in blog tours as a way of building relationships with other blogs and learning about blog tours.
6) A blog builds an author’s credibility and platform, which is one of the things publishers consider when deciding whether to offer a contract for a book.
7) Blog posts are indexed by search engines & will bring new visitors to an author’s site to buy their books.
8 ) Blog posts may be shared through social media by your readers, which will bring new visitors to an author’s site as a result.
9) Blog posts give an author good content to share on Facebook and Twitter, helping them build their Facebook and Twitter followers as well.
10) Authors attempting to make writing their career can sell ad space on their blog to generate revenue to supplement that generated from book sales.
How important do you think blogging is for authors?  Which of the benefits of blogging listed above, are most important to you?  What other benefits does blogging offer authors?

Paul Steinbrueck is co-founder and CEO of OurChurch.Com, elder of CypressMeadows.org, husband, father of 3, blogger. You can follow him on Twitter at @PaulSteinbrueck

Time to stop

"La oración debería ser la llave del día y el cerrojo de la noche". Thomas Fuller (1610-1661)


Win a Free iPod Touch from Shelby Systems

Shelby Systems is a church software company that was started in 1976 on the foundation of Christian values and the desire to help churches and non-profits thrive. By providing their customers with useful and innovative software to better manage and organize their ministries, Shelby has become a leader in the church software world.
To show how much they appreciate you, Shelby Systems is giving away a free iPod Touch to one awesome and lucky person who:
1) Shares this post on Facebook/Twitter or clicks the “Like” button below.
And…
2) Posts a comment right here telling us who your favorite singer was as a child and who your favorite singer is now. Be sure to include the Facebook/Twitter account that you posted it to.
We’ll randomly select one winner on February 22nd at 5 PM Eastern.
Until then you can share/tweet & comment once each day, giving you up to 8 chances to win!
Go!
By Paul Steinbrueck from http://blog.ourchurch.com

Bicycle Injuries Increase Boy's Faith


 

Twice, Anwar fell from his bike and sustained injuries, which the Lord healed him of instantly.

Anwar Chopra was a young believer at a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor's church. One Sunday after church, he took off on his bike and headed to the market to get some things he needed. Always cautious when riding his bike, the 17 year old peddled slowly, but his brakes suddenly failed.

Before he could take control of the situation, he rammed into a wall and fell, seriously injuring his leg and hand. He tried to walk but was unable to get up.

He recalled the sermon his pastor preached just that morning on Acts 3:1-8 about the lame man who sat at the gate called Beautiful, begging for money and was healed by the apostles Peter and John.   Knowing he, too, could witness a miracle, he gathered his faith and prayed for healing from his injuries. Immediately, he felt his body strengthen. He stood up and exclaimed, "Praise God! My living God answered my prayer!" 
He rushed home and told everyone how God rescued him from what could have been a dangerous situation. A few days later, Anwar encountered a similar incident. He was mounting his bike, preparing to run an errand, when he became unbalanced and fell to the ground. His neighbors witnessed his fall and began mocking him.

He hurt the same leg from the previous accident, but this time it was worse. With the same faith and with the Bible verse memorized, the young believer called upon the Lord again.

"The Lord is my refuge," he said. "Lord, please heal me."

Once again, the Lord heard his plea and answered. It proved to his neighbors, who watched as he got back up and began riding, that Jesus is the living God who protects His children.
Since then, Anwar continues to testify of God's goodness and healing power.

Recovering from their injuries

Another UPDATE of that bible students attack in Asia: 09/25/2010

The Lord has indeed stirred hearts in this case.

The police arrested six people in connection with the incident. The suspects all live in a neighboring village. When the people of this village heard that their fellow residents were being indicted for this crime, the entire village felt guilty for their deeds.

While the students were recovering from their injuries, Ijaz Sachin, the village sarpanch (leader) personally visited the Bible college campus and asked for forgiveness for the attacks. He surveyed the damage to the campus itself and said he was "extremely sorry that these innocent students were beaten up."

He also talked to the Bible college director and promised that he would personally see to it that no such incident would take place in the future.  The injured students have all recovered from their wounds. They reiterated that the attacks were a test of their faith and that they counted it a privilege to suffer for God.

The leaders at this Bible college ask for prayer that the repentant villagers would recognize their need for a Savior.

Attack on Bible college campus

Imaran received blows to his knee"God has some unique plans for my life," he said. "It's a privilege to suffer for our Almighty God, so that in the coming days I will testify that He saved my life from the valley of death."

Imaran Kadam, whose right knee was badly damaged, is also on the mend. 
He is slowly able to walk.
Please continue to lift these students up in your prayers; they're still in need of healing and encouragement. First update: from 06/18/2010
If you wanto to know what is happen with christian misionaries in Asia, go to: http://www.gfa.org 

http://www.gfa.org/getinvolved/

Students Injured, Bible College Vandalized

 
This student's left leg was broken by the people who bombarded his Bible college campus Sunday.


Seven students were seriously injured when a mob of people stormed onto their Bible college campus Sunday evening in Mumbai (Bombay), India. The students were preparing their evening meal when the attackers, armed with wooden sticks and iron rods, came onto the campus and began beating them. The students tried to talk to their attackers and ask what their complaint was, but they got no answer.
The reason for the assaults is unknown.
The seven students are recovering in the hospital. Two of them sustained broken bones. Another lost three teeth, and the rest have various injuries from the beatings.
The campus itself also sustained damage. A number of windows were broken. Some furniture and teaching materials were also destroyed.  It is summer vacation time for this campus, which is why there were only 20 students onsite.  The police are investigating the attack.

The campus leadership shared the following prayer requests:
  • Pray for those who were injured, that they would heal quickly.
  • For the police as they are visiting the campus and taking information from the students.
  • Ask Jesus to reveal His glory to those who carried out the violence.
Thanks to Gospel for Asia for the article. More information, here: http://www.gfa.org/news/articles/students-injured-bible-college-vandalized/