Church communication is a very important aspect of running a church.
No matter how potent your current communication strategy is, it will always need improvement. Such improvements could be very little or huge depending on where you are currently.
In this post, we will discuss a few strategies that will help you improve your church communication. These strategies are foundational and applicable to all churches regardless of location and size. Without further ado, let’s get to the strategies.
Improving Church Communication
To attain effective communication, you must have a consistent process that begins with decision-making. It also requires accuracy and consistency in sending out messages. One of the characteristics of a healthy church is the ability to communicate properly.
In this section, we will show you how to improve your church communication through proven strategies and tactics. Check them out below.
Effective communication
Effective communication is not info-dumping or oversharing. The goal of effective communication is to ensure that your audience understands your message in clear terms. As such, the key is to prioritize message delivery. Effective communication helps to eliminate doubt and intimidation in the mind of the recipient. Here are a few over-communication tips:
- Keep it simple.
- Mix up communication modes.
- Make the recipient relaxed.
Ask for feedback from congregants
One way to improve your church communication is to ask for feedback from your congregants. The good thing about this is that it also favors congregation management since you know what your congregants want from you.
There are several ways to collect or gather feedback from your congregants. One such method is to make use of church management software like ChurchPad. Another method is to make use of a church notification system.
Doing this helps you to find out the likes and dislikes of your congregants. To make it more effective, you can run surveys to find out the mode of communication that you parishioners prefer. This works when you have a diverse congregation that is made up of different age groups.
The whole idea behind communication is to create engagements. In some cases, you need to create a wheel that will help you achieve this. Most times, this may not be necessary as your congregants already have their preferences. Simply ask them for what works for them and make the switch where necessary.
Be topical and informed
Don’t be too rigid that you don’t have an idea of what is trendy around you. Our world has become so connected that it is almost impossible to keep politics, personal life, and religion apart. Because of this, church leaders cannot afford to be oblivious to trending topics.
You must gather as much information as possible. From the lingo trends to what is happening in politics and other sectors of society, you must be informed. One of the easiest ways to communicate is to begin conversations on topical matters. Make use of current events to buttress your points.
Do you know that a large number of congregants hope to hear a sermon that will hit them personally? Such personal messages have a foundation on what is happening to them currently. Asides from this, a story-telling communication method is always very potent. This is because human beings have shorter concentration spans these days. Create stories around current happenings to buttress your church communication.
Go digital
When you need answers to a question today, the first place most people will check is “Google.” This is because this platform is regarded as the information or knowledge base of the world. Even Bible-related questions are answered on Google. Do you now see why you should also go digital?
Going digital means that you should create a way to put your messages beyond your physical space. Don’t forget that we are in a world where social distancing is the new norm. This means that many people will prefer to Livestream sermons rather than attend physical services.
Take advantage of digital platforms to publicize your messages and communicate to your congregants. Here are some ways to achieve this:
- Embed a Livestream link of your services on your church website.
- Designate some of your church volunteers to run live-tweet sessions and respond to messages online.
- Create a website and blog where your congregants can read your blogs.
- Record podcasts and publicize the links.
- Make use of a ChMS.
Be Accommodative
Church leaders must understand the diversities among their congregation and use such knowledge to their advantage.
It is not enough to set up a certain communication channel, you must understand the diversities in your congregation. The power of your church is creating a community out of the diverse kinds of people in attendance.
Claiming that all kinds of people are welcome to your church doesn’t cut it. Talk is cheap. You must understand the different kinds of people and create communication channels to suit each sect. Doing this requires a lot of hard work, however, when you achieve it, the results are simply amazing.
As mentioned above, one way to figure out the different needs of your congregants is by running surveys. You can run the survey via your online platform or even your church management software. Gather these results and use them as a template to design your different communication channels.
Conclusion
The importance of church communication cannot be overemphasized. We have described 5 strategies to help you improve yours. Also, we suggest that you check out the features on ChurchPad to improve your church communication.
