How to plan, measure, and evaluate church communication effectiveness fromyvonprehn Typical planning situation Leaders articulate a vision, announce a ministry Immediate jump to PR to get people involved Great PR created Result: not what expected True example What happened and how to fix it More than PR failure Leadership fallacy Technology fallacy People fallacy People fallacy How to fix it: Deal with the fallacies Suggest other methods Use forms for objectivity www.effectivechurchcom.com 1
What went wrong, assumption #1: Leadership fallacy Captain Picard Syndrome Assumption that if we tell people about something: We communicated its importance and implications They will respond Neither are true Answer to Leadership Fallacy of simply assuming vision will be carried out Leaders take responsibility for church communication results Keeping in mind YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DO THINGS, BUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND HOW THEY ARE DONE Procedures needed so that ministry vision results in concrete actions Forms make it practical What needs to happen before PR is shared www.effectivechurchcom.com 2
What went wrong, assumption #2: Technology fallacy The method used to convey the message is more powerful than the message If we change our delivery methods it will be more appealing to people People will respond to cutting-edge technology People respond better to images today If that doesn t work We try to find more exciting tools: Websites with flash intros! And streaming movies! And louder music! Not the answer because: the media IS NOT the message www.effectivechurchcom.com 3
The message is the message The media, the channel itself does not communicate We need multi- channels But don t confuse content with delivery Always changing Measure effectiveness Church Com. Effectiveness Evaluation www.effectivechurchcom.com 4
What went wrong, assumption #3: People fallacy They don t care about God the church self-sacrificesacrifice Influence of isms Postmodernism Relativism Liberalism Answer to People Fallacy: that they don t care People still have a God-shaped vacuum restless hearts The Holy Spirit is at work But you MUST clearly l tie in what you do and what you want them to do with eternal issues You have to give them clear CONTENT to respond to Content is of primary importance We have the words of eternal life John. 6.68 rhema: that which is spoken in speech or writing, (as distinct from logos) as in the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Eph. 6:17 NOT the emotions or the images the WORDS www.effectivechurchcom.com 5
What does this tell you? What if I added sound? Put the images in motion on a big screen? In an auditorium? Added singing? What does this tell you? John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...... 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God..... 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. It is the content of our content Jesus, fully God, fully man, died, buried, risen and coming again Believers commanded to share the gospel, make disciples=great Commission If we do not communicate our content, in clear WORDS (audio or written, online or in print) form, people will not take us seriously But if we do, they will respond His words: will not return void www.effectivechurchcom.com 6
You cannot communicate the Gospel with images alone Images, sound, music can generate huge emotion, excitement But.what is the content? We are in a post-christian culture Example of Paul useful Preached powerfully Reasoned for days Content has consequences It s always been so easy to get distracted Practical application: a church communication challenge Get people into small groups Let s assume we have the groups We ve trained the leaders Now we want people to sign up Caution People want to make their own decisions Give them options www.effectivechurchcom.com 7
PowerPoint announcement: Joining a small group will take you to new heights in your Christian faith! Joining a small group means you never have to walk through the challenges of life alone. Small group Connection Cards **Information table, with the same information repeated on the website and in a brochure about small group opportunities **The PowerPoint can tell people they are available, but people MUST have the facts to actually connect with the groups www.effectivechurchcom.com 8
Reality is: the devil is in the details Even the grandest project depends on the success of the smallest components. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. If there is not a clear and solid foundation of details, facts, connection points through careful planning and follow up the greatest media marketing in the world will fail. Nothing substitutes for the details. Application in print: importance of COMPLETE information Details are the essential link A list means almost NOTHING!!!! Just because you tell people p about something doesn t mean you communicated anything! CONNECTING DETAILS must be communicated in print and online mobile accessible Small groups are Important at First Church! Monday Smiths 7pm Johnsons 7:30pm Wilsons 7pm Andersons 7pm.and it continues Details are the lifeline that link people with life changing events! www.effectivechurchcom.com 9
Reporter form Practical application: Use Forms Clarify & collect content Plan strategy and procedures Evaluate This will be extraordinarily difficult to implement time pressure Detailed how to use them: www.effectivechurchcom.com 10
Useful for CONTENT Keep in mind the overall ministry of the church and fully fulfilling the Great Commission i Why are we doing this? What do we want to accomplish? Evaluation Final and Future Notes www.effectivechurchcom.com 11
What to do: USE FORMS to Clarify ministry message, put it into words Plan communications using clear content Build a foundation of connecting details Make it accessible thru multi-channels Repeat consistently EVALUATE Costs of this approach It is not a popular approach You will be mocked for style Details are hard to track down Communicating and updating is time-consuming and tedious You will get very tired But remember Gal 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. www.effectivechurchcom.com 12
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