We talk a lot, here at Text In Church, about communicating well with your first-time guests. We also love how we can enhance member communication with our services. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t ever focus on the importance of clear and consistent Church leaders communication.
Effective guest and member communication is a huge mountain to climb, and not one you want to attempt alone. We hope and pray that every church leader has a core group of leaders alongside him/her to help champion the mission of the church. Once you do, it is of critical importance that you all have a communication strategy in place. It seems like a no-brainer, right? It’s like relationship advice 101: communication is key!
We know.
But look, we have seen too many churches falling apart and unable to handle their growth because their leaders are running 27 different directions. Don’t let that happen to you! Have a plan in place that lays a firm foundation for the communication and outreach you will extend to members and guests.
Does that seem like yet another daunting task? Don’t worry, we’ve laid out some must-do strategies for you…
Maybe your church leadership is made up of staff. More often than not, though, the church leaders are long-time members who have been elected to serve the church. Aka volunteers. These are people who are giving freely of their time and gifts to serve the church. That’s a beautiful thing! So make sure you’re respecting their time by utilizing some tools that will keep you organized. Let me give you an example…
• You have a big budget meeting tomorrow. You usually bring printed copies of the budget for reference, but you want people to see if beforehand so you email it the evening before. No one is expecting the email, so no one checks email before the meeting. So, you’re at a budget meeting with no budgets and a disgruntled group of leaders.
This is not a huge deal in and of itself. These oversights can, and will, happen. But, if you had a system in place for reminding leaders about meetings, including any necessary documents, etc. you avoid the tension altogether.
Although we typically like the “all communication is good as long as it’s happening” approach, we recommend having a designated way for Church leaders communication. How will they get notified if an emergency meeting needs to take place? How will they learn of needs that come up in the church? How do they share prayer requests with one another? It’s important to all be on the same page as to how you will be communicating so you don’t have important information that is missed.
The last piece of being organized in your communication is being cognizant of the leaders’ time. If they know when you will be sending out the meeting notes they won’t feel compelled to check their email before bed or keep their phone on them at all times. Volunteers are notorious for overworking because they are in their role purely out of a love and passion for it. So care for their hearts by have an organized communication method that allows them to “shut down” at times.
Some of our favorites organization systems:
Text In Church : for group messaging, automated messaging (reminders), etc.
A shared calendar works well for meetings and appointments, can include docs, etc. Google calendar is a great example.
Others to add in: check out this list of the best church management software solutions in 2020!
Unfortunately, it is not enough to just be communicating. Your messages need to be abundantly clear and highly relevant. We are competing with more noise than ever. Even your church leaders, who are incredibly committed to their role, have hundreds of other things fighting for their time and attention.
It’s similar to what we talk about in our Church welcome speech blog. Nobody, including you, has hours of spare time to spend
To be effective there are several things we must keep in mind:
Consistency – We must remain consistent in the way and method that we communicate. Can you imagine if a General was constantly trying new ways of communication? “Send a message by drums, no do it by trumpet, never mind I like the personal touch, have someone deliver the attack message in person…” How frustrating would that be for your other command leaders? In the same way, we must be consistent in how we communicate with our leadership teams.
Regularity – If there is a disruption in communication or a lull in the communication process, it can cause some concern in and among your leadership team. We must regularly communicate with our church leadership teams. Even if there are no updates, it is beneficial to continue a routine of communication. Just an occasional check in to see how they are doing and maintain a grasp on their overall feelings about what is going on will go a long way in keeping morale up and communication lines open.
Text In Church was created to help you communicate easily and effectively. Now, you can accomplish your communication goals without having a computer genius to operate it or needing 60 hours a week to maintain it. Effective communication is a must-have in our society and must be mastered in order to win the battle!
Communicating immediately can be the difference between a quick and productive meeting to inform everyone of a change and an intense congregation-wide meeting. Lack of information typically leads to bad assumptions. I’m sure you have all had a scenario where there was an incident or a sudden change, and you needed to quickly get the word out to your entire leadership team. Immediate communication can help alleviate the stress and confusion that comes with changes.
With technology that is ever-changing, it can be confusing to try and send out messages to different groups quickly. We believe it is so critical to invest in resources to help alleviate this burden. Text In Church’s software can send out messages quickly, in a variety of manners, so that you can be sure that your communications are being sent out in a time frame appropriate to your needs.
Related Articles:
Likeability In Church Leadership
Mental Health For Church Leaders
Don’t go into battle unprepared! Your leadership team is on the front lines with you, and Text In Church has tools ready. Having the ability to implement these three tips into your ministry can help boost the effectiveness among your teams from so-so to so-great! Communicating with your leadership team is simple, but vital to the success of your ministry, so make sure you do it well.
