Communications

As we continue our look at how to welcome guests, I can’t help but think about the church I went to while living in Little Rock, Arkansas, the belt buckle of the Bible belt.

I could eat chips and salsa all day long if my metabolism could keep up. So when The Church at Rock Creek offered a jar of the world’s best salsa and a bag of chips to first time visitors, I had to partake.

I know there is a little bit of gimmick to this approach, but I think it actually shows a very relaxed way of...

Every time I go to visit my parents in Colorado, I always end up visiting the church where I grew up during my teen years. There are always sort of odd feelings going back to the place where you spend time as an awkward teenager trying to act cool during youth group. But now in my elder years, there is something that makes me nearly as uncomfortable.

Towards the beginning of the very traditional service, the pastor asks guests to stand up so they can be recognized. Then an usher runs around and...

Craig Groeschel wrote a nice series of articles on the LifeChurch.tv Swerve blog talking about dealing with criticism. As a church communicator you are no doubt an easy target for critics. It makes sense in some ways. The stuff you do is very visible to people. In other ways, it doesn’t make sense. A Director of Communications is often not openly welcomed by staff in the beginning because it’s a sign of change. So when the criticism comes, Groeschel give these tips for handling it.

• Learn what...

This chart showing the growth in the number of kids getting cell phones has left many questions in my head. Beyond the whole "why does an 8-year-old need a cell phone" thing, I think there are some practical take aways for us as church communicators.

First off, this just makes it more and more clear of how big of a role cell phones, especially the smart ones with web access, will play in communications. People now are already using their phones for more and more things. (As an iPhone owner I...

For many years, the NFL was such a stickler on its copyright rules that it became illegal for churches to show the Super Bowl on their big screens. The big game is a opportunity not only for folks in the church to come together, but also a chance to do outreach in a fairly low pressure kind of way. Recently, after some pressure from lawmakers, the NFL changed its policies so churches can start showing the game again.

The Church Law Group put together a video outlining some of the rules you’ll...

This was a question posed to me by Brian the Former Superstar Intern who is discussing this topic in one of his college classes. (The former in his title has nothing to do with his performance. He’s still a superstar. He’s just not in our office this semester.) Anyway...here’s the short response I sent him.

That’s an interesting question. My gut reaction is to say every church should have a website. If they can’t commit to keeping one up to date, then they should at least have a well designed...

I’ve been really intrigued by the a couple of posts from Tim Stevens on his blog Leading Smart. He’s been going through various aspects of the church and saying how things have changed in the last decade. For example he wrote this about church buildings:

2000: Church buildings were mostly viewed as status symbols. Respect for a pastor was high if he or she had a new building. An emphasis on style and design was beginning to creep back into the church construction industry. Everyone came to one...

I recently wrote about my experience with the cable company Comcast. Basically problems arose for a couple of years all because they had my address wrong. And after multiple phone calls, no one was ever authorized to make a change over something as simple as a street number.

We used that negative experience to ask if our churches have policies or procedures in place that prevent us from providing the best service we can to visitors and members.

Since that post, Comcast has done some positive...

I’ve been thinking a lot about customer service lately. Maybe it’s because the cable and internet went out at my house giving me more free time. Or it could be the fact that every time I have an interaction with Comcast it’s never a pleasant experience.

For the past two years there have been multiple times the cable behemith and I have been at odds over my address. Since day one, they’ve had my house numbers backwards. I live at 105 and their computers show I’m at 501. It seems like the...

I recently read in the USA Today that Christian companies who take well known logos and Christianize them generate $4.6 billion every year. That’s right. Billions of dollars for taking someone else’s popular design and copying it.

A quick Google search will take you to stores like this selling shirts that take the Subway sandwich logo and turn it into "His Way." Or another one turns the American Idol logo into "Amazing Grace."

Beyond all of this merchandise, churches often take popular movies...