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If you’re looking to grow as a church communicator, here are five must-read books. Reading is a great way to grow professionally. But it’s also an incredible way to help you rethink the effectiveness of your church’s communication strategy. Do you have some you’d add to the list? Join our discussion in the Church Juice Insiders Facebook group.
1. Know What You’re For by Jeff Henderson
My favorite quote: “Information is important. But inspiration is always better.”
Working with companies like Chick-fil-A and the Atlanta Braves, then serving as a pastor for 15 years at one of the country's largest and most influential churches, North Point, Jeff Henderson knows what success looks like for healthy organizations and healthy lives. With fascinating stories from a host of entrepreneurs and Jeff's remarkable career, Know What You're FOR equips you with a simple strategy and the tools for extraordinary growth. You'll discover how to:
Work FOR your current and future customers with a new, effective method
Be FOR your team and help your people reach full potential
Create a ripple impact by being FOR your community
Live and work your best by caring FOR yourself
In a hypercritical, cynical world, one that is often known for what it's against, let's be a group of people known for who and what we're FOR. It's a powerful strategy for business. But more importantly, it is a revolutionary way to live.
2. Analog Church by Jay Kim
My favorite quote: “The church was never meant to be a derivative of the cultural moment but, rather, a disruption of it.”
What does it mean to be an analog church in a digital age? In recent decades the digital world has taken over our society at nearly every level, and the church has increasingly followed suit―often in ways we're not fully aware of. But as even the culture at large begins to reckon with the limits of a digital world, it's time for the church to take stock. Are online churches, video venues, and brighter lights truly the future? What about the digital age's effect on discipleship, community, and the Bible? As a pastor in Silicon Valley, Jay Kim has experienced the digital church in all its splendor. In Analog Church, he grapples with the ramifications of a digital church, from our worship and experience of Christian community to the way we engage Scripture and sacrament. Could it be that in our efforts to stay relevant in our digital age, we've begun to give away the very thing that our age most desperately needs: transcendence? Could it be that the best way to reach new generations is in fact found in a more timeless path? Could it be that at its heart, the church has really been analog all along?
3. Rethink Communication by Phil Bowdle
My favorite quote: “Fairness should not be a value in church communication.”
In Rethink Communication, Phil Bowdle walks through the new reality for what attendance, engagement, and attention look like for the church. Then he offers a practical communication playbook you can use to communicate anything in your church—and actually connect. These practical tips and proven strategies will work regardless of size, staff, or budget.
Communication has been overlooked for far too long in the church. It’s time for that to change.
It’s time to rethink communication for the church.
4. Less Chaos. Less Noise. by Kem Meyer
My favorite quote: “If [announcements are] not affecting the masses, it’s just going to land like dead weight. Don’t punish the crowd to keep a few people happy (even if they are the most vocal).”
Do you ever wonder why people aren't getting your message? You email, tweet, hang signs, create video announcements, send newsletters, and boost your posts ... and the response isn't what you want. Is anyone even listening? What if you could cut through the chaos and the noise and find the direct route to your audience? It's easier than you think. Less Chaos. Less Noise. delivers proven "now" strategies for church communications—practical solutions and best-practice principles that build trust instead of walls.
Avoid the frustration of multi-audience messaging by identifying key channels for each group and learning the language that matters to them. Bust through the limits of a small budget with free strategies that are essential for effective communications.
5. From Social Media to Social Ministry by Nona Jones
My favorite quote: “It doesn't matter how many followers you have if those followers aren't following Jesus through you.”
Nona Jones, a globally acclaimed thought leader on leveraging technology for ministry, had been leading a movement and sounding the alarm for several years to make digital discipleship a central part of every church’s ministry approach. In From Social Media to Social Ministry, she outlines her digital discipleship principles and provides practical instruction for how to do it no matter how big or small a local church may be. There are plenty of books to help churches build a social media strategy, but this is the first book of its kind that goes beyond digital marketing to digital ministry.
