Most, if not all, churches have a plan for their worship services. Hopefully your church has a plan for discipleship. And many churches have a long-range plan.
But what about how you communicate to members and guests? Do you have a plan for that? Here are four reasons you should have a communications plan in your church.
1. Everyone knows their role and responsibility. Unless one person is handling all of the communications of a church, everyone on the team needs to know who is responsible for each channel. With Facebook, Twitter, email newsletters, Instagram, bulletins, phone calls, and more available to churches, it's easy to see how communication could get confusing. A plan where everyone knows what they need to distribute and when it needs to go out helps align all of your communication channels.
2. Fewer items fall through the cracks. Even when one person is in charge of all church communications, things get missed when there is no plan. Add in three or four other people, and that creates even more opportunities for things to fall through the cracks. Having a plan—and possibly a weekly checklist—allows you to be consistent with what, when, and where information goes out.
3. Your communication is more strategic. If you lack a communications plan, you cannot be strategic with how you communicate. When you lack strategy, members and guests are less informed and less engaged. And with attendance waning in many churches, we should be doing everything possible to increase engagement from members.
4. Members and guests benefit from consistency. Related to the previous point, having a communications plan that is consistent in distributing information about your church allows members and guests to become more engaged with your church. Engaged and informed members are more likely to attend and, as a result, grow in their faith. As for guests, moving them to membership is much more likely when their questions are routinely being answered before they have to ask them.
Next month, I'll discuss the components of a strategic church communications plan. But for now, what other benefits do you see of having a strategic plan for your church communications?
Jonathan Howe serves as director of strategic initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week, and the managing editor of LifeWayPastors.com. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter at @Jonathan_Howe.
For the original article, visit thomrainer.com.
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