How Does a Hospitable Culture Apply to Our Communication Strategies?
We’re in an ongoing series called Hospitable Culture. The big question is this: What if hospitality isn’t something we do, it’s simply who we are? In other words, what if we could bump hospitality beyond the borders of an official team, and work it into every crevice of the church?
We’re nearing the end of our “Hospitable Culture” series – at least the regular monthly version of the series – and we’ve shifted from what are primarily Sunday morning features of our hospitality to practices that benefit us – and our guests – seven days a week.
Ask almost any church (and especially any church staff) what their primary frustration is about their church culture, and communication will be near the top of the list. “I never heard anything about that” or “I didn’t know that in enough time” or “I don’t ever hear from my leader” are all common complaints when it comes to our comms strategies. And while I don’t think we’re close to figuring it out, I think our team has made great strides in the last few years.
I think a good “communication hospitality strategy” involves three primary areas: the stage, the digital realm, and the individual:
Communication from the stage
- Keep it cohesive. Our weekend worship services should have one primary purpose: to point the congregation’s attention and adoration towards God. And every service should have one primary message. With the sermon as the center point, every song, transition, prayer, and even every announcement should support the main message of the sermon. [Related post: Preach Your Announcements]
- Keep it inclusive. Not everyone in the room knows the history of what you’re talking about. Not everyone was here for the first two messages in your multi-part series. Break down complex theological terms, tell what a small group is, and don’t use your cute-but-confusing acronym for a ministry. [Related post: Explain Yourself]
- Keep it simple. You don’t need – and your people won’t absorb! – eight announcements. Two or three is the maximum you can get away with. Pay attention to the “Keep it cohesive” point above, and try to tie everything back to the message. Use clear and scripted language so your people know exactly what you’re saying and what they should be doing. [Related post: Lousy Announcements Lead to Lousy Events]
- Keep your guests in mind. I wrote two full posts about this previously, so I’ll just point you there: Six Times to Talk to Your Guests; When You Shouldn’t Talk to Your Guests
Communication from the digital realm
- Make your rhythms predictable. I know that every Monday afternoon I’m going to receive an email that goes out to the entire congregation. Thursdays are for an email from my Campus Pastor. On Sunday noon comes a reminder from our campus Students team. The point: I know when to expect what, when. Scheduling options are your friend, and they’re appreciated by those you’re reaching out to. Use ’em.
- Make your channels (somewhat) optional. There are roughly eleventy-billion mailing lists at our church, and I’m subscribed to a precious few of them (the ones you saw above, plus maybe 1-2 more). I don’t need to know what’s going on in middle school ministry, because I (pause for a single tear) don’t have one anymore. I’m not (yet) on the senior adult mailing list. The point: make opt-ins and opt-outs clear, so your people can clear the clutter.
- Make your language believable. For those who are using automated messaging (like Clearstream, Text in Church, etc.), don’t insult your people by pretending that there’s a real person on the other end of that line. One of my grumpy old man pet peeves comes out full force any time I have to renew a drivers license, license plate, or pay property taxes on our state’s DMV. Their “interactive” service is meant to mimic an actual person, but we both know it ain’t. So let’s just bow to our robot overlords and get this business over with. (Rant over.)
- Keep your destinations serviceable. Like us, you may find yourself the owner of an increasing amount of automated systems with your database, Wufoo, Google Forms, Planning Center, and the like. Our occasional audits have revealed that some forms have been dumping into a black hole for months. The staff member transitioned, and the end point of their automations didn’t. Very few things are more disheartening (and frustrating) for our people to try to take a next step and being prevented from doing so by our so-called helpful systems. And speaking of the human factor…
Communication from the individual
I’ll keep this section short, because I’ve been belligerent about this topic ad nauseum here, here, and here. Simply put, remember that emails (voicemails, text messages, Asana inbox, etc.) are people, too. Answer ’em in 24 hours or at least put up an out-of-office reply. And follow up, follow up, follow up. Don’t assume that your one email means you’re done.
A final word on making it all work:
- Hold one another accountable. If you supervise other staff, ask occasionally how their communication is sent…and received. Many times when hiring a new employee, I’ll ask them to cc me on anything that is going out to a team of people, just so I can coach them on comms in the first months of their role.
- Develop a comms plan. You may not have a communication team, but you can have a communication plan: a simple doc that outlines best practices, sets guidelines on social media posts, provides brand guides for layouts, fonts, headers…this is a simple way to get everyone on the same page. You likely have someone in your congregation who does this for a living, and can do it for you with their eyes closed. But if you don’t…
- Pick up a few resources. One of the very best I’ve ever read (twice!) is Kem Meyer‘s Less Chaos. Less Noise.: Effective Communications for an Effective Church. My friend Cleve Persinger co-authored the super-short and accessible Dangerous: A Go-to Guide for Church Communication. And while I’ve never read her book personally, Katie Allred is a trusted voice in church communication, and her Church Communications: Methods and Marketing is one of the most up-to-date resources out there. I’ve also told you about my friend Scott Ballard. His Strategic Church site is a great jumping off point to think about communication and get hands-on help.
Communication doesn’t have to be the primary frustration for your staff or your congregation. Think about it. Put some time into it. Sweat over it. Think through it from a hospitable lens. But at the end of the day, make it better, because your message is for people, and people are the mission.
