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Join the 100: Support Creative Missions

Eric Murrell — 2013-05-09T01:00:00-09:00

Editor’s Note: We’ve been talking about Creative Missions all year, sharing posts from Creative Missions alumni. The trip starts on May 18 and they could use your support. Below Eric Murrell, who serves on the Creative Missions leadership team, shares their immediate need. We’ll be making a big announcement next week with another way you can support Creative Missions. It’s an awesome idea and one we’re proud to support—our nonprofit parent, the Center for Church Communication, handles the finances for Creative Missions.

When we tell folks about Creative Missions, the first thing most people ask is “How can I be a part of that?” Here’s your chance!

A mission team of 25 creatives and communicators is heading to Anchorage, Alaska, on May 18 to spend a week pouring into dozens of ministries and ministers. You can read a little more about why we’re going and what we’re doing at the bottom of the campaign site.

Creative Missions operates on a shoestring budget each year; all missionaries donate their time and resources (in addition to paying a trip fee and arranging their own travel), and it’s your donations that allow us to pull off these logisitically challenging trips.

We need your help! Alaska is expensive, and we’re projecting a $7,500 shortfall for our ministry goals. Over the next week, we’re asking 100 individuals/organizations to “Join the 100″ and back this trip by donating $75. If you can give more, that would be amazing. If you can only give a little, we would really appreciate that too. Even if you can’t give, can you help us spread the word about the “Join the 100″ campaign?

Thanks so much for supporting Creative Missions!

Support Creative Missions today and Join the 100.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/oCcV2ZHYHFw/ Eric Murrell

WordPress for Churches: Themes & Plugins to Get Started

John Saddington — 2013-05-08T01:00:00-09:00

One of the best things about technology today is that it’s faster, it’s cheaper and it’s better than it’s ever been. All of these qualities are a boon for the small, medium and large church because we have nothing but opportunity now to engage with our congregation, reach our local communities and expand our message unlike we’ve ever done—and again, we can do it on the cheap.

That’s why I’ve been a fan of WordPress for the church for a long time. Did you know that WordPress now powers over 17% of the top 1 million sites in the world? The growth curve is unbelievable and your ministry has everything it needs to leverage a best-in-breed technology with an extremely low bar.

But just like the first time you change a tire, it can be daunting at first glance and I hope I can provide some context and some top plugins that can help you get a robust church website up and running in no time flat.

1. Themes

There are tons of themes out there and you really do have your pick of the litter. The biggest challenge here is to not overdo your decision-making process. There are some themes that appear to have all the tricks and features that you might want but I challenge you to start simple. In fact, the simpler the better. Especially if this is your first time venturing into WordPress you want to make that transition as easy as possible. In fact, I recommend using one of the themes that come standard with WordPress. Just use Twenty Twelve to start and you’ll be fine. You can always upgrade and change out a theme but you’ve got to learn to walk before you can run!

2. Calendaring

Most ministries have a calendar of events and one of the best plugins to do this is Events Calendar. It’s free to download (although you can go “Pro” with a paid account later) and should be everything you need to get up and running quickly. The setup is easy, the installation is flawless and they’ve got a robust support documentation to boot.

3. Newsletters

Newsletters still work, especially when you need to communicate key dates or events with your members and congregation. Wysija is where you should start. It’s also free and is simple to use and implement. They have great video overviews to get you sending newsletters to your congregation in no time. There is also a premium version available but smaller congregations shouldn’t need to upgrade (at least not now!).

4. Images and Media

One of the best things that’ll keep your congregation engaged with your blogging efforts is robust and creative media from social networks and services like Flickr, Instagram, 500px or even Dribble. A new plugin that was released recently is called Uber Media that natively integrates those great services right into the post layer. You can easily insert images into your blog posts and pages via the media manager in a simple and intuitive interface. You can even filter out NSFW content in a “safe mode.”

5. Blogging Calendar, Editorial Management

As you solicit help to write content and create an editorial system and process there’s only one plugin that you’ll need to get started and that’s EditFlow. This robust editorial workflow system has everything you need to create a calendar of blog posts, manage your authors, create feedback loops for your content, and even notifications and story budgeting from a brilliant interface. Use it a few times and you’ll be hooked and never be able to use another WordPress blog and site without it. Some of the largest editorial online publications use it and swear by it.

6. Maps

People have to find your church and be able to get there on time. So you’ll want an interactive map and there’s nothing better than this http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/c ... ensive-google-map-plugin/">Google Map plugin. You’ll be able to create a local map to your church with simple and helpful tooltips along the way. With full documentation, shortcode builders and even authentication for directions, you’ll never have someone text message your lead pastor Sunday morning asking for directions.

7. Directory

Need to create a directory of your members or even your church staff? Look no further than Connections Business Directory. Built right into the admin and dashboard you’ll be able to see anniversaries, birthdays, and more about your members and staff. With controls over private and viewable content you’ll be able to organize them by groups as well. Done and done.

8. Sermons

For sermons, start simple. There’s one audio plugin that I trust with my life and that’s WP Audio Player. You won’t be able to create a mega-wide database of sermons but the simplicity of this plugin (one sermon per post) cannot be matched. Start here and then upgrade to a bigger podcast/music plugin if you ever need it.

Get to Work

This list of core themes and plugins should be seen as a generalized starter kit for a church to get up and running quickly with WordPress. For every category there are plenty of other options—share your favorites in the comments. There’s almost limitless possibilities so be wise and always think of the easiest and simplest solution to a problem.

Good luck and I can’t wait to see your ministry boost its web presence this year with WordPress!

Not sure if WordPress is for you? Check out our post comparing WordPress with hosted content management systems.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/JIHUgciJlso/ John Saddington

Scott McClellan on Announcements

Kevin D. Hendricks — 2013-05-07T01:00:09-09:00

“Churches are like announcement factories that pump toxic levels of noise pollution into the atmosphere.” -Scott McClellan (Sunday Magazine)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/gGkHg0UNjOI/ Kevin D. Hendricks

Getting Organized With Google

Evan Courtney — 2013-05-06T01:00:48-09:00

Google has several tools churches can leverage to effectively communicate internally and externally to their communities. These tools allow for creative collaboration and the ability to share with multiple users.

How to Get Started

Create a church specific Google Account that will be the ultimate owner of everything and will create key documents. Creating a church account as opposed to using an individual account will make staff transitions easier.
Share documents, spreadsheets, forms and calendars with the appropriate staff, assigning them privileges to view and/or edit as needed.
Start adding content.

Google Docs

There are several major advantages to Google Docs: They’re free, they’re stored in the cloud so you can access documents anywhere and they offer excellent collaboration tools. But another big plus for churches is the ability to share documents, either publicly or with select people.

How can your church start using it today?

Create shared folders for different ministries and new documents can be automatically shared with everyone on the team.
Share important internal documents like style guides and be able to keep them current without having to distribute updated versions.
Make important documents public, like financial disclosures, safe church policies, job descriptions and more. This is especially helpful for documents that will be updated frequently but you don’t want to mess with updating and uploading a PDF.

Google Spreadsheets

Google Spreadsheets work very similar to Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers, but are stored in the cloud and allow for multiple collaborators. Also they have a great notifications feature that will email you with individual updates or a daily summary.

How can your church start using it today?

Organize and sort data collected from visitor cards, communications cards, etc. Multiple staff are then able to view and edit the spreadsheet.

Google Forms

This Google application gives churches the ability to accept data from a form and put it into a spreadsheet.

How can your church start using it today?

Event registration – This can only be used for free events, since Google Forms doesn’t accept payments. If you need paid event registration try Wufoo.
On site registration – A great option instead of paper registration that requires time-consuming data entry and deciphering illegible handwriting. A great use would be Easter Egg Hunts, Fall Festivals, etc.
Sign up sheet – Phil Schneider’s church is using it on Sundays for people to sign up for events instead of the old clipboard.
Communication requests – Ministries can easily submit their communication/marketing needs.

Google Calendar

This is a powerful tool that can keep the church calendar organized and make it easy to publish to websites and share with the church. You can create as many calendars as you want, but it’s easy to make it too complicated. I recommend keeping it simple with an internal and external calendar. The pastors at our church then have their own individual calendars for ministry appointments that are shared among themselves and admin assistants.

Internal calendar: Create a private calendar to share with and be edited by all staff. This is a good way to communicate about internal events among the staff and key volunteers. Typical uses:

Facility use
Staff vacation days
Non-public events/dates (i.e., staff meeting, staff prayer, sermon planning, committee meetings, etc.)
When someone is out of the office

External calendar: Create a calendar to share publicly, but only the communications department or ministry heads can edit it. This is a good way to broadcast dates to the church and community. Typical uses:

Worship service times
Any and all church events

Each event on the calendar should have minimal information—time, date and location—and a URL linking to a corresponding web page or Facebook event with a more detailed description (you don’t want to update information in multiple places).

Sharing Your External Calendar

Share your public calendar to get the most out of Google Calendar:

Subscribe: You’ll want to share the RSS feed and iCal link so users can subscribe and add it to their own calendar. Now your congregation can have all the upcoming church events on their favorite device.
Embed: Add your calendar to your website or blog.
Help: Offer your congregation some pointers for using Google Calendar. Show them how to use color coding, set reminders and sync their devices.

Get Organized

Google offers a lot of great services to keep you organized and they’re constantly rolling out new stuff and new features. But don’t forget that things are always changing—remember Google Reader?—enjoy these tools while you can. Experiment and find out what works for you.

We’re thrilled to partner with Creative Missions (our nonprofit parent, the Center for Church Communication, handles the Creative Missions finances). Learn more about Creative Missions and this year’s trip to Alaska and consider a financial donation to help church communicators help other churches communicate better.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/JwoWSDbU4xA/ Evan Courtney

Job Board: YouVersion, Irving Bible, and River Oaks

Chuck Scoggins — 2013-05-03T01:00:54-09:00

Are you looking for a job in church communications? The CFCC Job Board has some listings that you might be interested in. Here are a few of the recent listings on the board:

LifeChurch.tv is looking for a YouVersion Web & Rails Engineer at their Edmond, Okla., location.

Irving Bible Church is looking for a Graphic Designer to join them in Irving, Texas.

River Oaks Community Church in Clemmons, N.C., is looking for a Creative Communications Director.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/_rE1UAlDBmI/ Chuck Scoggins

How to Do Video on a Budget

Dave Hartland — 2013-04-29T01:00:32-09:00

I started doing video for my church 10 years ago. I used my own $300 handheld camcorder and edited it on my own computer using the cheapest video editing software I could find.

Ten years later I am now the full-time director of video at my church. I don’t use a camcorder anymore. I have several high-end cameras and video editing software suites. My team produces several videos a week, including the sermon videos for our multisite locations.

Getting here hasn’t been an easy road, nor has it been cheap. For those of you just starting your journey or for those without the means to purchase expensive equipment and software—fear not! It’s not as overwhelming or as impossible as it may seem.

Make the Most of What You Have

Early on I had to learn to be content with a limited budget and equipment. I became real familiar with what I call the “Good Enough Principle.” Using a handheld camcorder I would not be able to duplicate things I saw on TV. I started out with iMovie and Windows MovieMaker, and eventually graduated to Final Cut Express. They weren’t top of the line editing suites, but I still did everything I could to make our videos the best they could be with what we had.

Today you can shell out for high-end software or go with cheap stuff. But what I’ve come to find out is that it doesn’t much matter what software you use if you’re producing a simple announcement or testimony video. What matters is what you have available in real life. I had a few people I could count in front of a camera. We started producing things like sermon illustrations and eventually began to incorporate more of our service elements, such as announcements, into video. I worked with the creative and communications teams to get the artwork or graphics I needed for the projects. I knew that as long as I had the right people, and I was able to use the technology we had to add music or graphics into them, the videos would be good enough.

Continuing Education

Today’s rapid-fire advances in technology can make a turkey look smarter than you if you don’t keep up with the changes. Thankfully there’s an endless supply of online resources that can keep your current on the latest techniques. Just search for tutorials, how-to guides and videos from websites such as Ken Rockwell and Ripple Training. Set aside some dedicated time and never stop learning.

It’s All About the Shot

One day last summer I was filming a sermon at the beach for our Jonah series. I did not realize until I began editing that there was a couple making out on the beach in the distance behind the pastor.

It doesn’t matter if you’re using a $5 editing program on your iPhone or a $2,500 pro editing suite on your souped up desktop. If the shot isn’t set up correctly, there’s very little you can do to salvage your project in post-production.

Make sure the camera is in focus, the subjects are well lit and ensure there are no obvious distractions in the shot, like the hum of an air conditioner or somebody in the background doing cartwheels. Not only will setting up your shot correctly help you in post-production, it will also enable you to give your audience a distraction-free production that will enlighten, teach, inform and inspire.

Wrapping It Up in a Neat Little Bow

A well-made video needs to pique the interest of those watching it. That means adding text, graphics and music to the final product. Again, you don’t need an expensive piece of software to create something good. There are loads of resources on the Internet for you to utilize. A couple quick suggestions:

Video Blocks is a great tool that will give you unlimited downloads of thousands of sound effects, production music, motion backgrounds and video clips for only $79/month.
Creation Swap has been a great resource for graphics and backgrounds.
Freeplay Music has an endless library of production music. Other music resources include Incompetech and Free Music Archive.

Another “free” way of obtaining music for your video—if you have the capability to do so—is having your worship leader record something for you that matches the video’s mood. It’s amazing what music and graphics can do to spice up an otherwise boring video.

Everybody Has a Story to Tell

Perhaps the most important aspect of a video ministry is helping tell God’s story. There is nothing more powerful than a well-told story about someone whose life has been changed by Jesus. Fortunately, God’s story can be told with or without money or expensive equipment. So even if you’re working with a handheld camcorder and a flashlight, just turn the camera on, have the subject tell their story, add some soft piano music in the background and let God do the rest. That story has the potential to change lives. We pray that hearts are moved to worship Jesus through their story.

Video Samples

Here are some simple videos made during past Creative Missions trips to show what can be done quickly and simply:

River of Life Church – Albany, N.Y.
Boundless Grace Baptist Church – Avoca, Ark.
Metro Church – Rogers, Ark.
Beaver Lake Baptist Church – Beaver Lake, Ark.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/XAW0qahPv_E/ Dave Hartland

Tim Peters on Vision

Kevin D. Hendricks — 2013-04-30T01:00:04-09:00

“If by chance you are not yet sick and tired of communicating the vision, then you haven’t communicated it enough.” -Tim Peters (TimPeters.com)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/GgRDxt7pkOU/ Kevin D. Hendricks

What’s Best For Your Church Website: WordPress or Hosted CMS?

Steve Fogg — 2013-05-01T01:00:58-09:00

My team recently picked a platform for the next iteration of our church website. We had to choose between a fully hosted church CMS solution and a self-hosted WordPress set up.

Many churches have been going with the tried and true church CMS product, because they understood the unique needs, functionality and budgets of churches. But while there are many good CMS solutions out there, they aren’t the only way to go.

Late last year we made the decision to switch our church website from a hosted CMS to WordPress. So I’ve been there and my biases are now on the table. But here are some tips to help you decide which way you should jump:

1. What are your functional requirements?

What are you expecting your church website to do and, more importantly, how does it function? List out what you are currently using and not using in your existing CMS (we had quite a few functions we never used). If you can find examples of how you want the functional requirement to appear or feel, make a note for future reference. For us our church calendar is a big deal. After discussions with an external programmer we discovered we could get the same functionality with WordPress as we had with our current hosted solution.

2. Do you have experienced web development staff to update and sustain your website?

This can make you or break your ongoing management of your church website. We have a part-time developer on staff who has the programming experience to do some heavy lifting of code. If you don’t have a programmer a fully hosted solution may be a better fit (or be prepared to live with your limitations). An admin or any other staff member might need the comfort and support a hosted solution provides.

3. What is your budget?

What I love about WordPress is that there are some church themes already out there that are very cheap. Most of what you need has already been done if you are willing to use a church theme. There are also some budget conscious hosted CMS solutions out there as well. The defining factor I kept coming back to for us was that the different programming quotes were all more cost effective using the WordPress framework. Budget will play a big part in taking your next step. Make sure you have covered all the costs before you decide. For us switching meant we had to think about hosting and ongoing external programming fees (anticipating any issues), on top of a design and build cost. Most hosted solutions are like a burger with the works. You get everything you need.

4. How do you back it up and how quickly can you restore?

Every hosted solution we looked at had a superb back up and recovery timeline. With a WordPress solution we have had to develop our own workflow for when (not if) we need to restore our site. There are various products out there on the market that can do that for you for a small fee. (Church Marketing Sucks is backed up using BackupBuddy.)

5. Is there a responsive design framework, and what experience do they have?

This was a big one for us. The hosted solutions we spoke to all seemed to be moving in this direction. Some hosted solutions even had some portfolio examples of responsively designed church websites. This will definitely become the norm over the next 12 months. One of the reasons why we chose our programmer was because he had extensive experience in this area and was the most cost effective budget wise. If you’re not familiar with responsive design, check out my post for a quick explanation and some examples.

Almost There

We are not far from going live with our responsively designed WordPress church website. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, there have been some technical bumps along the way, but it certainly hasn’t been stormy sea. I’m a communication guy straddling the technical arena to try and get it done and I’m sure there are many more questions that you may have regarding choosing the right church website solution for you. Drop a comment below!

Next week we’ll talk about what plugins you can use to make the most of your WordPress site, should you choose to go that route.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/264jfIU5CuY/ Steve Fogg

How Churches Can Communicate About Gay Marriage Part 2

Kevin D. Hendricks — 2013-04-25T01:00:33-09:00

Yesterday we began a conversation with Andrew Marin about gay marriage. Marin is the author of Love Is an Orientation and founder of The Marin Foundation, which seeks to build bridges between opposing sides of this debate. We’ll continue that discussion today:

The pro-gay marriage side will often compare this issue to segregation—is that a fair comparison?

Andrew Marin: Much of the progressive movement and LGBT community have really backed off that messaging after a number of African American groups made great arguments like LGBT people, a) aren’t legally viewed as three-fifths of a human being; b) they are not made to ride on different public transportation; c) stay at different hotels; d) drink from different faucets; e) go to different restaurants; and f) not allowed to vote.

Very intelligently then, gay marriage advocates realized the error in that line of arguing, and adjusted their main talking points to the “protected equality of human rights afforded to all citizens of the United States under Constitution.” That logic is, in my opinion, one of the main, if not the reason why there has been such a quick cultural positive turn towards the acceptance of gay marriage.

For churches that are theologically opposed to homosexuality, do they have to fight gay marriage? Is there another way?

Andrew: Recently I attempted to answer the question, “Would Jesus Fight a Legal Battle Against Same-Sex Marriage?”

Editor’s Note: Here’s a snippet from that blog post, though read the whole thing as this is from toward the end after a lot of explanation:

These personal examples have shown me that the legal battle over gay marriage has greatly hindered the ability for children of God to relate to each other, and to the outside world, in real and tangible ways… Ways that are centered on the principles of Jesus. Ways that use God’s lens of love for his creation to shine bright and clear as we look upon each other. Read more

Is it possible for churches to take a stand on this issue—either way—and not have that stance overwhelm any other messages they’re trying to communicate? How do they do it?

Andrew: I have no issue when churches live into their theological understanding about same-sex marriage, whether in favor or not. What I do have issues with, are when churches are content in their stance over any further type of active engagement. The easiest way my organization, The Marin Foundation, has assisted churches in engaging this topic is by starting one of our Living in the Tension Gatherings in their local community. You can read more about where they came from and what they are here. We have assisted in starting around two dozen of these on-going gatherings across the U.S. and the UK at churches, universities and community centers.

How can churches communicate about this issue when their own congregation is divided?

Andrew: I was speaking at a large non-denominational evangelical church just last week, that raised this question because its executive leadership team didn’t know how to handle their divided congregational reality. My brief response is as follows:

When it comes to speaking about gay marriage amongst divided audiences I focus on the following framework of engagement to help the audience holistically think through how to assess the various aspects that come with a vote on gay marriage. The three main lenses in which a citizen living in a voting democracy must look at gay marriage is through, in no particular order:

1) The Human Rights lens:

Do two U.S. citizens of the same sex in a consenting monogamous relationship deserve the same right to enter into a legal marriage contract, as two U.S. citizens of the opposite sex in a consenting monogamous relationship?;

2) The Legal lens:

Do two U.S. citizens of the same sex in a consenting monogamous relationship deserve the up to 1,400 extra benefits within a marriage contract, as two U.S. citizens of the opposite sex in a consenting monogamous relationship?;

3) The Moral lens:

How does my interpretation of my Holy Text influence my moral understanding of two individuals of the same sex in a consenting monogamous relationship, who want to/desire/wish to enter into a marriage contract?

Only when these three lenses are assessed as a whole, does one have a holistic understanding of what gay marriage means in contemporary society. If only one of the three lenses dictates the outcome—whether from a moral perspective or a rights perspective or a legal perspective—without weighing the other two, regardless of the outcome, then the result is being shortsighted. But when taken together, whatever the outcome, one knows they have done their due diligence researching the social, political and theological ramifications that come with casting their ever important vote.

Thanks for helping us explore this issue, Andrew. Be sure to check out yesterday’s post for part 1 of this interview. For more from Andrew Marin, check out his blog.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/wNa2vVS7j4o/ Kevin D. Hendricks

Church Marketing Lab: Spotlight

Chuck Scoggins — 2013-04-26T01:00:46-09:00

One of the things I love about the Church Marketing Lab is that everyone can get feedback on their compositions—from the novice to the long-time designer. I also enjoy the variety of styles in design that we see there. Here are a few recent posts I’d like to highlight:

This post by Megan Watson Design is a graphic for a series “Into the Depths.” The use of scale and geometric shapes does a great job of creating visual interest.

I love the detail in the flames, the sky, and the lightning in this work by David Choate.

This series branding graphic, posted by Juliet Towner, is one of the better one I’ve seen around the idea of “apps.”

I am always a sucker for epic-style designs:

Be sure to jump over to the Lab and share your designs and give some feedback to others!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/BlZI_3tBB6o/ Chuck Scoggins