First Christian Church is a congregation of approximately 1,200 in Decatur, Ill.
Struggle:
“Complacency is non-existent.” This is my motto. It’s good because it reflects the fact that I don’t ever want to settle and be comfortable with the status quo.
However, it’s difficult to keep up with design trends and advances in technology. Just when I’ve figured out Twitter, there is something new replacing it. And it’s not just a physical change, but a mindset change as well.
The brain has to rethink how to communicate to these new vehicles in real-time. Nobody wants yesterday’s news and they want today’s news done with excellence and the latest design trends.
Victory:
Several years ago, another local church communications director contacted me to ask about our website. After chatting on the phone, we decided to start meeting once a month to discuss church communications together. These regularly scheduled meetings were such a breath of fresh air because here was another person doing the exact same thing as me with the same aspirations and frustrations.
After meeting for over a year, we branched out and invited some other church communicators in Central Illinois to join us. We now have representatives from about eight area churches meeting together, and the discussions have been amazing! We all have the common goal to reach Central Illinois for Jesus Christ.
Our congregations may be a little different from each other, but that’s OK. We each can be the perfect home for someone. I can honestly say that I look forward to each of our meetings because I learn so much from my fellow peers every time we get together.
Editor’s Note: Our nonprofit parent, the Center for Church Communication, helps to organize similar networking meetings called Local Labs. Check out the Local Labs page to learn more, see if there is a communications meeting near you and, if not, find out how to organize one.
Photo by Metro Tiff
