Church Marketing Sucks

The new year is a good time to look back and assess. So we’ve launched a series to talk with church communicators and find out what they’ve done in the last year and what they’re looking forward to in the next year.

Today we talk with Jennifer Johnson. She’s the director of communications for Sewickley Presbyterian Church in Western Pennsylvania. She wears a lot of hats in her role, including advertiser, marketer, graphic designer, web designer and all around church communicator.

1. What’s the smartest change you’ve made in the last year?

I challenged myself to be a speaker at the WFX conference this past year in Nashville. I had never attended the conference and so when the invitation to attend and to apply to be a speaker came in my email I considered attending and even more so considered if there was something I could say that would be of value to someone else. I have to admit that the entire process was nerve-wracking but in the end it was a great success! Not only was I able to spread the word about the value of practicing public relations in a church communication setting, but it also helped me to see the huge number of people who are passionate about playing a positive role in the churches they work for. It was a great experience to be able to be a presenter and be a part of the conference.

2. What was your biggest mistake or regret?

I paid for an online coding course to add to my coding knowledge early in 2015 and have yet to attend. It would help me in my role as website developer and manager, but it was the one thing that I kept pushing aside due to having other priorities. I definitely feel it was a mistake to not do it (yet) and have made it a priority to complete it in the next two months.

3. What do you look forward to doing better in the future?

I look forward to incorporating more videos into our communication plan this year. They are fun to make, but can be time consuming, so I will be creating a video plan for the year. In 2015 I tested the waters with a handful that went along with a few events, but this year I’d like to be more organized and purposeful with them.

4. Who are some voices we should be listening to in the next year?

• I follow and read Church Marketing Sucks (of course).
• Be Known for Something with Mark MacDonald – Mark gives a lot of good tips for church communication.
• Presbyterians Today – This helps me to stay connected with how Presbyterians are progressing and in what direction the church is moving (since I work for a Presbyterian church this is helpful).
• Worship Facilities Weekly
• The Church Network MultiBrief

All of these consistently have great articles by a variety of different people in the ‘church’ world.