Marcy Carrico is an executive assistant at The Church @ Clayton Crossings in Clayton, N.C. With more than 20 years of experience in church communication, she’s responsible for the majority of communication at her church.
Carrico’s 20 years of church communication experience all started with bulletins. She began as a volunteer, preparing, copying, and folding bulletins. From there she became a small group leader and had access to church management software, and then moved on to website and graphics teams.
Today Carrico is responsible for the majority of communication at her church and oversees a team of 10 with a mix of staff and volunteers. While she’s definitely a veteran in the church communication trenches, Rethink Communication by Phil Bowdle has proven to be a game-changing resource.
“Stop everything you’re doing in regards to church communication and read this right now. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll have the game plan to continue through anything. Anything.” -Marcy Carrico
How has the book impacted your team?
Rethink Communication helped me see that we’re not just a service department. We’re a ministry. We aren’t just there to give an immediate “yes” and get things done as soon as possible. We’re there to provide the highest level of communication, using our research and statistics, for each event.
What insights have made a difference? Are there mistakes you’ve avoided?
I’ll share one mistake we’ve avoided. I’ve been creating our lower thirds graphics for a few months. This is a relatively new role for me and I create them based on the sermon series. A few weeks ago, I created one that our tech team rejected.
We went back to the drawing board seven times before finding one that worked.
As the graphic designer, that could have been frustrating. But after reading Phil’s book, I know our tech team was working within their parameters. It wasn’t a personal attack against me or the design. They were protecting production quality.
Rather than getting frustrated, I thanked them.
What specific ideas have you implemented?
I’ve talked to a few of our key volunteers about setting up regular communication meetings and I’ve stressed the importance of planning ahead.
How have things changed at your church, whether in your outward actions as a communication team or even just the inner atmosphere or vibe in the office?
At this point, we’ve been more of a ‘service,’ cranking out things on request (demand). After reading this book, I’m ‘acting’ as if we’re a ministry. Our team is on board with that mindset, but it’s a slow shift to change the church culture.
We haven’t seen a huge change yet, but if we stay focused, I think we’ll see a change over the next year. My next step is to buy a copy for five people on our team. We will get there. We are being patient.
More:
- Get a free sample of Rethink Communication by Phil Bowdle.
- Buy a copy of Rethink Communication by Phil Bowdle.
