Lyle Schaller is an old-school church consultant who authored more than 100 books and passed away in 2015. He’s been referred to as the Peter Drucker of the church world.
Two Kinds of Church Content
In his 2001 book, What have We Learned So Far, Schaller offered this insight on church content:
“We still get the weekly newsletter from the church we belonged to back in Oklahoma City, and that is the first thing I read when that day’s mail arrives. While I like to keep up with my old friends back in Oklahoma, that’s not the main reason I look forward every week to reading it. What I enjoy about it is that every issue includes several wonderful stories about what is happening in the lives of the people in that congregation. It is not a traditional church paper; it really is a report on God’s grace. The focus is not on schedules or financial reports or meetings or pleas for money, but rather about how God is at work in the lives of people in that congregation. It’s a joy to read.”
Compare that with Schaller’s take on the newsletter from his current church:
“While I try to read the newsletter from our new church on the day it arrives, I don’t look forward to it! It’s a chore to read. The focus is not on God’s grace, but on the law. Every issue has at least a couple of items in it that seem to be designed to make us feel guilty. The last issue included a reprimand to the congregation about the poor attendance for the special program on missions a couple of weeks ago; a warning from the treasurer that if all the people who are behind on their pledges don’t catch up, the church will have to borrow money to meet the payroll this summer; a plea for more teachers for the Vacation Bible School; and a couple of paragraphs from the pastor begging us to go out and recruit new members. This is a bad-news church paper, not a report on the good news of Jesus Christ.”
Inspiration Over Information
We’ve repeatedly talked in the past about the power of sharing inspiration over information. That’s part of what Schaller is getting at here.
Stories of what God is doing in your church are powerful and inspiring.
Details about upcoming events? Not so inspiring.
And even worse, haranguing your congregation to donate more, volunteer more, do more? That’s just a turn off.
But People Need to Know!
Yes, people do need to know details about upcoming events, and if your church has a budget crunch or a lack of volunteers, people need to know.
But when that’s all you ever share, that’s a problem.
It’s also about how you communicate those details and needs. Maybe you do need volunteers for VBS, but you’re likely to get more people interested if you simply tell the amazing things happening at VBS. When people see good things happening, they want to be a part of it. And then instead of broadcasting the need to the masses, rely on relationships to meet those needs.
Share the Good
So if you’re struggling with information and details and needs, find ways to tell stories. Talk about the good things happening in your church.
Here are a few ways you can do just that:
- Start small: Instead of trying to make a wholesale change to inspiring stories, start small. Put just one story of a good thing happening in your church in your bulletin or announcements. Start there.
- Do both: If you’re worried that people still need the details, do both. Start a bulletin blurb by talking about the good things that happen in Sunday School, then give the details.
- Filter by audience: The great thing about good stories is that they don’t depend on audience. Everybody wants to hear a good story. Event details on the other hand, are highly dependent on audience. Most of your church doesn’t care about when the youth group soccer tournament starts. So filter your messages by audience. Share stories with your entire church, but only share informational details with the relevant audience.
- Celebrate: When churches share information and details, they’re often focused on what’s coming. But telling stories is usually about what just happened. If you want to tell stories, you need to reorient yourself to reflect on events after they’re over as opposed to always announcing what’s next. A good way to start that reorientation is to shift to a celebration mindset. How can you celebrate the event that just ended?
- Get out of your office: You’re not going to find stories sitting at your desk. You need to get out and talk to other ministry leaders. Have lunch with your team (your wider church team, not just your communication team). Ask questions. Check in with other leaders and ask how things are going.
- Short and sweet: Stories don’t need to be long and complicated. Get to the point. Sometimes it just takes a snippet of text to tell a simple success story: “A family down the street drove by for years, but they finally stopped at our music concert. Now they’re coming every week.”
Focus on creating stuff people look forward to seeing, whether it’s a print newsletter, a social media piece, or Sunday morning announcements.
More:
For more help in telling stories in your church, check out the resources from our Courageous Storytellers membership site. We’ve put together a ton of super-practical resources to help you tell stories.
