Communicators - Blog

Say What? Avoid Obscure Names

2010-02-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

I was looking through a newsletter the other day and saw a word that I believe was the name of a group. I have NO idea what it is. This seems especially true with youth group, that they take totally uninformative names and then turn them into an acronym so that a non-member has NO idea what they are.

If you have groups like this in your congregation, one approach is to simply yell at them and make them change. Assuming you'd rather not stifle creativity, instead just include a description somewhere in your newsletter, website, etc. (wherever the name appears). Here are some options:

include an * after the name and put the explanation at the bottom
put the descriptive words right after it (WOW women's group - where WOW stands for "women on Wednesday")
if they're all on the same page, either a "small groups" page or a "youth" page or something of that nature, put a little box explaining the ministries referenced
or just do the typical practice of spelling it out and putting the abbreviation in parenthesis - ex. Lutheran World Relief (LWR)

Before publishing a group name, consider if you would know what it is without the background experience you have. If not, tell people! Even members of your congregation might not know!

Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0

2010-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

If you're like a lot of people I know, you use the internet, but don't know what the "techy" types are talking half the time. This may mean that you've come across the term "2.0" but don't really know what it means.

On her blog Nonprofit Tech 2.0: A Social Media Guide for Nonprofits, Heather Mansfield simplifies the different generations of web. Her explanation is quite simple, but I'll shorten even more here:

1.0 - Traditional stuff like websites and e-mail. You put it there, people read it.
2.0 - Users interact with your content for all to see. The most common sites include Facebook, Twitter, etc., but it can also include features you provide without another site.
3.0 - Brings the content to mobile devices. Cell phones, smart phones, and tablets are often used in different ways and in different places than computers. Also, they display differently so design has to be done differently.

What does this mean for you? I would argue that most of our users expect 1.0 content to be available for quick reference and enjoy using 2.0. Of course there are still members who don't have e-mail or haven't jumped on the Facebook bandwagon yet, but many people are there. Fewer people are at 3.0, but the success of the Red Cross's recent campaign to collect funds for Haiti by text message is one example of the reach and power of web 3.0.

We've passed the point where simply having a web presence is enough. People do or are starting to expect more and the business world has already jumped in head first. Will the church follow? What are your 2.0 or 3.0 strategies?

Purpose-Driven Social Media

2010-02-02T14:07:00.001-08:00

The January 2010 Synod Communicators' meeting was a 'How To' on Social Networking. Beyond being a basic tutorial, we also talked about the why's and why not's of using services like Facebook and Twitter. It ultimately means that each situation - congregation, organization, group, etc. - has to evaluate the situation.

If you're still exploring the "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" (or Facebook...or MySpace...etc.) question, here is some more food for thought.

Joshua-Michéle Ross, in "Why Social Media Isn't for Everyone," warns that an organization should know what they're getting into and be willing to accept the "consequences." Writing from a more corporate standpoint, Ross says the catch 22 of social media is that of word of mouth feedback. Social media puts it right at your doorstep, both the good and the bad. Good is obviously good; bad could be harmful or at least bruise some egos. It can, however, be responded to and dealt with transparently if it's right there for all to see. If an organization is prepared to take all forms of feedback and proactively use it to their benefit, do it!

Another gem of information is a blog post that summarizes a webcast from the Emerging Media Research Council, the research arm of Three Ships Media, on how little-known Senator Scott Brown used social media to win. This presentation gets more into the "what to do with it" end of social media. In his summary, Len Mason writes, "When tweeting, ask yourself, 'Does this help my constituent become better, smarter, wiser?' Substance trumps the mundane every time. This can be applied to all social media, as well." Posts should be positive, useful, proactive, interactive. Make your posts matter!

Join us at the July 8, 2010 meeting at Faith, Dodge Center to further discuss how to engage audiences in your online social networks.

Test Your Site in Five Seconds

2009-11-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that when you create something, you get so personally wrapped up in it that you fail to see glaring mistakes? It's especially easy to miss "mistakes" in layouts, which are meant to quickly draw attention to the most important features. When you know every bit of the design intimately, it's hard to look at it with fresh eyes.

If you're looking for fresh eyes on your website, try a site called fivesecondtest. This site allows webpages to be loaded and other users to complete a test involving clicking on what they notice most in the span of just five seconds.

My disclaimer is that I have not yet uploaded a page to it, so I can't speak to the pros or cons of it as a designer user. I did perform a few tests for other designers. It's kind of fun! Take a look, help someone out, and consider using it next time you take a look at your site's overall layout.

Engaging Members Online

2009-09-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today participants in the web sessions of the annual synod communicators' workshop heard and discussed some thoughts on using Facebook in communicating to members and the public. Besides being assured by the Geek Girls that it was possible to create a page on Facebook (a for your organization, not the same as a user profile and preferable to groups for this use) without connecting your fans to your personal profile, participants were encouraged to use the web (including Facebook) to create relationships.

For some ideas of ideas to create conversations, and therefore relationships, online, check out the ELCA's Facebook page (you don't have to be on Facebook to see that link).

Exude Excitement

2009-07-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

A topic that has come up for me several times in the last few weeks has been what attracts and retains members. While great website and engaging newsletters are useful communication tools and while good programming gives people stuff to do at church, they're not the end of the story. The comment that made the most sense to me is that the most appealing congregations are excited about something.

Another concept I've been exploring lately has been making sure an organization's image and written mission statement match up. If there is dissonance in the actual and formal descriptions of a congregation, that creates confusion. The formal description may attract a member expecting one thing and turn them off when they find another (or they may like the actual identity but feel uncomfortable with the formal written statements).

Putting these two together leads me to today's advice - study your congregation, find what it is excited about, and reflect that in your communication. Be creative with that excitement, don't just end every sentence with an exclamation point! That can get really old, really quickly. Use adjectives (but sparingly, that makes them more meaningful), make sure what's important to the congregation is actually getting talked about, and share good news when it happens rather than just listing upcoming events like items on a grocery list.

If you have any examples from your congregation or elsewhere, please feel free to share them in the comments section.

Twittering in Church?

2009-05-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Obviously I'm not the best at following through with goals to keep in touch - this blog being a case in point (I haven't QUITE made it two months without posting, but I'm going to try and pay attention again). Maybe that's why I'm resisting Twitter so strongly. I also resisted Facebook for a long time but eventually got sucked in too. We'll see how Twitter goes!

That being said, Twitter is one of the most popular, fastest growing social networking services online right now, so it does deserve attention. For those who don't know, it basically is a way for users to update their "followers" (for most people, their friends and/or colleagues, for celebrities it would be their fans, you get the picture) in 140 characters or less.

One way that it can be used is as a way to provide the latest news without having to create a feed or send out an e-mail (remember, though, it's SHORT news!). For example, several synods are "tweeting" their assemblies this year.

To push the idea a little more, some congregations are even encouraging tweeting in worship. While it's probably not going to replace fellowship hour, and I wouldn't even go so far as to recommend it, I think it does present some good "food for thought." Read this article from Time for more information.

Subject Lines that Click: The 2-2-2 Principle

2009-03-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

(this story is provided by Constant Contact)

by Julie Niehoff, Constant Contact Regional Development Director, Texas

This morning when you opened your email inbox, did you notice that some emails immediately jumped off the page at you, demanding your attention? Maybe there was a message from your boss, something from a coworker or a key customer that needed your assistance, or a newsletter from a store that you love.

Some emails get your immediate attention, while others are flagged for later or go relatively untouched. A compelling subject line can make all the difference.

Most of us just don't have time to get to every email message. We all live in this reality. We all play the same game of managing our inboxes and flagging emails that we'll "get to later" -- I call this the battle of priorities. We all play it, and as a marketer, you can win that battle.

When someone first gets your email, you have on average three seconds to get them to open it. The first second is spent on the From line, recognizing who sent the message. From there, you have just two more seconds to compel them to open your message with your subject line. That is why I came up the 2-2-2 Principle:

You have 2 seconds.
The first 2 words matter the most.
Answer the question "Why does this matter today?"

Read the full story...

Shorter URLs

2009-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to share a website with your congregation, but the URL (the web address) is SOOOOOO long and complicated that you wouldn't want to publish it (and they wouldn't want to type it in)?

The website TinyURL.com can help this problem. This site lets you enter a long URL and it transforms it into a short one.

Pros:

The result is MUCH shorter
The URL doesn't expire (at least as long as the original URL is valid)
The site now lets you name the result yourself (ex. at last August's workshop, Paul Edison-Swift wanted to provide a list of resources at http://archive.elca.org/webministry/workshops/index.html, so rather than use the randomly generated URL, he named it tinyurl.com/stepitup for the name of the workshop)
It's REALLY easy to do
There aren't any ads or any other visual signs when re-directed

Cons:

It doesn't include the name of the site, which could be seen as less publicity for the original site
Every TinyURL has to start tinyurl.com (so it could be seen as promoting this site, but it's a free service, so I say why argue?)

Taking a Break in Word

2009-01-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today's tip is probably most needed when working with columns, but it also applies to pages and other layout options.

I've noticed a lot of people who spend lots of time moving things around in Word to make them line up "just so." The good news/bad news is that they're wasting time because Word can do most of those things for you.

First, if you want your information to appear in table or column format - do that! Rather than tabbing over (or worse, hitting the space bar until you get there), just use the commands in Word. If you want columns, you can either type your information and then turn them into columns by highlighting the text, selecting Format and then Columns. From there you can select the number and the space between the columns. Also make sure the bottom box is selected correctly (do you want it applied to the whole document, just the selected text, etc.).

If you want your data in a table (columns and rows), just go to Insert, Table. From there select your options. You can always insert more columns and rows. Note that you do have to do this before entering the data. This way your information can be grouped together (ex. an address isn't intermingled with other information if you're doing a directory, so it makes for easier copy and pasting), you can have grid lines appear if you want to, and most of all it's a lot easier!

And the real meat of the tip today - check out the command to Insert Break (insert is on the menu, break is the first choice). If you've done the columns and you don't want information to flow across two columns, rather than inserting extra spaces, just insert a break. The downside is that if you go back and edit later, you may not want that break there. If you click on the icon that looks like a backwards "P" but with an extra "leg" and the "hump" filled in (it's a paragraph symbol used in editing) it will show you all of the formatting characters in your document (including column and other breaks). Don't worry, these don't print and all you have to do is hit the icon again to make them go away.

If you have a table with multiple lines of text in each row and you don't want a row to be split between pages (or if you have any other kind of document where you don't like where it goes to the next page, just insert a page break (Insert > Break > Page). Most of the time this does not work to move the two lines on the next page BACK up to the page before. You typically have to insert the break before the paragraph/table row/etc. If you want the lines on the next page to move up, you'll have to change formatting in another way (decrease margins, change font size, etc.).

Use these "breaks" to help save a lot of extra spacing and make your formatting a little neater!

Optimize Your Web Site for Search Engines

2008-12-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

These tips to help your website get found are from the March-April 2008 edition of Seeds for the Parish:

With an estimated billion or more pages now on the Internet, the adage "build it and they will come" simply does not work for Web sites.

Here are tips to help you fine tune your congregation's site for search engine optimization:

Find out how you come up in the search engines by searching for your site on Google, Yahoo and MSN. If you do not find your site within the first three pages of search results, it isn't optimized.
List your Web site in the Open Directory Project (DMOZ). This is a free human-edited directory of the Web. Go to www.dmoz.org and submit your site.
Submit your ELCA Congregation Web pages for inclusion in the elca.org "find a congregation." Go to elca.org/FindaChurch and follow the "Add or Edit Your Congregation's Web Address" link. Search engines take the number of external links pointing to your Web pages as a vote for your site. [Don't forget to share it with the synod too! If it isn't already listed correctly at www.semnsynod.org/webcong.html, send an e-mail to livingood at semnsynod dot org]
Make sure the keywords you are using are relevant to your congregation. Your keywords may not be the terms people are searching. Use a keyword selection tool such as wordtracker, at www.wordtracker.com for data on search term frequency and search phrases.
Link your internal pages through text links as well as your menu navigation. Remember that search engines cannot see icons or the text in them.
Do not use "frames" for navigation. Search engines simply can't index them.
If you use dropdown boxes for navigation make sure there is another way to navigate to those pages.
Avoid using a flash animation "splash" page. Search engines consider your homepage the most important page on your site. If you do not have keyword-rich content on your homepage you are missing a great opportunity.
Do not use the same titles on all your pages. Each page of your site should use one or several unique keyword themes, e.g., "Worship at St. Peter" and "About the St. Peter Lutheran Church soup kitchen."
Do not use "click here" for your hyperlink text unless you want to rank high for "click here." Search engines associate the link text with the pages you are linking to.
Remember to delete obsolete links to pages no longer on your Web site. A search result of "Page not found" is not a good recommendation for visiting your site.

If you have any questions about any of these, simply post it in the comments or e-mail me at livingood at semnsynod dot org.

Myths about Communicating Congregational Identity

2008-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

This morning's edition of The Alban Weekly, the Alban Institute's electronic newsletter, had a wonderful article dispelling some myths that congregations buy into to believe their communication is going smoothly when, in fact, they may need to be addressing some issues.

Below are the myths and the "short version" of Alban's explanation, but I really encourage you to read the whole piece.

Myth 1: We’ve got a mission statement, so we’ve figured out who we are.
A mission statement is simply one small way among many that a congregation can communicate its heart and soul. In fact, everything about a congregation communicates.

Myth 2: Our identity is rooted in our faith.
In the same way that individuals within any faith tradition bring specific gifts in service, so faith communities have particular values and emphases.

Myth 3: If we focus too much on figuring out our own identity, we may become self-absorbed.
While focusing on congregational identity all the time would definitely cause an imbalance, many congregations are already out of balance in that they focus too little on the way their actions, publications, and use of symbols communicate their priorities and the distinctiveness of who they are.

Myth 4: We don’t need to think any further about the implications of new communication technology because we already use it well.
[Using new technologies] doesn’t mean [a congregation is] communicating wisely. Congregational leaders need to consider how everything the congregation does—communication technologies as well as things like programming and the use of physical space in the building—speaks about the congregation’s priorities.

Myth 5: We’re a traditional congregation, and we have chosen not to use most of the new communication technologies. We’ve figured out our identity; it’s the same as it’s always been, so why complicate things?
All congregations need to periodically rethink and explore who they are and what they value. While I do think new communication technologies offer some wonderful opportunities for congregations, I would never suggest that congregations need to use all of them. I do argue, however, that everything congregations say and do contributes to their identity. Therefore paying some attention to the issue is wise, no matter what forms of communication are used.

Myth 6: We avoid the new technologies because we’re leery of the consumer culture, and we don’t want our congregation and even our faith to turn into yet one more consumer item.
Everything we say and do communicates what we consider to be important, and what congregations communicate about faith values shapes how members act on their faith. Therefore, from time to time, congregations need to stop and evaluate what they are communicating.

Myth 7: Our congregational values are being communicated effectively through words. Our pastor and leaders preach the sermons and put a lot of thought into the words used in our newsletter and on our website.
People are increasingly influenced by images as well as by words. With the move away from a word-based to an image-based culture, leaders of congregations need to do some careful thinking about the role of visual communication in our time.

Myth 8: We’ve got a great Web designer and newsletter editor, and our newsletter and website are terrific.
In this increasingly visual culture, forms of visual communication such as layout, photos, and graphics need to be evaluated to see if they communicate the desired message, particularly if one person is choosing most of them. I believe that all the new communication technologies have created the necessity for “critical friends,” people who understand the importance of the new forms of communication for congregations and, at the same time, are willing to look at those forms with a critical eye.

Myth 9: If your heart is in the right place, communication takes care of itself.
Just as individuals with good intentions can benefit from learning listening skills for their personal relationships and speaking skills for their oral communication, so congregations can benefit from considering the implications of the ways they communicate and what they are communicating. In this age of rapidly proliferating communication technologies, this task of evaluation is even more urgent.

"Huh" Moments on Marketing

2008-11-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

I came across a rather interesting video today (thank you Sara Masters!) that might help us look a little differently at some of our practices in the church, especially in relation to new members. This post from the Beyond Relevance blog shows the video "What if Starbucks Marketed Like the Church? A Parable." It sheds some light on what the experience of an un-churched person in a congregation may look like.

If you have any comments to share on this, I'd like to hear them. We might also talk about this at a meeting, maybe even next week!

Putting Forms Online

2008-10-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

There are many services out there that allow you to put various "participation" pieces on your website, including registration forms, surveys, etc. I haven't seen many, though, that are free.

Google, which offers MANY good, free services, offers something (for free) that can let you do many of these things that other services charge a lot of money for. Google Docs allows you to manage information online in ways like sharing and asking others for contributions. This can work for registration forms, feedback, surveys, all kinds of stuff. What Google Docs DOES with the information is more limited, but some may find it more useful.

I would recommend starting with a "form" as this is what I see the most use for in congregations. I haven't played around with it a lot yet, but there are probably lots of other fun things you can do with it too.

One example of Google Docs being used is the feedback page for the new ELCA.org. If you go to www.ELCA.org/feedback you'll see what they've done with it. I believe they are receiving a spreadsheet (like an Excel table) with the data people input. It is also possible to embed the form in a page of your own website to carry through the look/feel of your site and not direct to another URL.

To embed a form, just click on the "More Options" button when you're designing your form. This will generate some code that you can enter into your webpage wherever you want it. Note this isn't what you use as a LINK. You'll see a URL to use as a link at the bottom of the page when you're designing the form.

Have fun with this. There are lots of options with this!

Time for a Fall Check-Up

2008-09-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

As a horseback riding instructor, I sometimes ask my students to do a "body check" - mentally go over there entire body position to see if everything is where it should be. How does this apply to you? I think it's time for all of us to take a few minutes and go over the whole website, newsletter, bulletin, and anything else you might publish regularly to check for inconsistencies.

I'm very guilty of updating something, but not catching every place I need to fix it. This "sin" of communication lost a congregation some offering dollars this weekend (don't worry, it wasn't around here!). While visiting friends, we were going to visit a congregation. We looked at websites of potential candidates and found one we liked - nice site, appealing upcoming events, looked like they had good priorities in their community. The "Sundays" tab listed their worship at 8:30 and 10:00. We show up at 9:50 and the sign says 10:45. Our plans changed and when we got home we checked the site again. On the homepage the correct worship times were listed, but we hadn't noticed them on the homepage.

This fall, now that we've returned to a different worship schedule, a different collection of programs (including Sunday School), or whatever other changes may have happened, let's take a minute to check our information and make sure it's all in good order.

Tip on Switching Presentations in PowerPoint

2008-09-22T07:38:00.001-07:00

At our recent meeting on using PowerPoint in worship, the question was raised, "What is the best way to switch between presentations?" If you don't want to have the whole congregation watching you as you close your announcements and open up the worship service, check out these tips from Rev. Dave Berg, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minn.:

"Black screen is an option, and most remotes for projectors will be able to 'freeze' the slide that is on the screen and go real time when you are ready.

"For something quick you can hit 'alt tab' to toggle between shows… or merge the shows together. If you have multiple feeds (additional pc’s, dvd players, cameras, etc) you can use a 'switcher box' which will set you out about 30 bucks at Best Buy.

"Ultimately, I think churches need to start using Media Shout and other software designed more for this sort of thing. What we do with PowerPoint is try to adapt it to the worship situation where these issues happen, rather than something like Media Shout, where it is designed specifically for churchy stuff."

Thanks Dave!

Save the Orphans - A Simple Newsletter Tip

2008-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

I was reminded yesterday - by experience and directly - that we're not all at the same place in our skills. While the following may be very basic for many of you, I just saw this error in a newsletter the other day.

Don't leave orphans! In publishing, this means that you shouldn't let your computer break the page or column in an bad place, leaving just a phrase, word or few words, or even a few lines on the next page. Unless there is substantial content, a reader shouldn't have to flip to read the end of the story.

The example I saw had a number of short, single paragraph announcements throughout. Often three lines would be on one page, two on the next. Bad idea!

If you're designing in Word and it's all continuous text, you can insert a page or column break (Insert > Break > choose which one you want) rather than hitting all the enters if you want. This also gives some added protection against creating a bigger mess if you go back and add things prior to the break.

Basic rule - If it doesn't make sense to read at a quick glance, you did something wrong!

ELCA Constant Contact Link

2008-09-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

In the last post I talked about the ELCA arrangement with Constant Contact, but didn't give you the link to the partnership page. If you're interested in that partnership go to elca.constantcontact.com.

Thoughts on Constant Contact

2008-09-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

If you were at the recent Synod Communicators' Workshop or if you've ever looked at the bottom of one of my mass e-mails, you've probably heard of Constant Contact, an e-mail marketing service. I don't usually want to use this as an ad space - and since I'm not getting paid to talk about them, it's not really an ad anyway - but I did want to share the benefits of an e-mail marketing service and some additional ones that apply specifically to Constant Contact.

These services allow you to send to as many people as you want at one time. Many e-mail providers limit how many you can send (so spammers don't use their service).
They do the work to help you not get marked as junk mail.
Most provide easy ways to manage your lists and let the subscribers subscribe, unsubscribe, and change their information all on their own.
You usually get very helpful statistics. The ones I like from Constant contact include open rates, which links people click on (and how frequently), bounce information, number of times forwarded, etc.
You can jazz up your e-mails from their templates and also include your own photos/images to make their stuff your own.
Pricing varies enough that you don't pay the same amount as someone sending to tens of thousands of subscribers. Pricing structures do vary by service, so find one that's right for you.
The service can be accessed from anywhere, any time, by anyone - not tied to one computer.
You can set up e-mails to send at any time, not only "right now."
You can create different lists so not everyone gets every message. They can even subscribe themselves to which ones they want.
And the list goes on...

And an added benefit to Constant Contact exclusively...

The ELCA has entered into a partnership with them and is just now coming out with an e-mail template (it looks similar to the new design of ELCA.org) and will eventually grow the offerings to include things like pre-inserted content. There is no price break, but you do get these extras at no additional cost.

Let me know if you have specific questions!

Give Your Website an Icon!

2008-08-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when you visit some sites (including this one!) you see a little icon next to the web address? You also see this icon if you save the address to your desktop or favorites.

Guess what - you can do that too!

The first thing you need is an image usually 16 pixels by 16 pixels that you want to become the shortcut icon. You can create one from an image you already have with any number of applications out there. There are even some online (free) services, such as http://www.graphicsguru.com/favicon.php.

Once you have this icon, you must name it "favicon.ico" and put it on your server, and note the URL of where it resides (i.e. http://www.yourdomain.com/images/favicon.ico). Generally, this will be your web address, then a "/", and then the file name. You'll have more folder names and "/"s if it's in a folder somewhere, like the images folder in the example URL.

Then you must add this line of code to your homepage, between the head tags*:

LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="http://www.yourdomain.org/favicon.ico"
(to make the text show up, I removed the < > so put the whole line between those two symbols, and obviously change the URL to the URL of your image)

* If you're using Frontpage, Dreamweaver, etc. there should be a way to view the HTML code (if you don't edit your own site and you use Lutherans Online or something like that, you probably cannot do this). When viewing the HTML code, look for the two "tags" toward the top that read head and /head (each within a pair of < >). The above code needs to be between those somewhere, but not inside of another pair of tags (a pair is like the head tags sample with the two brackets and the end one has the "/").

And that's it!

Thanks to Len Mason of ELCA Communication Services for posting that on LutherLink once upon a time!

Healthy Meeting Tips

2008-08-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this may not be specifically about communication, but I know many of you either host or set up for meetings. The ELCA Board of Pensions provides the following tips to keep your meetings healthy to either fit in with participants' lifestyles or set a good example for healthy living.

Include a variety of food choices throughout the day. Ask that food be prepared with low-fat ingredients. Include fresh fruits and vegetables with each meal and snack.
Ask for smaller portion sizes of foods like bagels, cookies and muffins. Serve sauces, dressings and condiments on the side.
Provide water or 100 percent juice rather than soda.
Think about the environment - provide reusable water containers rather than bottled water.
Encourage participants to stretch and walk between sessions.
Provide stress-reduction activities, such as deep breathing or Bishop Murray Fink's Stretch & Pray exercises.
Provide ample time for rest and relaxation - be cognizant of the amount of information the mind can absorb at one time.
Challenge participants to listen to new ideas and ways of thinking.
Encourage participants to seek out new conversations and social interactions.
Provide time for prayer, thanksgiving and listening to God.

God's Work. Our Hands. - Go with it!

2008-08-08T12:39:00.001-07:00

By now you've probably seen the tag line, "God's work, Our hands." in ELCA materials, including the new design of ELCA.org, at least I hope so! If you're looking for a new way to present your congregation, or even if you're not looking but are willing to think about it, consider using the redesigned emblem/tag line.

Kristi Bangert, Executive Director for Communication Services for the ELCA, says that some congregations question whether they can use this tag line or whether it "belongs" only to the churchwide expression of the ELCA. Her answer, "This is yours, you are the ELCA."

Materials will become available for more ways to integrate this into your congregation's identity. At this time there are standards in the ELCA graphics standards regarding use of the ELCA emblem and tag line. It is asked that you follow these guidelines for consistency. Note that in the entire manual is available at the bottom of www.ELCA.org/emblem and there is a portion that specifically addresses use for each expression of the ELCA, including congregations (click here for the PDF).

"God's work, our hands," is something that ELCA Communication Services is very excited about. They hope that this will be adopted throughout the ELCA and they tell us it is not expected to change in a few years and many fear it might.

Go to www.ELCA.org/love for more information.

Content Suggestion - Seminarians

2008-07-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

I receive many congregational newsletters and, though I don't read them word-for-word, I do flip through them all. Usually I skip the pastor's page as they all tend to be fairly similar. The other day, though, I saw a great one. Rev. Cindy Fisher-Broin, Spring Garden Lutheran Church, Cannon Falls, Minn., had actually taken the time to interview a seminarian their congregation is supporting and that interview was her pastor's article.

At the 2007 Synod Assembly, a resolution was passed to encourage support of seminarians. If your congregation is currently supporting a seminarian, or generically supports seminarian education without a specific individual in mind, talking with a student is a great way to share with the congregation where their money is going. Asking things like what is seminary life like, what do you study, what happens during your time in seminary, what are joys/struggles for you during this time, etc. are all wonderful places to start.

If your congregation is not already supporting a seminarian, there are paths of support available that often begin by speaking with advocates for the seminarians. As a result of the resolution, an advocate from each of the synod's five conferences was identified and they are available to talk about support options and why support is important.

Your advocates or the synod office can help you get in touch with seminarians if needed.

This can also work well for students you may be supporting at ELCA colleges, children sponsored through a support program, missionaries, etc.

Make Signs Count

2008-07-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

Unless you're new to your community, you probably barely notice the signs around your church. As a person still fairly new to southeastern Minnesota and even newer to the community in which I now live, I can guarantee that they are not unimportant to other people. Rev. Linda Gunderson, synod minister, wrote a River Crossings column on the subject of signage because of how important she feels it is.

I also came across a blog post from Church Relevance that might give you some useful tips. The most important one is location. One suggestion from the post is:

You’ve got to get up and walk around, asking yourself with every step: What will visitors be doing here? Where will their eyes be focused when they stand here? And what will they be thinking about over there?

Summarizing the rest of the tips is basically keeping it simple and visual so people get the idea quick. A full reading may only be 2-3 seconds - will they get the idea that quickly?

Read the post for more tips...

How We Read Online

2008-06-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've seen things online before about how people read online that I just CAN'T focus on.

How am I supposed to believe someone who can't follow their own advice?

I'll admit that writing for the web isn't my strong suit, which is why I might print this article by Michael Agger and read it over and over.

The article I'm talking about highlights the things we need to do to make our online information readable. This is essential to any of you working on your congregation's website. I would argue that it's also important for those writing for print. A few tips:

Bulleted lists
Bold print
Helpful headings
Short paragraphs

are some of the things that are also important for print. My belief is that print reading habits (at least in information-gathering reading, not pleasure reading) are moving in the direction of web reading.

The biggest problem with the article in reference is that it is rather long in screen space. If you can make it past the point where the author admits he probably is losing readers, you can make it through the whole thing and pick up some helpful tips.

Check it out now.

In case you don't - my number one tip having read it:

People are sniffing out real information online, don't focus on the fluff!