It’s been said time and time again that the center of every healthy relationship is good communication. It’s true for marriage, it’s true for friendships, and it’s true for your church family. However, is there such a thing as too much communication?
You’d probably agree that your church members are being communicated to in countless numbers of ways. And I don’t mean that in a negative way towards your church; the reality is most of this communication isn’t even coming from your church…and most of it is just noise.
Let’s take a look at a common scenario with which your congregation is all too familiar. Their first interaction of the day is usually from their alarm clock screaming at them, communicating that it’s finally time to get up after that 3rd press of the snooze button. On their commute to work, they see endless numbers of billboards or hear the same radio commercial for the 10th time.
They’re endlessly checking emails throughout the day or getting different types of news information on their phones. They’re getting bombarded by social media posts from friends or others they follow. And by the time they finally make it home, their televisions are yelling at them about what to buy, what to watch, and how they should live their lives.
It all just becomes too much, doesn’t it? If you’re a pastor, a communications director, or any other staff member who has to get their message out in a meaningful way, how do you do that without it getting lost in the rest of the noise?
Churches that use Realm ministry management tools for communication are solving that problem in a few ways.
First, a “one size fits all” approach to church communication never works. Your congregation is unique; they want to receive your message in a way that’s conducive to their schedule and lifestyle.
Realm ministry management platform allows them to choose how and when they want to be communicated to by your church. For example, someone might want to be notified as soon as your content is created, and they want to be notified via text. Others might want to read your content later in the day and get those notifications from email or via the Realm Connect church mobile app. Either way, you’re providing a way for your congregation to stay informed in a way that’s most beneficial to them.
Secondly, how often would you say that information is communicated to the entire church when it’s intended for a small group of people? If that’s happening in your church, there’s a term for that; it’s called “communication overload.” It happens when someone is flooded with emails, text messages, or other content, especially when it isn’t a concern.
For example, if your senior men’s ministry is meeting in a different room tomorrow, is it necessary to inform the entire church – including young men and women – about that? Don’t spend precious time giving your congregation information that won’t help them grow.
Instead, focus on your specific audience, and the information will be more meaningful to them.
Churches using Realm can create groups – such as a senior men’s group – and communicate with them directly. Those individuals can receive that content in a way that’s comfortable to them. Plus, you won’t be overloading others with unnecessary communications.
Lastly, we’ve all heard the saying, “less is more.” I think most of us would agree that having five quality friendships is probably better than 10 at an arm’s length. This expression could be used as a model for your communications as well.
We’ve already discussed how much “noise communication” your congregation receives daily and how you can combat that with meaningful, targeted communications. There’s another way you can manage that as well.
Question for you – how often do you, your pastors, or others who manage communications find themselves needing to get a message out to a group of people where you’d prefer not to manage responses? A common example might be that you’re closing off a part of your church for renovations. Content like this is informational and you don’t need that back-and-forth conversation. Plus, your congregation isn’t interested in getting slammed by yet another lengthy communication chain.
Churches that use Realm can solve this by turning off comments to certain posts. Next time you need to get a message out that is informational, simply turn off the “Allow Comments” option to easily create information-only communications. However, if you need comments but want them to be sent to the sender directly so as to not spam your people, you can certainly do that as well. Either way, you’ll allow your congregation to stay on top of new information in your church without them – or you – being bombarded by unnecessary communications.
This is just a small look at how Realm’s communication tools can not only streamline your communications and make them more effective but also prevent the “communication overload” your church family is undoubtedly feeling daily. To find out more information on how Realm can help your church communicate in better ways, check out our website to learn more.
David is an Associate Product Marketing Manager and has been an ACS Technologies team member since 2011.
