Month: January 2023

Who Communications

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Looks like God has given me a theme: who, what, where, why, and how. Maybe not necessarily in that order.

“Who” could really cover a wide range. You’re building communications platforms for both the public and your private church family (your church members).

Let’s go back to my why (read my previous blog post)

It probably won’t shock you to know that my focus tends to be on outward facing communications. Website and social media platforms are geared specifically towards the public, usually those outside the church.

Admittedly, I’m less gifted when it comes to internal communications. This looks like helping your church members know what’s happening (when is summer camp and what’s the deadline to sign up?).

This also looks like helping people take next steps (which I do love), like finding a small group or a place to serve.

So our church started 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Many churches do this. I think it’s a good thing.

Then our Pastor wanted it everywhere — on all social platforms.

Nope. Our public isn’t gonna get it. They’ll think we’re crazy. I mean, we are a little bit, but we don’t promote that – ummm – publicly.

But as I’m just a volunteer, I usually just do whatever the staff tells me to do without giving too much pushback.

So I’m posting videos and prayers to all platforms and wouldn’t you know it — God is working in me.

Our reach (reaching people) is lower. But our engagement (mostly our church members) is increasing. Not every day but many.

This means we’re serving the body of Christ well. This means our church is growing spiritually.

And while the marketer in me is still a little cringing, the church member in me is learning more each day what it means to serve our church and watch our church family grow.

And I can’t think of a better way to serve our community.

Crushed, Broken, and Defeated

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Sometimes you’re just there.

Crushed.

Broken.

Defeated.

I get the fantastic privilege at our family’s church of hosting our live stream.

I also get to help build a communications team – this team eventually will lead our church in multiple areas of communications, but for this post, I’ll stay laser focused on hosting the Sunday morning livestream.

While livestream hosting could certainly be simply welcoming people, and keeping the convo rolling – that’s really just a small piece of it.

It’s so much more.

It’s knowing who is online and why.

Are they church members sick or traveling?

Are they online previewing to see if they might make an in-person visit?

Studies show that people “attend” an online church service — or otherwise engage with a church online — 5-6 times before visiting a church in person.

Your online presence is a big front door.

As an online hosts you get to know people — I’ve heard churches refer to people online as their online congregation.

And while nothing can compare to the in person experience, I do want the people online with me each week to know they are a valuable and integral part of our church. And I want them to know they have a real, in-person, online host, not a chatbot.

A host that cares for them.

For myself — and for any new host who comes on board — I go to great lengths to set up our livestream host tools.

Public notes.

Host notes.

Copy and paste ready prayer prompts for a host.

Names of people being recognized — for baptism or child dedication.

I even have a copy and paste ready host sign off note.

I have a spreadsheet of how many people each week are on each of our streaming platforms.

Why? People need Jesus and we have platforms available to us to share the gospel.

That’s why.

But then there’s production.

And I know just enough about production to know that I don’t know enough about production.

I know what a stream key is.

I know the difference between a link and an embed code.

I know the difference between real live and simulated live.

I know what an encoder is. And why we need one.

I know just enough.

But not enough.

We have a rock solid producer. She’s amazing!

But then there’s the hardware.

And the last two weeks our computer has died.

Shut down. Restart. Blue screen of death. No power. Done. Died. Dead.

No livestream.

No post service video editing. No app updates. No YouTube updates. No sermon clips.

No engaging with our people online.

No sharing the gospel outside the four walls of our church.

And yes, there is absolutely no substitute for the in-person experience.

But still.

As a leader, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d let people down.

I’d left my team unequipped.

The live-stream hosst: what do I do when the stream stops?

The post-service video editor: There is no video to edit. How can I help? What can I do?

I felt — in a small way — responsible for letting our viewers down.

I know it wasn’t my fault.

Believe me. I know this.

Logic tells me it’s not me.

But my heart hurts.

As a leader, when people are hurting, you take that hit.

And it hits.

Hard.

Disappointment. Hurt. Stoic resolve. Determination.

And then one person posted in our church’s private Facebook group.

…question? What’s going on with our online service? I keep hearing negative feedback from viewers…

And in that moment, disappointment quickly drifted.

Crushed.

Broken.

Defeated.

But not hanging on a cross.

Jesus did that for me.

Will we try again this Sunday?

Yes. We will.

We will fail?

We hope not. We believe.

I told my team this week, Church Communications isn’t easy, but serving our congregation and community always…ALWAYS…makes it 100% worth it.

Crushed.

Broken.

Defeated.

But not hanging on a cross.

Jesus did that for me.

Why Communications?

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Let’s be real— communications can be challenging. So how did I get here and why, despite the challenges, do I love it?

It goes back to my first loves – first impressions and next steps.

I love first impressions (or guest services). I’ve spent countless hours and personal funds on conferences, classes, and books on the subject.

I love next steps. Everyone is always growing. Daily, you’re becoming more like Christ or more like the world.

I love the process. I love to see people go from first time guest to leading a ministry. The Christian growth process never ceases to amaze me.

So there I was serving as a Next Steps Director at a local church and as part of that I was the Master Admin of our church management software.

This glorious tool that helped me see where people were. Sort of like the domino’s pizza tracker, but for people. From first time guest to serving. From serving to leading. From first time guest to small group. I ran weekly reports, personally followed up with people, met people for coffee, and did whatever I could to make sure people connected.

Then I began to hear stories and saw a theme. How did you hear about us?

Through Facebook. Through an internet search.

So I took a step back to look through their lens. And I began to see connections between the database and our website.

Parts of our database were publicly accessible. We could lock them down or use this to our advantage.

Because I had a background in marketing and design, I began to work closely with our marketing and graphic design team, and with our website volunteer.

I remember posting online one day that I was putting more thought into our website colors and fonts and I wasn’t sure what that made me. My friend replied, “that makes you a church communicator.”

Hmmm….okay.

Around the same time, I took my kids to a restaurant for lunch. It was the type of restaurant that has booths on one side and counter seating on the other.

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that every person at the counter was on their phone. Every one.

What content are they consuming? What are they looking at? And how do we get our church – and the Word of God in front of them?

I began to see the Internet as a mission field. I sought out books on church communications, joined Facebook groups, studied other church structures and cultures, and attended conferences. Usually – but not always – on my own time and my own dime.

It’s been crazy. Aggravating at times. Tears have flowed both from joy and sadness. It’s sometimes lonely, yet I’ve made my best friends.

A few weeks ago someone walked by the computer at church and stopped, “I didn’t even know you were there.”

It’s okay. Most people don’t.

On social media, we’re reaching thousands some weeks. Hundreds other weeks, but that’s the nature of communications.

I see heat maps, click rates, open rates, reach and share data, and other back end metrics.

And I know we’re doing more than marketing our events. We’re sharing the gospel and helping people connect with our church. We’re helping people take a step from an internet search to an in person connection.

And that’s why communications.