PR MATTERS: A Survival Guide for Church Communicators

Copyright © 2017 by Justin J. Dean. Published by DOXA Media Group, LLC.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may
be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the
author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews
with proper attribution credited.

ISBN: 0692862676
ISBN-13: 978-0692862674

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017909376

First Edition: 2017

For more information please visit the author’s website at justinjdean.com

For bulk orders please visit churchprbook.com

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy

Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing

ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Author Photo: Heidi Dean

Cover Design: Xavier Jones
 WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
“In many churches, communication is completed by volunteers or paid staff
that believe they can do in the church world what is done in the business
world. The Church is not a business, so this thinking is a mistake. Having
led both churches and companies, church communication is a different
animal in a totally different world. Justin’s book helps provide insight
needed to be successful in the church world.

There are probably only a handful of people in the world with Justin Dean’s
experience of overseeing 582k Twitter followers, 320k Facebook followers,
250k weekly website visitors, and 100k weekly podcasters. The hard lessons
he has learned and put into this book are a blessing. I urge all pastors and
church leaders to read this book.”
- Sutton Turner (@suttonturner),
Former Executive Elder & Executive Pastor, Mars Hill Church

"Justin knows communication. He not only led communication through one

of the most difficult moments in the church in the last 20 years, but he has
coached leaders in great seasons as well. If you want to understand church
communications, you need to listen to Justin Dean."
- Carey Nieuwhof (@cnieuwhof),
Best-Selling Author and Founding Pastor of Connexus Church

“By far; the most-current, most-relevant read for anyone wanting their
church to weather a crap storm. Oh look! The clouds are on the horizon. This
book is your umbrella.”
- Mark MacDonald (@markmac1023),
Strategic Communication Catalyst, Florida Baptist Convention
Best-Selling Author, Be Known for Something
“Justin is a church communications practitioner at heart, and PR Matters
gets right to the point with practical tips that will help your church—no
matter the size. I'm so glad he has chosen to share so many valuable insights
in this book, so that other churches can learn from his many years of
experiences.”
- Dave Adamson (@aussiedave),
Social Media & Online Pastor, North Point Ministries

“Justin has a big heart for helping churches communicate better. Which is
admirable considering what he has gone through. PR Matters is full of
practical advice that your church can't afford to ignore.”
- Tim Schraeder (@timschraeder),
Church Communications Specialist

“Too many churches don’t realize the importance of PR until it’s too late.
Other churches have simply delegated control of their PR to people who
don’t understand the importance, or the ways in which it is changing.

Every church will learn from Justin's deep understanding and background in
PR. Make PR Matters the one book your church leadership reads this year.
The practical knowledge they will walk away with is truly priceless and will
transform your church’s communications.”
- Justin Brackett (@justinthesouth),
Digital Communications Director, Seacoast Church

Read more at churchprbook.com

 #PRMATTERS
Contents

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 9
WHAT IS PR & WHY DOES IT MATTER?............................ 15
THE MESS WE ARE IN ............................................................. 25
TEN TRAITS OF A PR PERSON .............................................. 39
GOOD DISCERNMENT ................................................................. 43
TRUSTWORTHY ........................................................................... 48
THICK SKINNED .......................................................................... 50
ADVENTUROUS ........................................................................... 52
HUMBLE ..................................................................................... 53
CRITICAL THINKER..................................................................... 54
GOOD WRITER ............................................................................ 55
SOCIABLE ................................................................................... 56
INFORMED .................................................................................. 57
DEDICATED................................................................................. 58
CREATING A PR PLAN............................................................. 60
SET YOUR PR GOALS ................................................................. 62
COMMUNICATIONS GUIDE ......................................................... 65
COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS .................................................. 66
CREATE AN FAQ ........................................................................ 68
RELATIONSHIPS MATTER ..................................................... 70
PRESS & MEDIA.......................................................................... 72
BLOGGERS .................................................................................. 80
OTHER CHURCHES ...................................................................... 83
YOUR COMMUNITY .................................................................... 84
THOUGHT LEADERS.................................................................... 88
PROXIMITY MATTERS ................................................................ 88
THE POWER OF THE PRESS .................................................. 94
PITCHING A STORY ..................................................................... 97
INTERVIEWING TIPS.................................................................. 102
HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE .............................................. 117
THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ........................................ 122
SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY FOR A CHURCH .................... 140
ENGAGE & ENRAGE .............................................................. 146
ACCEPTING CRITICISM ............................................................. 148
 SAMPLE COMMENT POLICY ..................................................... 154
HOW TO AVOID BURNOUT ....................................................... 159
CONTENT ON CONTENT ON CONTENT ........................... 162
4 WAYS TO STRETCH YOUR SUNDAY SERMON........................ 164
LOOK BEYOND THE SERMON ................................................... 171
CRISIS PLANNING .................................................................. 174
WHAT IS A CRISIS? ................................................................... 176
FORM A CRISIS TEAM ............................................................... 177
DOCUMENT A PLAN .................................................................. 179
ANTICIPATE COMMON CRISIS SCENARIOS ............................... 180
STAY INFORMED ....................................................................... 183
PREPARING A PR BRIEF ............................................................ 184
KEEP YOUR PLAN UPDATED .................................................... 186
READY-TO-USE CRISIS PLAN.............................................. 189
CHURCH CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ............................... 194
BEFORE A CRISIS...................................................................... 196
DURING A CRISIS ...................................................................... 198
ACTIVE CRISIS WORKSHEET .................................................... 202
CRISIS CHECKLIST .................................................................... 205
AFTER A CRISIS ........................................................................ 206
CHURCH CRISIS MANAGEMENT POLICY .................................. 207
LOCAL CAMPUS CRISIS PLAN................................................... 213
GO JUMP OFF A CLIFF .......................................................... 215
DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK PERKS ....................................... 219
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ............................................................ 221
 DEDICATION
To all church communicators serving in the trenches, in a role
that no one understands or appreciates.
I’m with you, and I’m for you.

To Heidi. For bearing more than your share of the burden, but
always making it seem like we’re serving together. I love you.
 #PRMATTERS

INTRODUCTION
I wrote this book for church communicators. People in the
trenches and on the frontline, managing social media accounts
and blogs and websites, and helping reach the world with the
message of their church - the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Maybe you're a communications manager at a big church in

Texas. Or a social media manager at a small church in Ohio.
The media probably leaves you alone. You can make an
innocent joke from stage and not worry about people freaking
out. You can hold strong biblical beliefs on controversial topics
and not get your windows smashed in. Your church is growing.
Everyone loves your pastor. It's all sunshine and lollipops.

Now put yourself in my shoes for a minute. I was head of

communications & public relations for a large conservative
church in one of the most liberal areas in America, with one of
the heaviest populations of unchurched people - Seattle,
Washington.

Have you ever been to Seattle? There’s no sunshine.

And lollipops are made of high fructose corn syrup, so

definitely none of those in Seattle either. Unless it's a sugar-
free, gluten-free, free-range, locally-sourced peace-pop.

You think I'm kidding?

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JUSTIN DEAN

I've been in the trenches just like you. I call them trenches,
because we are in a very real war, whether you realize it yet or
not. The rest of America may not be like hostile Seattle right
now, but it's headed there fast. And it's happening so subtly and
covertly that it's going to sneak up on you. You’re probably
already embracing it and you don’t even realize it. I fear that
you and your church are not going to be prepared. You may feel
safe now. But it’s going to get tough, and I fear that in order to
survive, you’ll adapt to the world around you rather than stand
up to lead it.

I’m not saying we were the only ones who had it rough. I’m
sure you've seen persecution and experienced trials as a church
and as a Christian. If you haven't then you're doing something
wrong. I’m not trying to say it's easy everywhere other than
Seattle. I'm just saying there is nothing really like it, and the rest
of world is quickly catching up. Try all you might to top my
stories, but you’ll fail.

It was tough enough trying to do ministry in a place that is

always wet, dark, and depressing. But the people we were trying
to reach in Seattle were inherently averse to Christianity. They
were very active in stopping any kind of biblical preaching from
occurring in their city, where ironically you can be anyone you
want to be and do whatever you want to do, except preach the
gospel. We constantly took hits at our church, but for many
years we grew at an incredible pace, which can only be
attributed to God’s grace.

Until one day we took one hit too many, and it knocked us
down. We couldn’t rebuild fast enough to hold off the next hit,

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and we weren’t prepared to weather so many storms at once.

You might be prepared for a hypothetical storm or two at

your church, but are you prepared for a big one? When we got
hit with a little extra pressure, we buckled. Things imploded.
We weren’t prepared.

The truth is we were too naive and maybe a little too

arrogant to think we could sink. We didn’t have a plan because
we didn’t think we needed one. As many times as I saw Titanic
in the theaters, you’d think we would have known better, but
we didn’t.

I don’t want your church to suffer the same fate that we did.
We ultimately closed our doors for good because we had no
other choice. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give to get back
to where we were, on the forefront of a resurgence. Leaders in
a movement with a platform that had incredible influence and
potential - and we were just getting started.

I want to help you grow the platform God has given you,
and help prepare you to protect and defend it so you aren’t ever
forced to give it up. That's the goal of this book - to prepare you.

You may think that what happened to us will never happen

to you. I pray it never does. But every month I talk with
churches who are one step away from a fatal blow because they
have no plan. Every year a new megachurch loses a pastor, and
the whole world sees them fumble through how to communicate
about it while still trying to love and serve their people well.

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JUSTIN DEAN

My desire is that within these pages you’ll find practical

help and hope for your church. I’m not a public relations expert
or a communications guru. I’m nobody. Google my name and
you’ll wonder why anyone would buy a book by this guy,
especially one about church PR.

But if you’ve read this far then you know there’s something
to learn, and that’s all I want for you. That you’ll be able to
learn from my experiences and be able to apply the things I’m
going to teach you so that your church can not only avoid the
mistakes I’ve made, but that you’ll be able to reach more people
than ever with the message of the gospel.

Because the message we have, the story we have to tell, it’s

too important. You owe it to yourself, and to the people you are
trying to reach, to make sure you are in the best position to
effectively and consistently reach the most people.

Perhaps in the role you’re in you feel like it’s not up to you.
You don’t make the decisions, you just do as you’re told.
Maybe no one even understands what your role is, or how
important it is. You might be a volunteer and don’t feel
empowered. Or if you’re on staff, I’m sure you’re underpaid
and wearing too many hats as it is.

Those are all excuses though. You matter. God has you in
the role you are in for a reason. Just because others don’t see
the value of your role, doesn’t take away from the reality that
effective communications and marketing are vital for a church
to reach people in today’s world.

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 #PRMATTERS

PR matters. It’s what helps tell your story. It’s not about
covering up or spinning the truth. PR is about aligning the truth
with the perception of the public so that you can clearly and
effectively point people to Christ.

PR is everything, and your church doesn’t get to dismiss it,

because you’re already doing it whether it’s part of your job
description or not.

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JUSTIN DEAN

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 #PRMATTERS

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS PR & WHY

DOES IT MATTER?

“Everything you do or say is public relations.”

- Someone smarter than me

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JUSTIN DEAN

Whether you like it or not we are all in public relations. You,

the lead pastor, the coordinator, your admin, the community
group leader, and all of your church members.

Someone, somewhere, once said, “Everything you do or say

is public relations.” I couldn’t agree more. I would also add that
in today’s world, anything you don’t do and don’t say is also
public relations.

When it comes down to it, what matters most about PR is

actually not what you say, but rather what others say about you.
Everything you do and don’t do is perceived by someone else
in a certain way. It doesn’t matter so much what you meant, or
how you feel, or what your intention was. The best marketing
and advertising in the world doesn’t matter if people don’t
understand the message.

What matters most is how people perceive it and how they

feel about you because of it. What gets repeated and posted on
social media, and told to their friends, is what they think you
said - not necessarily what you actually said or meant.

Jean-Louis Gassee, a former Apple executive, defines it this

way: “Advertising is saying you’re good. PR is getting someone
else to say you’re good.”

And another smart man, Stuart Ewen said, “The history of

PR is… a history of a battle for what is reality and how people
will see and understand what is reality.”

The job of a public relations person is to manage perception

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in order to establish the best possible reputation for a person,

company, or as we’ll focus on in this book, a church. The reason
we want to manage people’s perceptions is so that we can align
it with reality, and earn their trust. That trust leads to
conversations about Jesus.

It is important for you to realize that you are already in

public relations whether you want to be or not, and that your
church needs to have an organized strategy in place to properly
manage PR. Ideally this responsibility would fall on the plate of
a Public Relations Manager or a Communications Director, but
someone needs to own it.

The position and title can vary from church to church, but
the important thing is that someone needs to be tasked with the
responsibility of managing communications that affect the
church’s reputation and relationship with the public. Creating a
positive perception of your church in the community provides
a critical foundation for all other communication, so this is a
very important role that shouldn’t be overlooked or pawned off
to a volunteer.

If you’re reading this book, chances are you are this person.
That’s right, I just added one more thing onto your plate that
I’m sure is already overflowing. Maybe you’re an admin, or a
coordinator, or maybe you’re the Lead Pastor. The church
world is much like a start-up - everyone’s overworked, you’re
understaffed and under resourced. So adding PR to your already
long list of duties might seem like an unnecessary burden. But
remember, as I just said, you’re already doing it. It’s already on
your plate. Now that you’re aware of it, I can help you do it

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JUSTIN DEAN

better.

The nice thing is, you don’t have to shoulder all the weight
by yourself. You or someone needs to lead the strategy, but the
entire process needs to be a team effort.

Everyone in your church should be mindful of public

relations, but leaving the decision making and strategy to a
committee, or letting each manager handle his or her own
communications, can lead to missed opportunities at the least,
and a mismanaged crisis at the worst.

The opportunity is too great for this not to be the focus of

someone in your organization. My friend Maggie Barragan,
who currently heads up social media for Rock Church in San
Diego, said at one of our conferences, “The church should be
the good in the news.”

When someone sees a positive story in secular news or on

social media about your church, that’s a huge victory and a
massive opportunity to reach people who need to know Jesus.
The church is the hope of the world, and we need to get better
at shining light on that fact.

Pastor Greg Laurie, who leads Harvest Crusades and

Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California, said in a
recent sermon, “We live in a time of bad news, fake news,
divisive news, and depressing news. As Christians, we need to
recommit ourselves to getting the Good News out.”

Are you actively promoting your church and the gospel

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message to the public? Is your church actively pursuing

opportunities to be in the news? Perhaps the thought of even
responding to reporters makes you fearful and uneasy.

I understand that it’s scary. But the more prepared you are,
the easier it gets. Missing great opportunities to expose your
church to new audiences is unfortunate, but the real scary part
is not being prepared when your church is faced with a negative
story.

Most people think of PR when a crisis hits. And frankly, by

then it’s too late. I often get calls from pastors and leaders at
churches who are faced with their first crisis and don’t know
what to do. A pastor sleeps with someone he shouldn’t sleep
with, or someone is accused of something they say they didn’t
do, or protestors show up on a Sunday and no one has a plan. It
could be as small as a negative comment on a social media post,
but left unattended turns into a nightmare distraction.

While I love that my experience has led me to be able to

help churches in need, I dread those calls. I don’t mind helping
- in fact, I love it. But more often than not, the church on the
other end of the call isn’t prepared and there’s not much time to
do anything about it.

There’s only so much you can do at that point to minimize

the damage and control the story.

And that’s what PR is all about. Controlling the story. But

not in the way you may be thinking. It’s about keeping the
narrative in the right lane. It’s about building relationships and

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JUSTIN DEAN

constantly having conversations that continue to tell our story

and point people to what matters - Jesus.

We can’t just do good and expect everyone to understand

why, or even to notice. We have to tell them we did good, and
why we did it. Through relationships and conversations, we can
earn people’s trust and respect so they’ll talk about it and help
spread our message.

Ultimately, we want people to understand who we truly are

so that we open up more opportunities to tell them the truth
about Jesus. But there will be times when others will be actively
trying to show that you are something else. Whether it’s
reporters, or bloggers, or protestors, lawmakers and politicians,
or people who have been hurt by the church, they’ll try to eat
away at your credibility and make it harder for you to stay on
mission.

It takes someone who can actively craft the message to stay

within the right context, amidst ever changing situations and
attacks. That person also needs to be constantly building
relationships, because only through real conversations and
mutual respect between people do perceptions begin to change.

My friend Steven Dilla has found in all his research

studying churches and people’s behaviors, that people convert
to community before they convert to Christ. Conversions and
spiritual growth happen through relationships with each other.
People come to church because they are invited. They stick
around because they become known and start to feel like they
belong. And they grow as disciples only once they believe.

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 #PRMATTERS

We don’t want to control the story so we can deceive and

hide the truth from people. We want to control the story so we
can make sure the truth stays in the light. Because it’s the truth
that will get them to trust us, become one of us, and ultimately
lead them to Christ.

It can be a complex responsibility to own. There’s a lot of

room for abuse and mistakes. Namely, our own sinful desire to
be liked and avoid conflict can tempt us to change the story or
leave a part of the story out. Fear of man can tempt us to make
mistakes we’ll later regret. When we do make mistakes, the best
thing we can do is own up to it, not try to hide it.

PR gets a bad rap because so many politicians and people

in the business world have used it to try and hide their mistakes,
or the mistakes of others. The PR team is called in to keep a
story out of the news, by lying and applying manipulative
techniques. Maybe they highlight a better story, or deflect the
story onto competition. The worst part is that it works. That’s
why it’s easy to abuse.

Churches haven’t been perfect at PR either. Withholding

truth and not answering questions can almost be as bad as
covering something up or lying. Spinning facts in any way that
makes people believe something that isn’t quite the whole truth
is just as sinful.

As Christians, we will still make mistakes but for us they

are just another opportunity to model grace and repentance and
show the world that we too are not perfect.

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JUSTIN DEAN

Be honest about your mistakes and use them to strengthen

the narrative, not diminish it. We aren’t perfect — that’s why
we need a savior. That’s our story, and it’s the greatest story
ever told.

PR matters because without someone keeping the story

straight, the world around us is going to keep knocking it off its
track. If you don’t tell your story, someone else will make one
up for you. No one has an agenda to get your story straight, only
you.

In fact, most people have their own agenda and they’ll do

anything to make your story fit into it. That not only damages
your church and your reputation, it damages the reputation of
all Christians and all churches, and makes it harder for everyone
to point people to Jesus.

PR matters because every day it is getting harder and harder

for anyone who wants to follow Jesus. Culture around us is
becoming more and more hostile towards the gospel and
biblical truths.

Not only that, but even among Christians we are seeing

watered down versions of the gospel, all in the name of fitting
in with the world so more people will like us and accept us.
Biblical truths are being abandoned or manipulated in order to
fill our buildings with more people. Many churches are
adapting to the world around them instead of trying to lead it.

PR matters because too many churches are either drowning,

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or staying out of the water, too afraid to even dip their toes in.

We must dive in and wade through the cultural chaos

around us, preaching the gospel at all costs. It’s not enough to
just passively live a good life, do good works, and hope people
come to Jesus. We must boldly speak the gospel, and do our
best to handle persecution and backlash with as much grace and
poise as possible.

The world's view of Christians is getting more and more

distorted and perverted every day. It’s time your church takes
the steps to make public relations a priority so you can
communicate the gospel in the most efficient and effective way.

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JUSTIN DEAN

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CHAPTER TWO

THE MESS WE ARE IN

“We have created a world where

the smartest way to survive is to be bland.”
- Jon Ronson, Author of
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

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JUSTIN DEAN

We live in a world where there is no longer any

expectation of privacy, and forgiveness is a thing of the past.

No longer can you make a joke between friends without risk

of it being overheard and your photo and quote being tweeted
out, wrecking your job and your family. No longer can honest
mistakes be remedied with an apology between affected
parties. No, you must be publicly shamed and your story
forever entombed on the Internet. Even heartfelt repentance and
apologies are scrutinized for their accuracy and truthfulness,
and never accepted by the public as good enough restitution for
your sins.

I was on a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta recently and

the guy next to me kept thrusting his back into his seat. It was
obvious that the teenage girl behind him was kicking his seat or
pressing too hard on the seat back screen. I looked back at the
poor girl and saw she had a full cup of soda on the seat back
tray.

By the third time the man thrust his seat back, I pulled out
my earbuds and said, "Why don't you just ask her to stop?
You're going to cause her to spill her drink."

The guy looked super annoyed and just ignored me. We live
in a world where people are scared, or maybe too selfish, to
have real conversations as human beings. We'd rather be
passive aggressive jerks than actually confront someone and
work out our differences.

I'm not even sure if the girl in the seat behind us was aware

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that she did anything to annoy the guy next to me. She probably
thought he was just a jerk for thrusting his seat back so often,
and didn’t want to start a confrontation by asking him to stop.

I kept thinking about that guy on the plane and how had I
not intervened, the situation may have escalated in a very bad
way. In today's world, it was only a matter of minutes before
the girl could have posted a photo of the guy to Twitter. Or the
guy could have posted a photo of the girl drenched in soda with
the hashtag #justice or #karma. Things like that happen all the
time, and lives are ruined for no reason.

On that same flight, I had just finished Jon Ronson's book,

So You've Been Publicly Shamed. In the book one of the many
stories that Ronson shares is of a man who attended a
conference for software developers. He was just an average Joe
with a wife and kids. He and his buddy were sitting in a session
at the tech conference and he made a nerdy but slightly
inappropriate joke.

He said it to his buddy, not to a crowd, and not online. It

wasn’t even a good joke, or even a particularly crude joke.
They’re a bunch of nerds at a tech conference, what do you
expect?

However, a young woman, apparently one of only a few

women at the conference, was sitting in front of them. She
turned around, snapped a photo of the two guys and proceeded
to post the photo on Twitter calling them out for their “sexist
jokes.”

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JUSTIN DEAN

Her tweet went viral. The guy was shamed online by

thousands of people and was fired from his job because of her
post. All because she overheard his joke, took it out of context,
and was offended. She could have turned around and told them
she was offended, to which they most likely would have
apologized and life would have gone on. Instead she turned
immediately to public shaming on Twitter, and went a step
further to include the photo. She didn’t even talk to the guy.

It turns out the woman eventually got fired from her job too.
Which she blames the guy for. To this day it doesn’t look like
she has taken any responsibility for her own actions, and
continues to be somewhat of an activist fighting for the rights
of female developers.

Sure, the guy should have been careful saying jokes

out loud in a public place. But nobody deserves what he and his
family had to go through. Do we really want to create a world
where we can’t tell any joke of any kind in a public place, for
fear that someone might take it out of context and be
offended—and then post our photo online for the world to
publicly shame us?

I’m also reminded of the trouble that Clorox found

themselves in with a controversial tweet posted April 8,
2015. The innocent tweet caused quite an uproar for a few days,
and a ton of bad publicity for a brand that did nothing wrong.

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Apple had just released a big software update for iOS that
included a lot of new emoji icons, including more racially
diverse faces. Before the update, you could only choose yellow
faced emoji, but now you have the choice between many
different skin colors including white, brown, and black.

Someone at Clorox wanted to capitalize on a big social

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JUSTIN DEAN

media news story and join the conversation by posting

something they thought would be clever and creative, and it
would have been if we didn’t live in such an overly sensitive
world.

People immediately took offense (shocking, I know!), and

assumed that Clorox was implying the new black and brown
skin tones should be bleached white.

Which is ludicrous considering that the emoji we had before

the update were yellow, not white. And the graphic of the
Clorox bottle that they posted didn’t include any face emoji at
all. I could understand if it was made up of nothing but black
and brown faces, but it wasn’t.

The problem was that the majority of the news stories and
conversations about the iOS update were centered around the
racial diversity of the new emoji, even though there were
dozens of other new icons introduced, including my favorite,
the taco emoji.

Clorox was focusing on the many household items that were

included in the update, pointing out that a bleach bottle was not
one of them.

The public conversation was focused on the new skin tones,

so that’s where people’s minds went when they first read the
tweet. Either Clorox was paying attention to the news stories
and thought it wouldn’t be an issue, so long as they were careful
to not include face emoji’s in the graphic they created, or they
weren’t paying close enough attention to the public

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conversation before trying to capitalize on it.

At the end of the day they could have used better judgement,
but they didn’t do anything wrong. I’m willing to bet it didn’t
even cross their minds that it would be an issue. Yet people
immediately claimed they were racist and insensitive. “Ban
Clorox” Facebook groups popped up. Hundreds of thousands of
tweets were posted within hours.

It was clever and fun, and should have been a big marketing
success. You would think that reasonable people would see the
innocence of their tweet and move on. But people love a good
fight, especially if a bunch of nobody’s can take down a big
brand. And especially if you can make race the center of the
issue. You never know how the public is going to respond, nor
can you predict what they’ll get offended at next.

Clorox quickly deleted their tweet and posted another one,

apologizing for the confusion:

“Wish we could bleach away our last tweet. Didn’t mean to

offend—it was meant to be about all the (toilet, bathtub, red
wine) emojis that could use a clean-up."

They also put out a press release saying, “We apologize to

the many people who thought our tweet about the new emojis
was insensitive. It was never our intention to offend. We did not
mean for this to be taken as a specific reference to the diversity
emojis—but we should have been more aware of the news
around this. The tweet was meant to be light-hearted but it fell
flat."

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An honest mistake. They apologized quickly. Life should

move on. And it did eventually. Clorox isn’t going anywhere,
but this was a big hit. A smaller company would have buckled
under this kind of pressure. I don’t know if anyone got fired for
this, but they certainly have in similar situations. I don’t know
what the financial impact of this mistake was, probably
minimal in the long run. At the end of the day, this certainly
was not the type of publicity that Clorox intended to get out of
the tweet.

Stories like this are happening more often. Instead of us

correcting this insane behavior, we put up with it, even promote
it and encourage it. Half of the people reading this probably
disagree with me, and still think Clorox was in the wrong.
That’s disappointing to me on so many levels. But the biggest
disappointment from this, is that Clorox has yet to post anything
that clever in the past two years. They went back to being bland.

Situations like this force all of us—people and brands— to

become ultra private, sensitive and scared. It stifles creativity
and boldness. We can neither be too liberal, nor too
conservative. We must be perfect and flawless, never taking
chances that could show us intolerant of anything. Not that
anyone can keep up with what we are supposed to be tolerant
of, or not, from week to week.

In Jon Ronson’s book he says, “We have created a world

where the smartest way to survive is to be bland."

This is how the world is these days. But it’s worse for

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Christians. We live in a world where a Christian bakery owner

can’t refuse to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding, but a
gay bakery owner can refuse to make a cake with scripture on
it.

We live in a world where everything and anything is now

tolerated, except being a bible-believing Christian. We are
constantly being shamed, constantly losing our rights, and
every day it is getting harder and harder to share biblical truths
without severe repercussions. I can’t think of any other religion
or viewpoint that is more unaccepted in today’s world. In a
world where you can be whoever or whatever you want to be,
being a Christian is becoming the exception.

The world wants Christians to be bland, but I say to hell

with that. See what I did there?

When Christian media and bloggers start picking on

churches and pastors, publishing unsubstantiated rumors and
misinformation and participating in the shaming of someone
who has made a mistake or sinned— even after they repent and
apologize— then it’s not the time to be bland, or tolerant. We
can’t let the world dictate what we do or say.

It’s time to be bolder than we have ever been. It’s time to

stand up for the church, stand up for the Bible, and stand up for
Jesus.

The church should be setting the culture, not adapting to it.

Using the Bible and the Holy Spirit as our guide, we should be
leading the way with what to believe and how to act. But too

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often we are trying too hard to stay relevant and not offend
anyone.

I’m not saying we should get a pass to say and do what we

want. Nor am I saying we shouldn’t carefully craft our
messages and pay attention to the conversation around us -
because we should. I’m saying we need to stand up to a world
that wants us to run away scared. We need to stand up for
what’s right.

This shouldn’t be a shock. We knew this would happen.

Being persecuted for being a Christian shouldn’t surprise
anyone who’s read their Bible.

“…and you will be hated by all for my name’s

sake. But the one who endures to the end will be
saved.”
- Matthew 10:22

The truth is, they don’t just want us to be bland. Being

bland isn’t enough. The world isn’t going to stop there. If you
think you can go about life being perfect, never making a joke
in public, never making a mistake, and never saying anything
ever that could be taken out of context— you’re kidding
yourself. It’s not possible.

You can’t wait for things to blow over, or for a better

president to be elected. It will continue to get worse. That’s a
promise. If you think you can operate under the radar, and just
play it safe, then shame on you. That’s not what God has called

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us to do.

If you haven’t read Mark Driscoll’s book A Call To

Resurgence, please pick it up. It was published amidst the
closing of our church and didn’t get the recognition it deserves.
Had more church leaders actually read it, I’m convinced the
church wouldn’t be in as big of a mess.

In the book, Pastor Mark says, “With the epic rise of

borrowed faith, lost faith, and no faith, what’s left of actual
Christian faith? The present-day blend of beliefs, traditions, and
spiritualities makes it difficult to identify a remnant, especially
when all of the ingredients have been marinated in the brine of
American civil religion and Judeo-Christian ethics. Everything
comes out of the mix with a hint of Christianity and vice versa.”

He goes on, “Many Christians of the borrowed or lost faith

variety have gladly accepted society’s new vision for the
church.” Since when does society dictate the church’s vision?

“In many of these congregations, the church favors showing

the gospel and abandons speaking the gospel altogether. The
problem is, the gospel cannot be shown; it must be spoken.
Love, grace, mercy, justice, and the like can be shown with
works. The gospel of Jesus Christ, however, must be spoken
with words, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is not about our
deeds but rather Jesus’ deeds: his sinless life, substitutionary
death, burial, and bodily resurrection for the salvation of
sinners. 1”

1
A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future? by Mark Driscoll
(Tyndale, 2013)

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There’s so much more. I could keep quoting, or you can

pick up a copy of the book. The point is, the church has gone
soft. Christian faith has lost any market share it had. It’s hard to
even tell who the real Christians are anymore.

In today’s world it is increasingly difficult to share a clear

gospel message, or even articulate what we believe.

We aren’t safe. We never will be. Our only option is to

continue sharing the gospel, spreading the Good News as far
and wide as we can go, amidst whatever circumstances and
scenarios that come our way.

Stay focused on telling the world about Jesus. Try new

things to grow your church and reach more people. Take risks.
Be Clorox. Operate within boundaries and be responsible
(that’s where a good PR plan comes into play), but don’t be
scared just because we live in a fallen world that doesn’t
understand us, and quite frankly is out to get us.

The most common problem facing the church right now is

fear. Fear of losing people. Fear of negative comments on social
media. Fear of protests over our beliefs. Fear that if we actually
preach the gospel we’ll lose our non-profit status, or lose our
donors, or we’ll be mocked and ridiculed. That fear has
paralyzed the church.

But God tells us, “Fear not.” In the Bible, it actually appears
roughly 150 times. He doesn't tell us this because he knows it’s
going to get easier. It’s not going to get easier. He tells us not

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to fear because he is with us. The Jesus who has experienced

everything we’re going through, and more, is with us and will
never forsake us.

So wake up, church. It’s time to get to work.

This is why having someone focused on communications

can help. This is why PR matters. You need someone who can
help set the boundaries. A good communications person is
constantly analyzing trends in the world and how best to
manage your message in a fickle tide of morals and political
correctness. A good communications person would know what
the conversation is about before entering it.

Mistakes will happen, and sin will enter the process. But
that same communications person can help communicate
repentance and restitution when necessary. The key is to take
control of your message at all times. Again, not to spin it or
manipulate it, but to make sure people are getting it right.

Your goal as a PR person is to make sure the gospel is

actually being spoken, that your church stays true to it’s vision
and mission to save the world. And to ensure that the vision and
mission doesn’t get distorted into only doing good deeds so that
you can better fit in to the world around you. Your good deeds
shouldn’t make you fit it, they should set you apart and point
people to the gospel.

More important than promoting your latest food drive, or

your attendance numbers at Easter, is showing the world that
you too are a house full of sinners in need of grace. We need to

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show the world that we can take risks and be bold, and when
we make mistakes we repent and make them right, but it doesn’t
change the story that we’re trying to tell. Everything we do
should point people to the gospel, otherwise what’s the point?

Jesus didn’t command us to go out into the world and be

perfect. He certainly didn’t call us to not offend anyone. He told
us to worship him, and love one another. He told us to tell
people about him - a man so controversial that we killed him,
only for him to raise from the dead and free us of our sins.

It’s your job to tell that story, and to tell that story well. Over
and over again. No matter what.

Are you prepared?

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CHAPTER THREE

TEN TRAITS OF A PR
PERSON

“PR is a mix of journalism, psychology,

and lawyering - it’s an ever-changing and always
interesting landscape.”
- Ronn Torossian, 5W Public Relations

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I will never forget my first official day on staff at a church.

I had just left a great marketing position in the corporate world
to now work for one of the largest and fastest growing churches
in the world. When I signed up, I was excited to be using my
skills and experience for such a great and worthy cause. I
quickly realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The position I had taken was the Public Relations Manager

for the church, but the role evolved over the years, and
I ultimately oversaw all public relations and communications
for the church including content, social media, our websites,
and more.

That first day was very revealing for me. As soon as I

arrived at our cold, dank Seattle offices I was whisked off to
meet with our senior pastor. He said something to me that
helped set the tone for my role as the “Church PR Guy”.

He asked if I was ready to strap my boots on. Which made

me incredibly self-conscience about the Converse shoes I was
wearing at the time. He went on to tell me that what I signed up
for was not a job - but rather, it was a calling.

He said the office was full of people who worked nine to

five and produced great content, but what we really needed
were more soldiers on the frontline.

He told me I’d take a lot of hits. Not just for him, and not
just for the church, but for God. That what we were trying to do
was reach more people than ever with the story of the gospel,
and that it was going to require risks, and would most definitely

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have its challenges. The only rewards we’d receive would be

the satisfaction of seeing people's lives changed as they came to
Christ and got baptized.

And we sure did reap the rewards. Year after year we saw
hundreds of people get saved and over a thousand people per
year get baptized. Hundreds of thousands of people watched our
sermons and consumed our content every week, and we
captured as many of their stories as we could.

It was incredible to be a part of it all, and I’ve yet to see

anything else quite like it.

I walked away from that first meeting with a unbelievable

weight on my shoulders that never went away. A glorious
purpose that I had never felt before. I knew God had
orchestrated everything in my life up until then so that I could
serve in that role.

If you want to be successful in helping your church reach

more people, you can’t treat it like a job. If you feel called to
this type of work, then the only thing left to do is strap your
boots on and start to hustle. It’s time to hone in on your skills
and be the best you can be. People’s lives are at stake.

When I was a little kid I never thought, when I grow up I

want to be a public relations professional. Nobody says, “I want
to work countless hours, promote other people’s work, and only
get the credit when something goes wrong.”

I wanted to be a film director. Which has more to do with

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the fact that I grew up in Los Angeles, and less to do with any
talent I have in creating films or telling stories. I even took
filmmaking classes, acting classes, and worked as an extra in a
few movies (no, I won’t be revealing which ones).

While I love movies and the whole filmmaking process, the

problem was I’m actually not that creative. As it turns out, I’m
better at promoting and marketing than I am at creating. But so
are a lot of people - so what makes me unique?

What I came to find out over time, is that much like Liam
Neeson’s character in the movie Taken, I possess a unique set
of skills that not a lot of people have.

No, I can’t track down bad guys or kill people with my bare
hands - although I’ve never tried. What I’m talking about are
the skills and characteristics needed to be a successful
communicator and public relations person for a church.

Not everyone can do this job well. In fact, you may

currently be in this role at your church, and by the time you’re
done reading this book you may realize this isn’t your calling.

If that happens, I hope you’ll trust in God to help you find a

place to serve that brings you satisfaction and brings him the
most glory.

I also hope that I’ll be able to give you enough practical

advice and tools to help you do your job even better, whether
you continue to take on this burden or you share the
responsibility with a team.

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If you can nail down these following skills and traits, or

assemble a team that can, then you’re ready to start building a
solid PR plan for your church.

Your desire to see people come to Jesus, and your

willingness to work hard at spreading his message is what
matters most. When it comes down to it, the following skills
can be learned or outsourced, but they’re important nonetheless.
I’m a firm believer in training the called, rather than calling the
trained.

In my experience, I believe a good church PR person should

have the following ten traits and characteristics to be successful:

1. Good Discernment 6. Critical Thinker

2. Trustworthy 7. Good Writer
3. Thick Skinned 8. Sociable
4. Adventurous 9. Informed
5. Humble 10. Dedicated

GOOD DISCERNMENT

This may be the most important characteristic of a good PR

person, especially in the church setting. Without good
discernment, you’ll likely make a lot of mistakes and miss a lot
of opportunities, so think long and hard in this area and get the
assistance of people who know you to shed some light on
whether this is a quality you possess.

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I believe discernment is a spiritual gift 2. Pray and ask God

to give you the gift of discernment if that is your desire.

Good discernment is more than just knowing the difference

between right and wrong. Discernment involves being in tune
with the Holy Spirit and being able to act swiftly on his
guidance. It’s more than just good judgement. In fact, I would
say discernment is what kicks in when you aren’t sure about
something but still need to make a decision.

It’s the feeling in your gut about something when you don’t
have all the information. It’s also that feeling in your gut when
the information tells you one thing, but you’re sure it’s wrong
anyway.

When I look back on the mistakes I’ve made as a PR person,

most of them were when I acted or said something that went
against my gut. When I went by the book even though I felt it
inside me that I should do or say something else.

As a PR person, you need to be able to think quick on your

feet. Things move fast, deadlines come and go, news cycles can
be as short as a few hours, and often opportunities are thrown
in your face with little time to research.

At our church, we would get strange requests almost every

week, either through email or the main phone number, and
sometimes when someone stops by.

As the head of PR, I would be notified about all of these

2
See I Corinthians 12:10, Hebrews 5:14, Acts 5:3-6;16:16-18 and 1 John 4:1

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requests, often having to make the decision on how we

responded.

Sometimes it was a church member who thought that we

should take a stronger and more public stance on homosexuality
and gay marriage. Other times it would be someone who
believed God spoke to them and had a message for our senior
pastor. And a lot of times it was simply someone who just
wanted to debate theology, or rebuke us for something that we
said or didn’t say.

We took every request seriously, although it was often easy

to filter through requests that were so crazy or so negative that
there wasn’t anything we could do. Most of those got a canned
pre-written response and we went on our way.

However, some requests were legit. Either someone was

hurting and needed pastoral care or some other assistance from
the church. Or sometimes we did say or do something wrong,
and needed to make it right. And other times people were
alerting us to very real concerns about the church or a specific
individual.

Navigating through these requests and choosing what got

our time and resources, and what didn’t, required a lot of
discernment. These were real requests from real people, and my
decisions affected real lives.

One day a request came in over the phone to our

receptionist. On any other day, this request would have easily
went into our queue and eventually would have received a

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standard response. But something tugged on my gut that day

and I knew this one deserved my attention.

A man called in and told our receptionist that he needed to

speak with someone in senior leadership. He refused to give any
details, just that it was serious and not just any pastor would do.

The receptionist wasn’t about to patch him through to our

senior pastor. That just wasn’t something we would do. The guy
was relentless and wouldn’t let her just take a message. He
knew he would be brushed off. To be fair, we’ve had other calls
like this that ended up just being someone who wanted to tell
our pastor off, and it’s hard as a receptionist to tell who is being
reasonable and who is a crazy person.

I was alerted about the call, as was normal procedure when

something weird or tense was happening. Like I said, any other
day and I’d tell this guy to cool down and submit his request in
writing. But something was off. My spidey-senses were
tingling, and I knew I should take this seriously.

I told the guy that there’s no way he was going to talk to our
pastor, but that I would listen to him and take whatever action
was appropriate. That was the only option I gave him, so he
gave in. But he didn't want to do it over the phone, and he didn’t
want to put anything in writing.

I agreed to meet him. I had no idea what I would be walking

into, so I told him to meet me at a Starbucks that was next door
to one of our church campuses. I took a friend and fellow church
staffer with me for accountability… and for protection (he’s a

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big guy with tattoos).

As it turns out, the guy wasn’t a church goer. He wasn’t

even a Christian. But he had information that I am glad he
brought to us. A friend of his had a teenage daughter, whom one
of our lay pastors had been messaging privately with on
Facebook.

The guy showed me print outs of their conversations, which

he obtained through the teenage girl’s mother. As I read the
transcripts, the pastor, who was a volunteer and also worked at
a local high school, was clearly flirting with this underage girl.
And to make it worse, I knew he had a wife and children of his
own.

I assured the man that we would handle the situation and

not ignore it, and thanked him for bringing it to our attention. I
asked for his phone number so that I could follow up with him
should I have any questions, and so that I can give him an
update on what we had done about it.

I immediately called our Executive Pastors and alerted them

about the situation, and they agreed that my next move should
be to alert the school where the pastor worked, as well as the
police. While I made those phone calls, they visited the lay
pastor’s wife.

The pastor admitted to his wrongdoing, and was

immediately removed as a pastor and fired from his job at the
school. The weight of turning this man’s life upside down was
upon me, but all I could think about is that poor teenage girl

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who probably didn’t know what she was getting into. Based on
the conversations I read, it would have escalated into something
far worse had this friend not intervened.

We continued to provide pastoral care to the pastor and his

family, and we offered to pay for counseling and legal aid for
the teenage girl and her family. The pastor did eventually face
criminal charges and I pray that he and his family have been
restored.

I was prepared with statements for the press should anything

be leaked, but the whole mess stayed out of the news thanks to
our fast reactions as well as the grace of the man who brought
it to our attention. This wasn’t particularly something we
wanted to release on our own, but we were prepared to share
every detail should it come up.

Had I not trusted my gut that day, the man was prepared to
release those transcripts to the news and the police. We would
have lost any leverage to tell the story correctly, and would have
been forced to be on the defensive. The man didn’t expect us to
do the right thing, but we did. When I called him to give him an
update on everything that had been done, he thanked me and
said we turned around his perception of the church.

TRUSTWORTHY

A good PR person needs to be discreet and trustworthy. We

often deal with sensitive information, such like the story I
shared above. At the time, there was no reason for the

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information around that story to be released to anyone else. As

a PR person, you have to be able to keep a lot of things to
yourself.

As much as I love to share about myself on social media,

when it came to my work I rarely shared anything. There’s a
time and place for sharing certain information, while other
information needs to be kept more private. You have to be able
to know the difference and always act in the best interest of the
church and of those involved.

Sometimes this means you know something about people

that others don’t, and you can’t ever share about it. You can’t
even hint about it. I would sometimes be looped in on things
that were so sensitive or private, that I would be told, “Don’t
even share this with your wife.” We didn’t want to put the
pressure on her to have to remember what was sensitive and
what wasn’t.

I’m not talking about hiding anything - this would be stuff

like a church discipline case that was confidential, or a private
situation with a pastor that was still being resolved. Sometimes
it was hard being involved in serious situations and not being
able to go home and talk about them with my wife.

As communicators who are often tasked with blasting out

message after message promoting this and that, it can also be
hard to balance that with information you need to keep
sensitive.

Sometimes it’s not even that it’s sensitive, it’s just that

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releasing it at a later time will have a greater effect, so you must

be patient.

Pastors need to also understand that your PR person is your

public defender. Don't withhold information from them. The
communications person should have a holistic and inclusive
picture of everything going on and be able to speak into it. You
don't want them caught off guard, because that can be damaging
to your overall message.

Give them a seat at the table and authority to tell you the
truth. If you can’t trust your PR person to know everything, then
there’s either an issue with them or with you. Either way you
need to figure it out and make a change.

THICK SKINNED

PR isn’t always going to be easy. If it is, then you’re doing

something wrong. You’re going to need thick skin if you want
to make it past your first crisis or even your first encounter with
the press.

Part of my job was reading and reviewing everything that

was said about the church online. Anytime someone would
make a comment on an article, post a blog post, tweet, or even
sneeze within a mile of our church - I would know about it. We
had alerts and monitoring services running 24/7 so I’d know the
second something breaks.

That’s probably overkill for the majority of churches, but at

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the time we would get a ton of media attention online. I

monitored what people said, because we cared what they said.
People having a perception of us that aligned with reality was
critical to us being able to reach even more people all over the
world with the story of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes what they would say was pretty harsh. We were

the largest church in the Seattle area, an overly liberal and pretty
hostile setting for a conservative, reformed Christian church.

As the official spokesperson for the church, often their

criticisms and nasty comments were directed at me personally.
That was more of an issue for my wife than it was for me. No
wife likes reading bad things about their husbands in the local
paper, or worse on national stages like Slate or the New York
Times.

I ordered a pizza once and the delivery driver texted me to

say that he knew who I was and where I worked, so he wouldn’t
be delivering me my pizza. That’s what I mean by hostile. The
guy had recognized my name from news stories about the
church, and decided it was worth risking his job to tell me that
he wasn’t going to deliver my pizza to me. That was a scary
time. This guy I had never met hated me that much, and now
had my address. We were thankful for security during that time.

You probably think you won’t ever experience anything

quite that extreme in your position, but I would have said the
same thing before it happened to me.

I learned to let things like that roll off my shoulders. Sure,

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it hurts, and boy did I want to fight back and defend myself. But
you have to put the church first. You have to have the willpower
to not flame the fires. You have to stay on message and stay on
mission. Sometimes it can be quite a sacrifice.

ADVENTUROUS

If playing it safe is your thing, then you’re going to be a

lousy PR person. I don’t care if your church is a 150-year-old
Baptist Church in Alabama, if you want to reach more people
and get some attention then you’re going to need to be bold and
adventurous. (No offense to Alabama Baptists, I’m sure you’re
a lot of fun.)

Being bold and adventurous doesn’t mean foolish and

arrogant. But you need to be able to push the envelope and be a
little different. As churches, we are fighting against a lot of
preconceived notions, and we’re trying to reach a world that
doesn’t want us to reach them. Untuck your shirt, roll up your
sleeves, and break out of the box.

Paul says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 3”

That means, don’t be afraid to die, but it also means don’t be
afraid to live. We are here for a purpose. Let’s make it count.

Clorox was adventurous with their emoji tweet a few years

back. It may not have turned out how they wanted, but that beats
sitting around being a boring old bleach company.

3
Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (ESV)

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Wendy’s is also adventurous. Amy Brown is currently the

woman who manages social media for the fast food restaurant
chain. Her and her team are known for their sass on the official
@wendys Twitter account. It’s how they amassed over a
million followers and growing, as well as national acclaim.
What’s impressive is that it's more than just shock and awe.
They provide helpful customer service through their Twitter
account, including rewarding people for their loyalty. Almost
every person who interacts with them gets a reply, which makes
people feel loved and appreciated.

Their funny, cavalier attitude has helped establish brand

loyalty with many customers, myself included, and continues to
keep them in the conversation. No one talks about how cool
McDonald’s is, they all talk about how funny Wendy’s is. Go
check out their account, it’s not what you’d expect from a
typical fast food place, and the church can learn a ton from
them.

HUMBLE

Sometimes you’ve got to take a backseat. As a PR person,

you’re usually promoting someone else to the spotlight, and you
need to be ok with that.

We’re the people behind the curtain, mouthing the words to

the speech being shared on stage because we’re the ones who
wrote it. You need to be ok with your work being attributed to
someone else’s name, and not getting the recognition for it.

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Sure, sometimes you get quoted in a big newspaper or you

get to go on TV to talk about something cool, but even then it’s
not about you - it’s about what you are promoting.

Our job is to make the gospel the hero, and get out of the
way. If the story becomes about you and what you said, then
you did something wrong.

CRITIC AL THINKER

You need to be able to see the negative angle in things, so

you can plan ahead and react when necessary. While at the same
time not being a jerk about it or letting it get to you.

Nobody likes the person who constantly points out what is

wrong, but there’s still a responsibility to know so you can learn
from it. While others are still celebrating the wins, you’re
already thinking one step ahead or making notes on what could
have been done better for next time.

Practically this means digging deeper into that “great blog

post” that someone just wrote, and making some assumptions
about how it will be perceived by different audiences. What
might seem innocent to some, could be offensive to others. It’s
your job to determine if it’s a big enough deal to change, or if
you’re going to roll with it. If you roll with it, you’ve got to
make a plan to defend it.

It means being the person who says, “That’s a great tweet,

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and I love how bold we are being, but can we post it next week
so we don’t distract from Easter?”

This also means you often have to think like the bad guys.
Put yourself in the mindset of the blogger who always criticizes
your church. Try to think like the reporter who always writes
negative stories about you. What can you change to avoid
another publicity nightmare? It can be emotionally and
physically draining, but someone has to do it.

GOOD WRITER

You don’t have to be a great writer, but you should be a

good one. You have to be able to articulate yourself well in
writing. From speeches, to statements, to tag lines, to ad copy,
to blog posts, to headlines, to sound bites… you’re going to be
tasked with crafting those messages and you better be good at
it.

At the very least, you better have the resources to hire a

good writer who’s on hand to help you. I never thought of
myself as a great writer. That’s why I usually get someone to
help me. You’ll be at an advantage if writing isn’t a struggle for
you.

I’ll write something I love, then I’ll read something a good

writer has written and immediately see my inadequacies. I was
fortunate enough to have a team of writers working for me at
our church. We produced so much content each week that it was
definitely needed. Between the two major blogs that my team

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managed, we were producing about 15 to 20 posts per week on

top of ebooks and other assignments. Luckily with several
writers, editors, and theologians on staff, I could send over a
poorly written blurb and get back a theologically and
grammatically sound essay in return.

SOCIABLE

One of the key roles of a PR person, particularly at a church,

is to build relationships. Your whole goal is to align the public’s
perception with the message of your church, so that requires
actually interacting with the public from time to time.

It helps if you’re sociable. You have to genuinely like

people and want to be around them, or at least be really good at
faking it.

Relationships are the key to everything you are going to do

as a church communicator. We’ll dig deeper into this later, but
the idea is to form and maintain healthy and candid
relationships with the media, bloggers, people in the
community, business owners, influencers, celebrities, and
more. The more people who know you, the easier you can get
your true message out.

While most church communicators seem to be introverts

who like to hide behind their iPhone screen, you might want to
make sure someone on your team is good at talking with people
and making friends. This is going to be a major part of what you
do if you want to successfully manage the perception of your

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church.

INFORMED

A good PR person is someone who is always informed. I’ve

talked about having a pulse on the perception of the church and
monitoring what people are saying about it - that’s just one part.

A successful PR person is up to date on trends in the media,

trends with social networks, trends in culture, what other
churches are doing, what successful businesses and brands are
doing, breaking news, the political climate, new laws, and
more. The more knowledge you can consume and soak in, the
better you will understand the world around you and the context
in which you are doing ministry. The better you understand that,
the better you can prepare your church to help communicate the
gospel to the world.

Additionally, you need to have open communication with

your church leaders. Your communications department,
whether it’s just you or a larger team, can’t be alone on an island
and only activated when there’s a crisis or something big to
communicate. You need to be read in on how the church is
doing, where it’s going, how its struggling and how it’s
succeeding. You should have a good grasp on the bigger picture
- the whole picture - so you can ensure the things your church
is saying and doing are aligning with the direction you want to
go and the perception that you want to have.

There’s nothing idle about this critical role in the church.

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It’s a noble calling to be the communications person. And I may

be the only person to ever acknowledge that for you.

Aside from your pastor and the preaching of your church,

this is the most critical piece of the mission - defending,
promoting and distributing that message as far and wide as it
can go, in the best possible way. It’s a tough task and requires
you to constantly be on your feet and ready for action.

DEDICATED

This is a tiring and thankless job at times. And it doesn’t

stop. You’re on call 24/7 every day of the year. The news
doesn’t even stop for Christmas - in fact that’s a great time to
get some wonderful stories out about what your church is doing
in your community.

You’ve got to be dedicated to sustain it. It’s a lifestyle that

you have to get used to. My hope is that you won’t take a job
like this halfheartedly. My goal is to encourage churches to take
risks and grow like they’ve never grown before. That’s going
to take dedication from people like you in the trenches and on
the front lines.

Hear this though, there’s no shame in serving in a PR role

for a season, then taking a break. It’s a tough job, and even
though many people won’t see it that way, it’s not worth
destroying your health or family over. So stay dedicated, but
know your limits and take advantage of your down time.

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While there certainly are other traits and characteristics that

make a good PR person, I believe these are the most important.
If you can be all of these, or most of these, then you’ll last a
very long time in your role and hopefully make a huge impact
for your church.

If you need to improve in one or two of these areas, start

focusing on them now. Start by praying and asking God, should
he want you to continue doing what you are doing, that he
would help you develop in those areas. Then reach out to others,
your pastor, your boss, your colleagues, and ask them to keep
you accountable in those areas.

If you’re taking on multiple roles in your church, and you

simply can’t be all of these qualities, try hiring consultants or
volunteers who excel in the areas where you need help.

If you’re not a good writer, hire a writer. If you have

someone eager to get out in the community and build
relationships, equip them to go do it well. If you’re more
comfortable behind the scenes, but you know someone eager to
get on camera, let them be your figurehead and you craft what
they say.

Not everyone is built to be all of these things, but if you

work as a team and admit your shortcomings, you can make it
work.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CREATING A PR PLAN

“Public relations are a key component of any

operation in this day of instant communications
and rightly inquisitive citizens.” - Alvin Adams,
American Businessman

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By the time you are done with this book, you will have
everything you need to create a PR plan for your church.

A PR plan is vital for your church to survive in today’s

world. It shouldn't be an afterthought, or a low priority. If in fact
your mission is to reach more people and point them to Jesus,
then a PR plan is going to outline your strategy to carry out that
mission and what to do if things go wrong. Simply put, do
ministry without one and you’ll be less effective, and more
vulnerable.

Again, it’s imperative that you realize you are already in the
PR game, whether you choose to be or not. You can either play
the game with no plan at all, and hope that you’ll not only
survive, but that you’ll do well, or you can plan ahead and try
to be the best you can be. By God’s grace, most churches alive
today are carrying on with nothing more than hope and grace as
a plan. Only time will tell how long that plan will last for them.

Hope and grace should be a part of every plan, but by itself

that’s not much of a plan at all. God knew we would be doing
ministry in the world that we currently live in. He knew the
context and climate of the community he’s placed you and your
church in. He knew we’d have enormous opportunity with the
internet, social media, television, newspapers, blogs, apps,
smartphones, and more.

In Jesus’ day, people used the tools they had at the time to
spread the gospel to the communities they visited. We need to
use the tools of our time to spread the gospel to all the nations.
A written PR plan will help you stay organized and on mission

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as you carry out your goals.

Your PR plan should include the following sections:

• PR Goals and Objectives

• Communications Guide
• Media Relations Plan
• Social Media Strategy and Policies
• Content Strategy
• Crisis Plan

Your plan can include more than this, but these are the core
sections you should have. We will cover each of these in depth,
and I provide a lot of the groundwork for you, so don’t panic
just yet.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a marketing or advertising plan.

This should precede and help support any marketing plans you
have to promote and advertise your church or certain programs.

The objective of a PR plan is to document how you plan to

help manage the perception of the church with the public, so
that it aligns with your overall mission, vision, and goals. It
should also prepare your church for action should something go
wrong.

SET YOUR PR GOALS

A documented plan will also help you measure your

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progress and performance. Without a written plan in place, that

names your goals and objectives, you’ll have a hard time
distinguishing what is working and what is not working.

It is often said that public relations cannot be effectively

measured, and therefore cannot be properly planned and
budgeted for. That may be true if your plan is just to sit idly by
and react to whatever happens. But a pro-active plan can be
measured a number of different ways, especially in today’s
modern world of technology and data.

Start your PR plan by stating your goals, even if they must

be in broad terms. That way you know what to measure against.
I suggest dividing your PR goals into three different types:

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT GOALS

Measure how we are perceived
These are goals that deal with the perception of the church
and its leaders in the community or online. An example would
be: “We plan to improve positive opinions and mentions of our
church in the public,” or “We want to improve our search results
so positive stories about the church show up on Google
searches.”

If possible, get more specific, such as with whom you plan

to focus your attention, and by what date, etc. Otherwise it’s
fine to keep these goals generic.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT GOALS

Measure how connected you are with XYZ community
Relationship goals focus on how the church connects with
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the media and others in the community. We’ll learn more about
the different types of relationships in the next chapter.

An example could be: “We plan to improve communication

with the public, local and national media, and others in the
community.”

To get more specific you can state which media publications

you want to develop relationships with, or which organizations
and businesses in the community you plan to reach out to.

TASK MANAGEMENT GOALS

Whatever helps you run your PR team better
This is where you’ll specifically lay out the PR tasks you
wish to achieve. For example: “Our goal is to increase
attendance at our member’s meetings by 30%,” or “We plan on
pitching four new press releases to media contacts per month.”

Setting these goals will not only help you better manage
your PR efforts, but it can also help your leaders better manage
the resources and budget that can be allocated towards reaching
these goals. The more detailed you are with the reason why you
need to focus on PR, the more specific you can be with your
budgeting and staffing asks.

Get more specific by including measurable items like dates,

resources, and staffing costs. What software and apps do you
need to achieve these goals, and what do they cost? How many
hours per week will it take your communications coordinator to
write and pitch press releases? How many hours will it take per
week to schedule social media posts and engage with followers?

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It is also critical for the success of your efforts, and the

success of your church, that the goals you lay out in your PR
plan line up with and support the overall goals of the church in
general. How do your PR goals help achieve your church’s
mission?

Your PR plan should reinforce your mission, not compete

with it or run parallel to it. Any story you help support through
interviews, press releases, blog posts, social media posts, etc.
should help tell the story of how Jesus is carrying out this
mission through your church.

COMMUNICATIONS GUIDE
Playbook of CERC's tone of voice and style across the board

A communications guide is the section of your PR plan that

helps distinguish the processes and guidelines needed to
effectively communicate through each of your channels.

It should include your communications best practices such

as a writing and style guide, branding guidelines, official bios
of key leaders, and your official answers to frequently asked
questions. It should be the definitive guide on how and why you
talk about certain things, and which things to avoid.

Think through the things that you communicate often, and

include guidelines for them in your communications guide. The
idea is to minimize the amount of duplicate work you and your
teams have to do, as well as to ensure your communications are
always consistent and inclusive.

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For example, if you often plant new churches, then you may
want to include information on how you talk about new church
plants as well as what typically goes into a plan for each church.
If you hold a big event every year such as a carnival or a certain
sermon series, include al the pertinent information needed to
communicate well.

Your writing and style guides should include things like the
proper way to address pastors and deacons in your church, as
well as the proper way to use your church name in writing. How
and where should your logo be used? What are the official fonts
and colors to be used in documents and graphics?

It should also speak to the tone and type of voice you want
your church to have. Is it friendly, or professional?

COMMUNICATIONS
CHANNELS

Your Communications Guide should also include a list all

of your available marketing and communications channels and
resources. This will likely be something you update frequently
as your organization grows and programs are added and taken
away.

Communications channels are any medium where you can

interact with an audience, whether passively or actively. Your
social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are both
communications channels. Email, your printed bulletin,

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billboards, Facebook ads, stage announcements, slides on

screens, t-shirts, your website, your app, etc. The list will be
rather lengthy when you actually start documenting it all.

Once you have a list of your channels you’ll know what you
have to deal with. You’ll also be able to see where you may be
missing something, as well as areas that you can eliminate
because they are redundant, or not kept up with. For example,
most churches who go through this process for the first time
don’t realize how many individual Facebook pages the church
has until they list them all out. If a Facebook page isn’t being
properly updated and utilized, or it can be just as effective to
use one of the other pages, then you may want to disable some
of them.

This list of communications channels will come in handy as

you’re creating marketing and advertising plans. Consult with
it every time you have something to promote, whether it be a
sermon series, an event, or a ministry. Ask yourself, what are
the best channels to communicate this particular program or
event?

Which channels you choose will also depend on what else

is being promoted at the same time. Just because you’re using
your Facebook page to promote Event A, doesn’t mean it makes
sense to also promote Event B there right now. A
communications calendar, even if it’s a simple spreadsheet, that
shows everything going out on each channel can be an
incredible effective tool for this.

Listed next to each communications channel should also be

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the name of who owns that channel. Who is the gatekeeper

before something is released on your Facebook page, or before
an email is sent to your entire list? Who gets to pitch stories to
the media or reply to requests from reporters? Who ultimately
decides what gets announced from stage? Who has to tell the
youth pastor no when there are already too many announcement
slides being displayed before service?

Documenting your channels, the keepers of each channel,

and even the processes needed to use each channel, can help
your church get more organized and keep everyone on the same
page. It can also help minimize confusion and clarify your
message. Too many messages going out on a single channel can
result in none of the messages being heard.

CRE ATE AN FAQ

I highly recommend that you develop a list of Frequently
Asked Questions and your official answers to include in your
plan.

Think through common questions that your church gets

asked a lot, or questions that you know will come up if your
church receives more publicity.

Prepare responses to those questions ahead of time so you

aren’t having to do so on the fly. Put those questions and your
responses into your PR plan and distribute them to your key
staff. This way everyone is on the same page and has the same
answer when something comes up.

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These could be questions about your core beliefs, or the way

you operate church. It should include controversial items, such
as your stance on homosexuality, women in pastoral roles,
church discipline procedures, church membership, etc. I would
also include church history items, such as how and when the
church began, how you describe key milestones, and how you
describe the vision for the future.

I think it’s wise to add this FAQ to your website, so it’s open
and transparent, and so there’s an official place to point people
to for answers.

We’ll cover media relations, social media, content, and

crisis planning in the coming chapters, but before we go one I
want to make sure you first understand the importance of
relationships.

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CHAPTER FIVE

RELATIONSHIPS
MATTER

“Relationships are leverage. If you give value to

someone else first, you have leverage.
It’s as simple as that.”
- Gary Vaynerchuk,
Author and CEO VaynerMedia

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in Quality Campaigns that's what we're doing in terms of
posting frequency but what are we doing to inform them #PRMATTERS
about why CERC is the way it is.

The most important part of public relations is relationship

building. Relationships are what set public relations apart from
marketing and advertising.

Marketing is the overall process of boosting awareness of

something to a specific audience. It is focused on promoting and
selling a specific product or service. Traditionally this is done
through paid TV, radio, and print advertisements, as well as
through ads and messages on social media and digital
platforms. Think of it as telling a person how they should feel
or what they should do.

Whereas, public relations is all about managing the

perception and reputation of the brand as a whole. It’s about
managing how people feel and react to whatever it is you are
promoting through your marketing and advertising efforts.

Practically it means leveraging relationships to get people

to talk about you and what you have to offer. It has been said
that “advertising is paid media, public relations is earned
media.” When a third party shares their perspective or feelings
about your product, service, or company then that’s public
relations at work.

Through relationship building we can get people to start

talking about your church and ensure that the overall public
perception aligns with who you really are and what you care
about. We need a metric to measure if people actually know
what CERC values//is all about

So, who should you be building relationships with? I

believe you should be building and maintaining relationships

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with everyone and anyone. The more people who know about
your church and develop a positive perception of your church,
the better.

However, there are a few categories of people that should

strategically be a part of your public relations plan:

• Press and Media (local and national media contacts)

• Bloggers
• Other Churches
• Your Community (online and offline)
• Thought Leaders

The key to maintaining great relationships with these

groups is to get to know them and anticipate their needs. Then
provide them as much value as you can.

Let’s look at each type of relationship you need to build,

and how we can better get to know them and their needs.

PRESS & MEDIA

Whether it comes to pitching a story or replying to an

inquiry from a reporter, relationships are going to be what
matters most.

You can send out a pitch every week and never see your
church in the news. Everyone knows controversy, sex, and
scandal are what sells. So why would a reporter write about
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your food drive, or how great your Easter services are going to
be?

This is where building relationships with reporters,

journalists, editors, and bloggers can really come in handy. If
they know you and respect you already, then your pitches are
going to be taken more seriously. In fact, if done right, they
won’t even seem like pitches.

Getting to know your reporters is key in being able to help

them get the story right. Often times you’re going to be putting
the responsibility of sharing the story of your church — and
hopefully the gospel — with someone who is not a believer.
The chances of them articulating it well enough to the public
are slim. It depends on how well you communicated it to them,
but it also has a lot to do with how well they know you and trust
you.

When it comes time to promote something good that your

church did, you’re going to need the press to spread the word.
Your blog and your Twitter account only reach a select
audience of people who are already your fans. An article in a
local newspaper, or a spot on the evening news can help you
reach a wider audience of unchurched people.

Or when a false accusation is thrown your way, it’s going

to be a lot easier to get your quote out there when you have
somebody you already know to work with. You can’t just send
out press releases and hope they pick up on the story or get your
side of it right.

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Getting to know your local reporters is easier than you

think. Start by making a media contact list for your area.

BUILDING A MEDIA CONTACT LIST

Using an app like Feedly, subscribe to RSS feeds from all

the major papers, as well as the smaller ones, even the
community papers and blogs. As you read and skim through the
articles about your community, take note of who is writing
articles that you enjoy. Pay particular attention to anyone
writing articles about your church, and other churches in the
area.

Then email everyone on that contact list and send them a

personal greeting. If you liked something in an article they
wrote, link to the article and tell them what you liked. Use this
as a way to introduce yourself to them. Don’t ever pitch them a
story on your first contact. Just introduce yourself, offer some
flattery, and leave them with your contact information. You’re
just flirting a bit, not asking them to marry you just yet.

Here’s an example of what you can send to a local reporter

that you want to get to know:
There are people who like our stuff on CERC Instagram etc but who are they?

Hi, my name is Justin and I’m the Communications Director

at Local Church. I noticed you write a lot about the local
community here in the neighborhood and I wanted you to know
we appreciate your work. The article yesterday about the food
bank was powerful. Thanks for taking the time to share so many
details about the families they are serving. That kind of stuff is
super important to us. If you ever need anything or want to chat

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about our church just let me know. I wanted to make sure you
had a contact person here, so please find my personal cell
number below.

I didn’t ask or expect anything. It was casual and loose. I

was just saying hello, complimenting them, and making sure
they had my contact info. Now if something about the church
comes up, they have a name and direct phone number of
someone to call. And in my experience, they will. I sent out an
email like that to a local reporter and the next article they wrote
included a quote from me and was a more complete story.

Had I not reached out to them they would have either

published without our input, or they would have had to go
through all the trouble of trying to find someone to talk to at our
church.

Put yourself in their shoes and get to know their needs.

Reporters usually have multiple articles they have to get out per
day. The less time they have to spend hunting people down for
quotes, the better. So they’re going to call who they know first.

This means when they’re fishing for an extra story, you

want to be accessible to them. It was one thing to get a call when
they were following up on a story about us. But once I started
building relationships with these reporters, I started getting cold
calls from them fishing for stories when it was slow. Those were
the best, because that gave us an opportunity to be on the
offense and not the defense. We could share about the great
things we were doing and get more exposure for the church.
Articles that typically wouldn’t see the light of day were

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actually getting published.

That is an important goal of building relationships with

reporters and journalists — to be able to earn their trust and
respect by providing value, so you can gain better opportunities
to share what is going on at your church. When that happens,
we get to be in a position of influence over the community and
culture around us.

I had an interesting encounter with a well-known Christian

news website early on in my ministry role. There was a certain
reporter who was constantly writing what I would call hit pieces
on the church. Most of the time her articles were full of
misinformation and exaggerations. In articles that were clearly
news stories and not opinion pieces, she would let her bias
against our church shine brightly.

Despite my efforts to contact her and offer our side of the

story, she never once interviewed me or contacted us despite
writing about us almost weekly.

I finally reached out to her editor and simply told him that
we expected more from a Christian news organization. We
really believed at the time that they were positioned to be the
leading voice in the media for the church as a whole, and it was
disappointing that they were letting such nonsense about us be
published on their site, presumably just to get more page views.

I also let him know what I did like. There was another
reporter at the time who also wrote about our church pretty
frequently. His articles weren’t always in our favor, but they

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were always balanced and well thought out, and he always had
the decency to reach out to me for quotes and more information.
He is part of a dying breed of journalists who actually respect
their craft and respect other people, and working for a Christian
news organization it was clear he loved the church.

I simply explained to the editor the difference between this

reporter and the one who kept slamming us, and how we’d be
more than willing to work with them so long as they acted like
real journalists. To their credit, the editor quickly took action to
make things right. Within a few days we were notified that the
reporter was let go from staff and her articles were removed
from the site. Apparently, some of them had been published
without an editor even reviewing them first. This is how it
works in today’s world of ad revenue and page views. Aa a
smaller online only media outlet, they were just trying to keep
up and stay alive, but at the expense of our reputation.

I was shocked to hear this. I told the editor that if they didn’t
even have control over their own newsroom then we were going
to shut them out completely. I wasn’t asking for the articles to
be more positive about us, I just wanted them to at least have
the decency to reach out to us and to follow proper editorial
standards. If the articles weren’t positive anyway, I had nothing
to lose by being a bit aggressive with them.

I told him I had hoped to give them unfettered access to me

and the church if they ever needed quotes or clarification on a
story, but not if they continue to let their reporters go
unchecked. I knew we had a bit of leverage, because articles
with our church and pastor featured in them obviously did well

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on their site, or they wouldn’t keep writing them.

A few days later the editor called me back and wanted to let
me know about additional changes they were making in the
organization based on my feedback. They completely revamped
their editorial process, and assured me that they were taking
steps to become a more reputable news organization. He even
invited me to attend their weekly conference calls with the
editorial management team so I could listen in on the changes
being made and the way they were pitching stories. It was
thrilling to be a part of that process for a few months.

I continued to build on the relationship with the other

reporters and the editor, and it resulted in pretty consistent
coverage on what the church was doing. We were also able to
submit a ton of op-ed pieces and articles of our own. Even when
they’d write articles that weren’t so positive, they’d add our
voice and our side to the story. And when we had something to
share, they were more receptive to publishing something about
it.

It paid off to stand up to them and offer them candid

feedback on how we were being treated. I knew a better way
was possible, and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. It set the tone for
how I handled my relationships with most reporters, even at
large secular news organizations. It didn’t always work out, but
it helped me know who to filter out and who to continue
developing relationships with.

You’re not going to be friends with everyone. The local

“alternative” newspaper in Seattle, for example, was never fair

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in their coverage of us. They are an ultra-liberal, very anti-

Christian organization, so it wasn’t surprising. It got to the point
with them where it wasn’t worth even replying to their inquiries
because we always ended up being misquoted and entirely
misrepresented.

Knowing your local reporters well can also have a lasting

impact on the kingdom that you may not have even considered.
We got a call one day at our church from the Seattle Times.
They were planning on doing a big feature story on the church
and wanted to send a photo-journalist to shadow the senior
pastor for a day.

They sent an award-winning photographer and journalist to

capture the story as the lead pastor of one of the fastest growing
churches in America.

After a day of following our pastor around, riding in his

truck, and learning about his life, the reporter gave his life to
the Lord. He later left his bustling news career and went on to
become a pastor, leading our largest church campus.

You never know how God is going to use a story about your
church. We encountered plenty of other stories where someone
read an article about us, even not so positive ones, and decided
to give our church a try for themselves. I guess that’s why they
say no press is bad press.

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BLOGGERS

In his book Trust Me, I’m Lying, self-proclaimed media

manipulator Ryan Holiday explains how he was successful in
marketing movies, books, and other products for his clients by
exploiting stories through small niche blogs and trading his
stories up the chain to larger sites, news organizations and even
national TV. He often did so by tipping off blogs using fake
email addresses and made up stories, creating news and buzz
from basically nothing. When it comes to manipulating the
media, he’s the man. Or at least he used to be. His books are
more of a warning about the fallacy of the media, and not tips
on how to manipulate it.

“Blogs have enormous influence over other blogs, making

it possible to turn a post on a site with only a little traffic into
posts on much bigger sites, if the latter happens to read the
former. Blogs compete to get stories first, newspapers compete
to “confirm” it, and then pundits compete for airtime to opine
on it. The smaller sites legitimize the newsworthiness of the
story for the sites with bigger audiences. Consecutively and
concurrently, this pattern inherently distorts and exaggerates
whatever they cover.” 4

As church communicators, using tactics like this would

force us to lie, gossip, cheat and maybe even steal. It certainly
helps perpetuate the distribution of misinformation and fake
news.

4 Excerpt From: Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan
Holiday (Portfolio, 2013)

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I’m certainly not making the case for doing anything shady
or dishonest, but knowing how the system works can help you
navigate it better when trying to get your story out there.

If anything, this proves that replying to the blogger who is

writing a post about your church can be just as important as
replying to the New York Times. Just because one is a major
reputable news organization, and the other may very well be a
guy in his pajamas working from his mom’s basement, doesn’t
mean that what they write can’t make waves in the community
or even nationwide.

In today’s world of tight deadlines and unreasonable quotas,

reporters aren’t taking the time they should be taking to verify
sources or quotes. If a blogger publishes it, then they can quote
the blogger and move onto the next story. No need to verify if
the quote was written down correctly, learn more about the
context, or verify if it was even said at all. If something needs
to be corrected later, they’ll just post an update to the story and
blame the blogger. Never mind that most people will have
already read the story, and no one will go back to read the
update.

I’ve seen the New York Times, Washington Post, The

Blaze, Daily Beast, and Huffington Post all quote me from posts
by no name bloggers without ever reaching out to me to verify
the quote or ask for more information. Sometimes they’ll even
re-publish the blog post word for word without writing a new
story. It’s quite amazing.

I find it remarkable that anyone with a laptop can now be a

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reporter. These days anyone can write a blog post, and if the
subject is good enough, it can be picked up and republished on
Huffington Post or Daily Beast and attributed to you as if you’re
a real journalist with an editor and years of training. I applaud
the advancement in technology. It’s a crazy time to be alive with
how much information is posted every day. But the cost of
speed and efficiency has been quality control and fact checking.
The high standards of journalism have taken a nose dive across
the board. And the public is oblivious to it, or too busy to really
care.

In the same way we buy food from the grocery store, or

order food at a restaurant and trust that the government has done
its job to regulate and protect us from harmful products and
food handling practices, we blindly trust anything we read. At
least at a restaurant we can check the latest heath rating and
inspection report.

You’ve got to dig pretty deep these days to inspect a news

story. Have you ever looked into who wrote that article you just
read? How often do you click the links and dig deeper into the
sources?

We read something online or in a newspaper and it just

inherently comes across as fact. In the back of our minds we
just assume we aren’t being manipulated or lied to.

So don’t brush off the local blogger as a nobody or a small

opportunity, you never know who might pick up the story. And
if they get something wrong, be quick to request changes before
someone quotes it. Once it gets quoted, it can take on a life of

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its own. Then you’re not only requesting changes from the
source, but the ten other sites who all copied and pasted it. By
the time it’s all fixed (if it gets fixed) the bad information has
already been read so many times and you’ve lost control of the
story.

OTHER CHURCHES

Building relationships is something that should go well

beyond just press and bloggers. It’s important to build
relationships everywhere you go. To build a better perception
of your church, the more people who get to know you the better.

When it comes to other churches, remember we are all on

the same team. Don’t wall yourself off from other churches, or
hold your best ideas for yourself. Don’t just watch what other
churches are doing from afar, seek to collaborate with them.

Invite other communications directors out to lunch, or over

to your church to sit down with the team. If you just completed
a really successful sermon series or marketing campaign -
package it up and throw it online for free. Share it with your
colleagues.

Again, the best way to build a great relationship with

someone is to anticipate their needs and try to add value to their
lives. If your church has something to share that can help other
churches, then don’t hold back on the generosity.

If you’re a smaller church, don’t criticize the big mega

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church in town. This makes me so sad when I hear it. Every

time you point out the weaknesses or differences in a big church
in order to show the strengths of your church - that’s just not
loving, and it’s not helpful. That’s not how you want to grow
your church.

One of the best ways to get to know people who do what

you do, and build relationships with other churches, is to join
one of the many church communications Facebook groups that
are online. There can be a lot of noise to sort through from time
to time, but there’s also a lot to learn and plenty of opportunity
to get to know your peers. You’re not alone. There are
thousands of people just like you, at churches like yours as well
as churches bigger and smaller than yours.

YOUR COMMUNITY

Getting out into the community and meeting people outside

your building should be a big priority for your church. God
commanded us to “go and tell” but so much of what we do as a
church is “come and see.” Be active in your community and
engage people where they are.

This means participating in community events, city-

sponsored activities, restaurants, sports, and more. The more
you can get out and meet people, as a church, the more they’ll
get to know the real you.

This is where a good branding strategy can also help

maximize your PR efforts. Consider branded t-shirts, car decals,

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coffee mugs, signage, and other marketing materials that can

help bring more visibility to your church and message.

A church that does a great job at this is Gwinnett Church in

Sugar Hill, Georgia. They are a satellite campus of North Point
Ministries, and led by Jeff Henderson. Even before the church
launched and moved into its building, they would use the
hashtag #FORGwinnett to spread their message. Even during
construction of the building, the sign on the road just read
“#FORGwinnett.”

They also handed out car decals and t-shirts to just about
every church goer, even during the early stages when they
would meet at another church and in people’s homes.

The idea is that the church as a whole has long been known
for what we are against, and they want to be a church that is
known for what they are for. Gwinnett is the county that the
church serves, so they decided they want to be known for loving
the community of Gwinnett. When people would see the sign
on the road or people wearing the t-shirts, they’d either stop and
ask what it was about or they’d look up the hashtag online.

The #FORGwinnett campaign has been a great way to start

conversations, build relationships, and bring positive awareness
not only about the church, but about what the church stands for.

Social media is also a great way to not only engage with

your local community, but your broader online community as
well. It can be one of the easiest ways to reach the majority of
people in your area, or any area you want to target.

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Start by engaging with the real people who follow you. Stop
using Facebook and Twitter as just a platform for promotions
and distributing content. Producing and posting great content is
huge, but that has to only be part of your strategy.

You need to be listening to others and actively engaging in

building relationships with people online. Don’t be the church
that just posts blog posts and announcement after
announcement without any personality behind it, or without any
engagement with the real people who are reading it. Share and
retweet what others are posting. Interact with people in the
comments. Show some love and respect for the people you’re
trying so hard to reach.

Let people get to know you and actually take the time to get
to know them, because some day you might find yourself in a
position where it’s really important to clarify your message or
correct a mistake, and you’ll not only need people on your side
but you’ll want as many people as possible to actually listen to
what you are saying and not just blow you off.

I can’t emphasis enough how important this is. It’s

something that may seem like not a big deal now when things
are going great. But when the time comes and you haven’t put
in the effort, it’s going to come back and bite you.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You should also reach out to organizations in your area and

take people out for coffee and lunch. Just get to know them and

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see how you can meet their needs.

The more people who know you in the community the

better. Not only is it more people who can say “yeah I’ve heard
of that church, I know the pastor, he’s a great guy” but it also
means if they come across a bad article on the church they’ll
read it with a bias that they know you’re better than the media
might be portraying you.

You should know and build relationships with local

shelters, food banks, and non-profits in your area. There may
be some impactful ways you can partner together, but at the
very least you can support each other through prayer and get to
know each other better based on your shared connection with
the community.

Also think about the local restaurants and small businesses

that would love to have closer ties with your congregation.
Nowhere else in the community do you see groups of people
gather on a regular basis like you do with churches. Whether
you have 100 people attending your church each week, or 5000,
that’s value for a local small business.

Be careful not to turn your bulletin into a list of paid ads,

and I definitely wouldn’t ask your pastor to start wearing
sponsors logos on his suit or hang a neon sign from the podium.
But I don’t see anything wrong with posting on Facebook that
the local yogurt shop is offering 10% off after church, or that
the local pizza joint is a favorite spot for staff meetings.

Too many churches are afraid to associate with

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organizations that aren’t from the church. It’s really a shame.

THOUGHT LE ADERS

One of the best ways to get people talking about you, is to

get someone they already know and trust to start talking about
you.

Identify celebrities, other high-profile pastors, business

leaders, and anyone else with a little blue checkmark next to
their name on Twitter and start building relationships with
them.

A retweet here and there from someone with influence and

reach can add a ton of credibility for you. The next time you
send out a press release, including a quote from a thought leader
outside of your organization will have a lot more pull than
anything you wrote to include from your pastor.

Start by sharing their content, and engaging with them on

social media. Reach out and email people to tell them how much
you and your church admire them. It’s not hard to make new
friends, even famous ones. You just have to get out there and
try.

PROXIMITY M ATTERS

Keep in mind that when it comes to building authentic

relationships, you can’t automate the process or hide behind a
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screen. Healthy relationships rely on human interaction.

Have you ever made fun of someone, but then you meet
them and you start to regret what you said? Maybe you still
don’t like them, but once you’ve made that human connection
it changes things a bit.

That’s because proximity matters. Any decent person

responds positively to human interaction. You’ve really got to
be calculated and intentional to be mean to someone to their
face, but behind their back or in a comment on Facebook it takes
little effort at all to be mean.

When someone is right in front of you and can see that they
are human, that they have a past and a future. You can see that
they are created in God’s image just like you. You can see their
expressions, and feel their warmth. It changes things.

Touch takes it a step further. Put you hand on someone’s

shoulder or elbow, and they’ll instantly feel more trust between
you. That’s why the Bible tells us to lay hands on each other
when praying, because there is power in that type of interaction.
We are wired for it.

This matters because when people know you and are

familiar with you, then they’re more likely to give you the
benefit of the doubt. This is important to think about when
building relationships with anyone, especially reporters and
people in the public outside your church.

If someone is going to write a negative article about you,

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chances are the hit is going to be a bit softer if they know you
or even if they’ve had some interaction with you. It’s easy to
write an article about someone whom you’ve never met and
probably never will. But once you interact with them and you
have a face and a memory attached to them, it makes it harder
to be mean. Maybe you know a bit about their personal story,
and have seen pictures of their kids. It changes the perspective
and tone.

Get off the phone and away from your computer from time
to time and make an effort to meet people for lunch and coffee.
Do more video calls than phone calls. Visit businesses instead
of just emailing them. If a reporter is doing a story on your
church, invite them to church so they experience it first hand.
Getting to meet people and shake their hand will have a much
more lasting impact.

Now I’m not a baseball fan. I’m not even a sports fan. But
I am a Jimmy Fallon fan. My wife and I will stay up late a lot
of nights just watching YouTube clips of Fallon. Awhile ago I
came across this clip where Jimmy Fallon was asking New
York Yankees fans to boo Robinson Cano. Apparently, Cano
left the Yankees for the Mariners for a $240 million contract
and that upset a lot of Yankees fans.

Jimmy setup a big cardboard cutout of Cano on the streets

of New York and gave people an opportunity to boo it. People
had fun going off on this cardboard cutout, yelling obscenities
and throwing things, and telling Cano how they really felt about
him leaving.

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What they didn’t realize was the real Robinson Cano was
hiding behind the cardboard cutout. As they were going off on
the fake Cano, he would walk out and people would instantly
change their attitude and demeanor.

Most people apologized and shook his hand, as they

instantly became star struck. A moment ago they were cussing
him out being as mean as they could be — but a moment ago
he wasn’t a real person, he was just cardboard. Now that he's a
real person living and breathing in front of them, they show him
the proper respect that any human deserves. His proximity to
them changed their perception and their actions. One guy even
said, “I still don’t like what you did, but it’s a pleasure to meet
you and I’d love to shake your hand.”

You need to get in front of the booing by building

relationships and creating opportunities for people to get to
know the real you. It can completely change the tone and
message of any story about your church.

I’ve met with reporters and bloggers who wrote bad stuff
about us, and completely turned around their perception of us
(and my perception of them) just by meeting face to face and
having a real conversation. I’ve de-escalated loud protests by
offering coffee and shaking people’s hands, even as they held
signs calling me names.

As a PR person, at least a third of your time should

physically be spent simply communicating with and fostering
relationships with others.

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Remember, PR is all about managing perception. The more

people saying and thinking nice things about you the better.

It’s the same game the media is playing with you. They
know how to manipulate the public’s perception in order to sell
newspapers and get more clicks. Even the Christian media does
this. Try reading an article on a Christian news site without
closing four ads and panicking to find your mute button. They
make their money off each page view just like every other news
site.

If you aren’t playing the game too, then you’re going to lose
by default. You’ve got to play, but you’ve got to play with
integrity and kindness. That means actually get to know people
because they are great people, not because you want to use
them.

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CHAPTER SIX

THE POWER OF THE

PRESS

“When it comes to media relations it’s not just

about establishing a connection with a reporter.
Maintaining a relationship over time will be the
key to driving consistent results.”
– Carol Lee, Tech Affect

As I said before, one of the most valuable and profitable

relationships you can build is with the press. The press can be
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an intimidating force, but they can also be one of the most

advantageous resources to getting the gospel to the masses.
That’s why you need a media relations plan.

I have found that when you actually take the time to get to
know the men and women who are helping inform the public
about the news, there are some wonderful people among them
who love the Lord and love the church. Even most non-
Christian reporters and journalists are genuinely interested in
just reporting the facts, but they have so much working against
them like deadlines and quotas that have changed the game.

It is definitely worth your time and resources to have an

active plan in place to work with the press on an on-going basis,
as well as to actively pitch stories about your church that might
be relevant to the community.

A positive story about your church in the newspaper or on

a popular website can help you reach the very audience that you
should be trying to reach. In fact, besides social media, a great
news story is one of the only ways to reach that audience, and
to do so in a way that is meeting them where they already are.

With that said, I know there will still be some of you who
want to argue back and forth on whether it’s worth your time to
pursue stories in newspapers and blogs. Perhaps you’re a small
church struggling with keeping your Facebook updated. You
certainly can make a great argument for not having the
resources to care about pitching press releases.

However, nothing you do or don’t do is going to change the

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fact that you have no control over when a story about your
church is going to break. If something newsworthy happens that
affects or involves your church, you’re going to wish you had
been better prepared to deal with reporters calling your front
desk or showing up to your church service with TV cameras.

And being prepared for when that happens has everything

to do with building relationships and pitching stories, and less
to do with communications plans and standard protocol
(although both are very important).

This is when the phrase “a good defense is a good offense”

is absolutely true. If you take the time and effort to build up a
good perception of your church, it will soften the blow if
something negative ever does come your way.

The relationships you’ve built with press and media

contacts will not only come in handy if something negative
comes out about your church - more on that later - but they will
also be key in gaining visibility for the positive stories you wish
to exploit.

You cannot wait around and expect people to write about

the good things you are doing. You must tell them about it, and
also give them reason to promote it for you when there is so
much out there competing for their time.

Your PR plan should include your goals and processes for

working with the media, as well as how and when you’ll pitch
them stories to promote what you are doing.

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Pitching a story to the press can prove to be quite the art

form. It should be well planned and thought out. If all you’re
doing is simply writing up press releases and blasting them out
to the masses, then you’re wasting a lot of valuable time.

Leverage your relationships to pitch the people you know

directly. Every reporter has a short list of people they’ll listen
to first. They want to work with the people they trust and have
relationships with, so they know the facts they get are straight
and can easily be integrated into a story without the hassle of
extensive research. Hardly ever do they need to pick from the
stack of releases that come through every day, if they have
enough trusted PR contacts ready to work with them.

When it comes time to pitching a story, there are certain

things you want to get right. Reporters do not have the time to
hunt down details, especially on a story that may not be a high
priority for them. Put in the work, so they don’t have to, and
you’ll have a better chance of getting your story published.

PITCHING A STORY

Email is the preferred method to pitch a story to a reporter.

Some will argue that the best thing to do is pick up the phone,
but I disagree. Email gives you the best option of getting all the
pertinent information in their hands. If you have direct
relationships with the press then you’ll hardly ever need to use
wire services to get a release out. Just email your contact
directly.

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I will say, once you know them personally it is definitely a

good idea to send off a text message or pick up the phone to
alert them about your email. But crafting that email well is the
important part.

When emailing a reporter be sure to address them by name.

And be sure you spell it correctly. The best pitch won’t ever get
read if you call Dave by the name of Dan, or if you assume Dana
is a woman and not a man.

Know who you are addressing, and appeal to their interests.

The writer who normally works the technology beat probably
isn’t going to care what your church is up to, unless of course
you just developed an awesome new app.

Find the best writer who will be interested in the topic you
are pitching. More often than not this will be the faith and
religion reporter, or if at a TV station, the news reporter that
covers your neighborhood.

Whether you have an existing relationship with this person

or not, your email should start out with something that helps
connect you to this person and elevates you above the rest of
the people currently pitching them.

One of the best ways to do this is to research what they’ve

written about lately, so you can reference it in your pitch. It
shows you follow what they care about. Most reporters aren’t
sporadic in what they report on. Pick up on their thread and find
a way for your story to fit into it. Don’t hesitate to throw a little
flattery and charm into it either.

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Then get right to the point. Don’t bury the lead, as they say.
In no more than one or two sentences, explain what the story is
about and why it’s unique.

The remainder of your email pitch should include all the

pertinent details of the story. The idea is to make it as easy as
possible for them to write a unique article on the subject you are
pitching. Think about their needs and try to meet them.

“PR is not advertising. Your pitch should be about

the reporter and her publication’s needs, not your
own.”
– Sean Lenehan, Voice Communications

There have been many times where I have included a fully

written post, only to have a reporter cut and paste it in its
entirety as their published article. It’s a little surreal the first
time you read an article you wrote published in a newspaper but
attributed to someone else’s name. It really makes you think
twice about what you read.

Whether you choose to include a full article, or just the

information they need to write their own, you must write in a
way that makes it easy for them to cut and paste. The pronouns
you use should be in the third person, as if the reporter is writing
about the church (they, them, etc.).

One of the most important items you must include is a quote

from a relevant representative, preferably two. Again, the goal

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is to do as much of the work for them as possible. When they

are able to include a quote in their article, it will have the
appearance that they conducted an interview and did their
research. It adds weight and validity to their article. More often
than not, with tight deadlines and multiple article quotas per
day, they don’t have time to conduct lengthy interviews.
Provide these details for them and you’ll have a better chance
of your article being published.

Make the quotes count. Typically, they’ll want one from the
senior pastor or whoever is the most well-known to the public.
Whenever possible also include a quote from a church member,
or another staff member. The idea is to make it look less like it
was handed to them, and more like they actually did the work.
Speed up your internal approval process by writing the quote
yourself and getting your pastor to approve it or make quick
changes if needed. I know, it seems disingenuous, and that’s
because it is. We’re playing by their rules, not ours.

This all may seem shallow, but that is how the game is
played these days. Your reporter will appreciate the help, and
they’ll reach out to you directly the next time they are fishing
for a story. Why would they not want to work with you again,
if you’re the one who does all their work for them?

Also, be sure to include any additional facts and tidbits of

information that are important to the story. You can list these
out in bullet point form if needed. Don’t assume they know how
big your church is, or how to spell your pastor’s name. Include
things like when the church was planted, how many locations
you have, and whatever else may be relevant to the story.

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A lot of that information can be included in what is called a

boiler plate paragraph. Typically, at the end of a press release
you will include a single paragraph about the church that gives
important information such as the proper name, address, contact
info, number of locations, the mission statement, and more.

Even though you’re including all of this information, you

must keep the length of your email as short as possible. The
entirety of your story should take no more than a single page if
printed out. A typical news article is anywhere from 500 to 800
words in length. If you include more than that, they’ll be
overwhelmed and move on. If it’s too short, they may not have
the time to fill in the blanks.

You may also want to include photos or video clips that are
relevant to the story. Every news article that is posted online
will include at least one photo. If you don’t provide one, then
they are going to use the stock image they have on file for your
church and chances are it’s not going to be a flattering one.
Provide them high quality professional photos that would work
well for an article header.

I always kept a DropBox folder up to date with new images,

and linked to it in our boiler plate description that went out with
every pitch or reply to a reporter. The good ones would use
them, while the ones bent on being negative would always
prefer their grainy photos from the 90’s that made us look like
a cult. You can only do so much.

Lastly, you’ll want to include an easy way for them to get a

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hold of you. Even if it’s someone you talk to often, include your
direct phone number, email, and even your Twitter handle in
every correspondence.

These people are working from their cars, from coffee

shops, and news vans. They don’t have assistants anymore.
Most of my communications with the reporters I knew
happened over text message and Twitter direct messages.

INTERVIEWING TIPS

Whether a story you pitched is picked up, or a reporter

reached out to you for comment on something they are already
writing, there may come a time where you’ll be interviewed.

Most members of the press do not want to run a factually

incorrect story. Even when dealing with an aggressive
journalist, it can be helpful to remember that they may treat the
“other side of the story” just as aggressively in pursuit of
unbiased truth.

Problems occur when they don’t get an accurate story from

one side. I like to think that back in the day this would mean
they wouldn’t run the story if they didn’t have all the
information, but I don’t know if that’s true. For as long as I’ve
been alive, if they want to run a story, they’ll do it with or
without you.

That’s why it’s important to respond to journalists and

reporters, and to be prepared with your side of the story at all

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times. It’s up to you, and you alone, to get your story out there,
and to do your best to help them understand it. If they get it
wrong, chances are that’s on you.

Journalists are usually interested in offering a different

angle on the story that includes fresh information or better
evidence than what they already have. Especially if it’s
something that others are going to report on as well. They need
to stand out and be unique.

There may come a time when you are chosen as a

spokesperson for your church, either in writing or over the
phone or on camera.

Your church will be ideally positioned to the press when

your spokesperson sticks to the approved messaging and
follows these basic principles:

PREPARE FOR YOUR INTERVIEWS

The journalist is going to be prepared for the interview,

even if they are pretending that they aren’t. So don’t walk into
an interview not knowing what you are going to say.

It’s ok to request the reporter to send you their questions in

advance. PR pros may disagree with me on that, but in my
experience, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Most of the time they won’t have the time to do this, as they’re
always hustling and working on the fly. But every once in a
while, you get lucky and that heads up will help you prepare
better. When it comes down to it, they want to produce a good

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news story, not quote some fumbling un-prepared guy who

works at a church.

ANTICIPATE THE QUESTIONS

Whether you get the questions ahead of time or not, take

time to think about the questions you might be asked, then
prepare your answers in advance.

Once you have your answers written out, then try to

simplify them as much as possible. Get your answers down to
just a few key points, and memorize them. Your key points
should be short enough to tweet, and you should try to work
them into every answer if possible.

PRACTICE MOCK INTERVIEWS

Ask a friend or co-worker to pretend to be a reporter so you

can practice saying your answers. Don’t let the first time you
are saying them be on camera.

This can sometimes feel weird or you don’t have the time,
so I’d often record myself saying the answers out loud. Being
able to play back the recording helps you listen from a different
perspective. I’d often make changes to my wording or tone
based on how I sounded on the recording.

MAKE YOURSELF ACCESSIBLE

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Don’t hide your contact information, or ignore your phone.

When a reporter calls, respect that they are under a deadline and
be available to them.

Most reporters don’t have much time to wait on you. While

they would prefer a direct quote and new information, they
don’t need it to run their story. You’ll usually have between one
and six hours to generate your response and get it back to the
reporter before they have to publish.

If you aren’t prepared to answer their questions when they

request them, then let them know what is going on. It’s ok to
say “I’m planning on getting you a statement, we just need
another hour.” If they know they’ll get a statement from you,
more often than not they will wait for it or they’ll let you know
when their hard deadline is.

If you don’t communicate with them, they are more likely

to go ahead without you, which probably won’t work out
positively for you. This is what happens when you read
something like, “Representatives from the church were not
available for comment.” in articles. That looks like you refused
to answer or didn’t care, when in reality it could have just meant
you were in a meeting when they called.

KEEP ANSWERS SHORT BUT INFORMATIVE

Don’t ramble on. Keep your answers directly related to the

question. If you can’t answer them in one or two sentences, then
they aren’t going to use that answer. You’ll either be quoted
without the context you provided, or you won’t be quoted at all.

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Try writing out your answer beforehand, then keep taking

words out until you’ve reduced it down to the plain and simple
point you are trying to make.

They are looking for quick sound bites. Whether you are
being interviewed for TV or for an article, the quotes that will
make it are going to be the short and pithy ones. Don’t lose the
opportunity by talking too much.

RESPECT THEIR TIMELINES

Again, they will publish without you. Most reporters are

working on two to three stories a day. They don’t have time to
wait, or do proper research. They’re not even looking to hear
your whole story. They’re looking for a couple sound bites to
make it look like they interviewed someone, and then they can
move onto the next story.

When they call and say they’re doing a story, you’ve got to
drop what you’re doing and kick it into gear if you want to be a
part of it.

CORRECT MISINFORMATION

You’ll be misquoted. Names will get spelled wrong. Critical

information will be missing from the story even though you said
it ten times. That’s just how the game is played. Most of the
time it’s an honest mistake. The reporter is in a hurry and things
get sloppy or were simply misunderstood.

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Unfortunately, once a story is out, people read it or watch

it, then they move on. Nobody goes back to see if anything
changed.

But it’s still important for you to work with the reporter to
get the correct information out there. Follow up in an email or
a phone call, and stay persistent. If you need to, find out who
the editor is and work with them on making the correction.
Chances are the reporter is out in the field and onto the next
story, so it could take them days to update it. But an editor is
chained to a desk and can make it happen quicker, and is likely
to care more about getting the facts straight. After all, that’s
their job.

This is vitally important in case the story gets picked up by

other news sites or bloggers. They’ll start quoting the original
story, and if the information is incorrect, then you’ll lose control
of it forever. Even if you track every instance down and get
them all corrected, you can’t change the perspective of all the
people who have already read it.

ASK FOR CLARIFICATION

One way you can avoid misinformation getting out there, is

to ask clarifying questions. If you don’t understand what is
being asked of you, request that they ask it in a different way or
explain it to you. Remember, they’re just looking for a sound
byte. They won’t air or quote the conversations back and forth
between the two of you.

If you aren’t sure that they understood your answer, ask

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them to repeat it to you so you can be sure they got it right. If

you show them respect, they’ll work with you to get the story
right. Their reputation is on the line too.

THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

It’s ok to pause. If you’re on camera, your entire interview

isn’t going to be presented unless of course you are live. And if
you’re talking to a newspaper reporter, they aren’t going to
report your pauses or describe you as slow. If you need a minute
to think through your answer, take your time. As much as you
can, avoid “um’s’ and “uh’s,” but it’s perfectly acceptable to be
silent for a second. They will wait for your answer.

It’s better than blurting out something you didn’t mean to

blurt out. Because once it’s out, it’s out.

REPEAT YOUR CORE MESSAGE

Repetition is key. Get your key points out there as many

times as possible. They are more likely to air or print something
you repeated several times.

In fact, try to come up with one or two key points, and work
that point into every single answer you give them. Remember,
the entire interview isn’t going to be aired. They are only going
to air one of your answers, so you’re not going to look weird
repeating yourself. But if you have the same answer to every
question, chances are pretty good that your point is going to get
some air time.

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It’s also not in their best interest to plug your website for
you. If you repeat it several times, you’ll have a better chance
of it making it into the story.

NEVER SAY “NO COMMENT”

If there’s a question you want to avoid, or something you

don’t have permission to answer, try to redirect it back to your
main point instead.

If you say, “no comment” or “I can’t answer that” then it

makes you sound guilty and that you have something to hide.
They’ll air that for sure, and you’ll end up looking bad even
though you didn’t say anything at all.

When you say, “I can’t answer that,” it makes it look like

you’ve been handled and that there is something to hide. It also
gives them the impression that you aren’t the person they
should be talking to, and may make a big mess for yourself
when they try to go above your head to get the real story.

Instead say things like “I don’t have an answer on that right

now, but I’ll get back to you on that.” This buys you more time
to come up with an answer, and worse case you follow up with
an email that says, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get any more
information on that at this time.” They aren’t going to be
waiting for your answer anyway.

DON’T SPECULATE

Share what you know and commit to finding out what you
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don’t know. It’s not your job to give your opinion. You’re
representing the church and need to stick to the talking points
that you prepared.

If they ask you something you weren’t prepared for, just

share what you do know and if you aren’t sure, say something
like “I’m not sure about that but I’ll find out for you.”

You can then follow up in an email once you find out what
to say. But again, they’ll likely have moved on without
including that part. When I have used that line I’ve never once
had a reporter follow up and ask if I found out the answer. They
just skip it.

What you don’t want to do is panic and think you have to

have an answer for everything.

DON’T LOSE YOUR COOL

It’s important to stay calm and collected. Sometimes they’ll

try to get under your skin. After all, controversy sells, so if they
get you worked up, then it makes for a better story.

If they’ve said something to upset you, or they’re pushing

your buttons, just pause and take a breath. Stick to your points,
and continue to repeat yourself.

It’s really important to smile the entire time. Don’t squint

your eyes and look annoyed. If you do, you can be sure that will
be the still shot that goes up on the blog later.

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DON’T USE CHURCH JARGON

Remember that non-Christians are going to see this or read

about it, and that it may end up being a great opportunity for
them to be exposed to your church. Don’t turn them off or
confuse them by using internal language, or language that only
Christians would understand.

Things like “loving on,” “doing life with,” “sanctuary,”

“life groups,” “sacraments,” etc. are things that no one is going
to understand.

If you’re talking about small groups, try to briefly explain

what they are, such as “small groups are where people in the
church gather in each other’s homes throughout the week to
share a meal and get to know each other better.”

If you normally call your worship space a “sanctuary,” for

the purpose of the interview just call it an “auditorium.” Think
of the end viewer or reader, who may be an unbeliever who is
interested in coming to your church. Make it super easy to
understand.

DON’T TRY TO STOP A STORY

Never try to stop a member of the press from running a

story. Offer to help with the story instead. It will never end well
if you’re trying to stop a story from coming out. If they’re
already inquiring about it, then your best bet is to become a part
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of the story so you can do your best to get your side right.

Offer to connect them with the right people they need to

interview. Provide the info they need for their research.
Chances are if you provide it, they’ll use it rather than digging
deeper.

DON’T SAY ANYTHING “OFF THE RECORD”

Remain professional with the press at all times. Even if

you’ve come to be friends with a reporter. There really is no
such thing as “off the record.” If it’s good, chances are they’ll
find a way to work it into the story one way or the other. Most
reporters feel it is their sworn duty to report something they
know about. Just because you said it off the record doesn't mean
they can't ask a church member or another staffer to verify it on
the record, and then quote them instead.

Any respectable journalist will abide by the off the record

rules if you make it clear up front that you are off the record,
but when it comes down to it, there’s nothing legally binding
about the words.

Also keep in mind that bloggers don't have a boss or editor

looking over their shoulder, so they have no obligation to
adhere to journalistic standards. You never know what they’ll
write, and just because they don’t quote you doesn’t mean they
won’t share their opinion on something you said in order to get
the information out there.

DON’T SAY ANYTHING YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO

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READ IN THE STORY LATER

Don’t get sidetracked out of the key issue. Bring it back to

the core message if you need to.

Never made bad jokes or lose professionalism. Remember

that the entire time you are with the reporter, they are paying
attention to your conversation. Even after the interview is over
and you’ve turned to chit chat, your words can be used in the
story. In fact, they’ll often use opportunities like that to catch
you off your guard.

I learned that lesson the hard way. We were making a bid

for a huge building that was for sale near our main church
campus. The building and property was a perfect fit to expand
our church’s central operations and main auditorium. It was
right off the public transportation line, and in the middle of a
proposed mixed-use development that was supposed to be the
new epicenter of the city. It was exactly what we had been
looking for, and at the end of the day it was the only option we
found that was big enough to fit our growing congregation.

We needed to expand and this building was the only option

within the city. There wasn’t a lot of undeveloped space in the
area, and there are a lot of restrictions on new buildings,
particularly worship centers. It’s not like down South where
you can just buy an empty field and build a massive auditorium
to your specs.

We made an offer on the building, more than they were

asking, and the owner accepted it. Unfortunately, the city turned

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out to have a claim on the property, as it was one of several

locations they had the right to seize while they planned a new
maintenance facility for the mass transit train line. Even though
our offer was accepted, the city blocked the sale.

The hardest part was the property would sit vacant for up to
five years while the city decided if they even needed it. They
wouldn’t be ready to build their maintenance facility for several
years, but they seized about five different properties while they
determined which one they might use. If they didn’t choose this
one, they’d end up selling it at auction, but that could be five to
seven years later and we didn’t have that kind of time.

We tried working with the city to show them that our church
would be better for the community than a maintenance yard,
especially since they had several other properties that were a
great fit for their new facility, but we only had the one option
for the growth of our church. I appeared at every public hearing
they held for months, and spoke our concerns but they wouldn’t
budge on their decision, nor would they work with us to find
another suitable location for the church. Eventually they
stopped letting me speak on the matter.

There were no legal options we could pursue, and our

efforts to work with them were failing. We felt we had no other
choice than to try the matter in the court of public opinion so
we started a website to draw attention to the situation and get
the public’s interest. After all, even non-Christians could agree
that a beautiful church campus that doubles as a public
auditorium, book store and cafe, was a better option in the up
and coming shopping district than an ugly maintenance yard for

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trains.

A local TV station quickly picked up on the story and sent

a reporter out to interview me. The whole thing lasted 30
minutes. I hit every talking point we worked up, and was so
excited that they were devoting that much time to the story. I
knew they’d take a controversial angle with it - pitting the big
rich mega-church up against the city who was just trying to
support the popular mass transit line. But I had high hopes. The
reporter seemed genuinely interested, was friendly and asked
great questions.

What I didn’t expect is the reporter baiting me into a corner

as I walked him out to their news van. With the interview over,
but the camera apparently still recording audio, he asked me,
“Do you think God wants you to have this building?”

My response, with my guard down and thinking he and I

were now buddies, was “Sure, we believe God wants us to have
this building. We wouldn’t be pursuing it if we didn’t.”

Dang it. Why did I say that? As they hopped into their van
and sped off, I was praying the cameraman didn’t capture me
saying that. Sure enough, when the evening news came on that
night, the lead story was “Local church says we believe God
wants us to have this building!” with my photo next to it.

Thirty minutes of interview, and the only clip they aired was
audio of me saying those words. They didn’t even air him
asking the question. It played as if I volunteered the
information. None of the context was included. Not a single key

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point made it into the story. The whole thing was about how the
wacky megachurch thought they could take someone else’s
property just because God told them to.

I should have said something like, “Well I’m not God, I

don’t know what he wants. But I do know that we love this
community and want to continue being a part of it, but this
building is the only option we have to expand our growing
church. If the city continues to block the sale so they can sit on
the property for five years then we’ll have to move more than
150 jobs and a place of worship for 5000 church members to
another city.”

Even my co-workers the next morning in the church office

were asking me why I would say such a thing. It was a
nightmare.

The city issued a statement the next day saying that they
don’t just give up buildings because a church says God wants
them to have it. Man, I envied the city PR guy. He had me and
he knew it. We lost control of the message, and the public
turned against us.

A reporter caught me off-guard and it threw a whole

building campaign off the tracks. We might have been able to
recover by doing another interview and explaining what
happened. I certainly wanted to stay in the fight. Unfortunately,
I didn’t get the chance to even clarify my position because the
prevailing decision was to move on. We were already under a
lot of pressure at the time, and frankly it marked the beginning
of us giving up on the future of the church. In hindsight, we

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would have been selling that building a year later had we known
the church would soon close.

I don’t share this story to scare you into never talking to a

reporter. I share it because it’s a good lesson to always stick to
your talking points, and always be on guard when talking to a
reporter - especially one you don’t have an existing relationship
with.

I also hope it’s a good lesson in not giving up. Whenever

possible, clarify what you meant to say. Try to correct your
missteps. In my opinion, we owed it to the public to share what
happened and what we really meant.

We let their poor perception of the church linger, and

frankly that hurt churches everywhere and it hurt the people
who followed the story. It pains me to think that I helped justify
hatred for the church in a lot of people who just needed one
more reason to stay away. I regret that we didn’t keep fighting
to get our message out there. We may not have ever won the
building, but we could have helped correct the perception of the
church.

HOLDING A PRESS
CONFERENCE

Lastly, I want to touch on one technique of working with

the press that a lot of churches don’t use. There may come a
time when hosting a press conference is necessary to get the

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word out about a big announcement, or to respond to something

major.

Rather than interviewing with that TV station about our

church building that I shared with you earlier, I wish we had
done a press conference where we could have controlled the
story better.

Press conferences are certainly a rare occurrence with

churches, but I think that is a shame. I believe it is because most
churches are unprepared with how to hold one. They can be a
great way to entice hype or get the word out fast about an
important story. In times when you are responding to something
negative, it can be a great way to show vulnerability as well as
ensure that all new agencies receive the same information at the
same time.

Certainly, press conferences should be reserved for big

announcements and items that are definitely news worthy.
Don’t burn bridges with your media contacts by inviting them
to an announcement about how you collected 500 coats for a
coat drive. Nobody cares - that could have been handled in an
email if it’s important for you to get it out there. Press
conferences are for big announcements such as major
milestones, big building campaigns, major leadership changes,
responses to a major crisis, or something that has a big impact
on the community.

You can hold a press conference in your church auditorium,

in your foyer, or even a public space. Wherever is the easiest to
access and provides a great photo opportunity.

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To get the word out you’ll want to personally invite your

press contacts. It may also be wise in this case to prepare a
simple press release that goes out to all relevant media outlets.
You may also want to post about it on social media, as well as
your website or blog. Don’t leave them hanging on the subject
matter. Give them enough details so they’ll be interested in
attending, but hold back your best parts for the main event.

I highly suggest that anytime you make a major

announcement via the press, you first inform your church.
Whether it be just your members or key players, or the entire
congregation, it is generally best practice to inform the people
of your church first. This is particularly true if what you are
announcing is in any way negative.

Your people will be waiting for answers, and they deserve

to hear them from you and not from a press conference or from
an article they read in the local newspaper. Because of this, you
may want to time your press conference directly after a
member’s meeting or even a church service.

Kill two birds with one stone and invite the press into your
members meeting so everyone hears it at the same time. This
also has the added benefit of ensuring that no matter what is
reported, your key people heard it the same way the reporters
did and will be able to compare what was said verses what gets
reported.

You can be sure that reporters will bring photographers and

video crews to a press conference, so have this in mind. Be

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mindful of the setting and how it will look on TV. Provide a

backdrop or stage setup that is attractive. Ensure that there is
room for everyone to setup cameras so they get a good shot of
the speaker. Make sure they have power and wifi access.

This is also a great opportunity to provide loving

hospitality. Make it a joy to visit your church. Treat them like
you treated the affluent new family that visited last Sunday. Put
out water bottles, fresh coffee, snacks, and anything else that
will make your guests more comfortable.

When you invite the press into your house, you can expect
things to get a little pushier than you’ll be used to. Everyone is
getting the same information at the same time, so they’ll be
digging for unique angles that will make their article or TV spot
stand out among the others.

Think about providing time for one on one interviews with

you or the pastor, or any other spokesperson that would be
relevant to the story. You invited them, so be accessible and
accommodating. At the very least provide them with a final
print out that includes every necessary detail for the story.

Follow up with every press contact and thank them for

coming, and share your regrets with those who didn’t make it.
Then provide them with all the details again. This also give you
a chance to clarify anything you felt was unclear or got
muddled. They’ll be rushing to get a story out, and will
appreciate having the facts and key points already written up
for them.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

THE POWER OF
SOCIAL MEDIA

“Social media is changing the way we

communicate and the way we are perceived, both
positively and negatively. Every time you post a
photo, or update your status, you are
contributing to your own digital footprint and
personal brand.”
- Amy Jo Martin

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The most effective way you can communicate with the

public and shape the perception of your church, is through
social media. It should be the most vital piece of your PR plan
and overall communications strategy.

Social media is also an incredible tool to fulfill the mission

of your church in ways you’ll never be able to from the pulpit.

With a few key strokes, you can reach the nations with the
message of your church, and you don’t even have to raise
support for missions.

There’s nothing wrong with missions of course. But in

today’s world of social media, there is tremendous opportunity
available to you at home, and most churches aren’t fully taking
advantage of it.

If your church loves people, then you should love social

media. Jesus’ last commandment to his disciples was to “be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
end of the earth. 5”

These days, our entire world is connected through social

media. Facebook is “the end of the earth” because it’s one way
we truly are able to “make disciples of all nations. 6 ” Those
nations are on Facebook, as well as Twitter, Instagram,

5
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth.” - Acts 1:8 ESV
6
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV

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Pinterest, Snapchat, and every other social media network.

As Christians, our biggest mission is to share the gospel of

Jesus Christ with as many people as possible, and social media
is a mission field populated with actual people who need the
gospel. Our job is to make the gospel the hero of every post and
get out of the way.

Jesus said Christians are the light of the world. The world is
now on social media and Jesus loves every man and woman on
social media sites, the popular sites and the not-so-popular ones.
Therefore, churches should be using social media to point
people to Jesus.

We can’t do that if we are only posting about events and

announcements. We can do so much better than that. There are
rich opportunities to build relationships and get to know people
on an intimate level.

There are 168 hours in a week. When you think about it, a
church typically only engages with people for about an hour
once per week. And it’s all one-way communication. Sure,
people may connect in small groups and with other ministries
throughout the week, but my point is that there are typically 167
hours a week that your people are not engaging with your
church.

Historically, there hasn’t been anything we can do about

that, but social media has totally changed the game. We know
that people are spending nearly an hour every day scrolling
through Facebook status updates, liking Instagram posts,

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or chatting on Messenger 7 . That’s another 7 hours per week

that you can get in front of them and engage with them.

They are sharing their most intimate thoughts, they are

checking in at their favorite restaurants and posting pictures of
what they are eating. They are cataloging milestones, and
capturing every moment of their children’s lives. If you pay
attention, they are telling you and showing you how to minister
to them with every post.

Social media is not just another advertising platform or

activity for your interns to play around with. It’s an investment
in people. You can leverage it in a number of different ways to
actually connect with people, whether they be volunteers,
parents, new people who just visited your church, or people
who have never been. It’s an opportunity to invite people, and
to equip others to invite their friends.

It used to be said that the parking lot of your church should

be considered just as important as your front door. The idea
being that as people drive up to your church for the first time,
they already start to develop an opinion and feeling about their
experience. Developing a welcoming parking process, keeping
the grounds clean and beautiful, and providing helpful signage,
are all some ways you can help people feel loved from the
second they hit your property.

While that is still very true, the internet and social media
has added a new layer. These days, before people ever consider

7
Source: Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-time-do-
people-spend-on-facebook-per-day-2016-4

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the possibility of visiting your church they are looking at your

website and your social media platforms to get a feel for what
your church is like.

They want to know if the people who attend your church are
like them or not. They want to know what you believe, and if
your actions actually match up with what you say you believe.
They want to get a sense for whether they will belong, and
whether they would be proud of ashamed to be seen there.

More practically they also want to know what it’s like to

check their kids into the nursery or kid’s ministry area. For
someone who has never been to a church, the whole idea of
handing off their kids to some strangers is a scary thought. What
are they going to do for an hour? What are they going to teach
my kids — I’m not even sure if I believe in Jesus yet, so are they
going to force that on my child?

Social media provides an opportunity to help answer those

questions, not only by pointing to the resources and content you
have made available, but by opening up a channel where you
can connect person to person and walk them through their
concerns and questions.

I have seen so many churches who publish posts that say

something like “We can’t wait to see you this Sunday,” but then
they don’t have anyone responding to comments or messages
that may come in. I’ve managed Facebook on Sundays for many
churches, and people will frequently ask questions via
Facebook Messenger. I had one guy who messaged a church’s
Facebook page to ask which exit to get off on the freeway. He

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was driving to church and needed directions. Had no one been

manning the Facebook page that day, it’s possible he would
have never made it. Not only did he get directions in real time,
but before he even hit the parking lot he was already developing
a positive perception about the people of the church.

Had no one responded to him, he may have still found his

way, but he probably would have felt ignored. Not a great way
to make a first impression.

To this day I still hear so called social media experts and

consultants tell people that social media is still so new and we
are all just trying to figure this thing out together. But that
doesn’t add up anymore. As of this writing, social media has
been around for nearly fifteen years, and while it continues to
grow and evolve, I think that has more to do with the medium
than it does the length of time it has been available. Social
media is ever changing and always will be.

It’s a communication method, a series of tools to help us

connect with each other better. And as with any type of
communication tool, you need to evolve and continue to be
creative when using them to effectively market a product or
service.

Where the church continues to fail, at least in general, is

they see it as another advertising channel such as direct mail,
billboards, radio, TV, or even email. Those methods are all one-
way, and that used to be all we had.

Before the internet and social media, advertising and

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marketing was exclusively about selling products. It wasn’t

relational. There was no way for the consumer to give feedback
or express an opinion. TV, radio, and newspapers told us how
to feel and what to buy. None of that is true anymore. The rules
have completely changed.

Sure, social media can certainly be used to advertise and

promote, but it’s so much more than that. It is an entirely
different thing all together.

Young people get this because they don’t ever remember a

time when there wasn’t the internet and social media. There is
a whole community of people who don’t know the difference
between offline and online because for them they have always
overlapped and been intertwined. Churches that are still holding
onto their sacred old school ways are struggling to even
understand this, let alone adapt to it or capitalize on it.

It’s time to wake up. Stop with the excuses. Ignore the old
way of doing things, and embrace the fact that the rules have
changed. If you don’t understand it, hire someone who does.
The opportunity to reach real people and point them to Jesus is
too great to dismiss it.

I think it’s ironic when I meet with churches who spend

millions of dollars sending people on missions trips all over the
world, but then tell me they don’t see the value in spending a
few thousand dollars a year on social media. If you gave me a
million dollar budget for Facebook ads, I guarantee you that I’d
be able to reach more people and more countries per year than
your missions team. But the reality is, on Facebook you can do

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that without spending any money at all. If you want to

accelerate your potential reach with Facebook ads, it’s still only
going to cost you a few hundred dollars to do it well. Even $50
on Facebook can help you reach a few thousand people.

I know I pick on missions trips and that upsets people. Don’t

get me wrong, I think missions are a great use of church funds.
So, let’s pick on church bulletins instead. I know just as many
churches that are wasting money on printing bulky handouts
every Sunday that no one reads. Printing these things on the
church photocopier isn’t that expensive, but when you calculate
the time and energy it takes for someone on your staff to put the
thing together, it adds up pretty quickly. And for very little
payoff.

Whether it’s the Communications Manager or the church

secretary who puts the bulletin together, consider utilizing their
time to better manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Use
the money you spend on printing to run some Facebook ads
instead.

I would love it if you just humored me and tried an

experiment. Wait until your bulletin stock is all used up, then
for the next six weeks stop printing it. You have to stick with it
for six weeks because you are definitely going to get some push
back the first week. Then a little pushback the second week.
Then you’ll suddenly find that no one is asking about the
bulletin anymore. By the fourth or fifth week no one will care.
Then you can look at the data. Did attendance change? Did
people forget about important events? Chances are not much of
anything will have changed, and you now have a case for

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stopping the bulletin permanently.

If I’m wrong, then I just gave you a six week break from
what is most likely one of the most mundane parts of your job.
Go back to printing it if it works for you. However, the churches
I know who have taken this challenge have never returned to
printing a bulletin. In fact, one church was able to sell their
photocopier.

What you may notice during your six week bulletin

experiment is that you’ll get more questions on social media
about events and registration. That’s what you want. Because
now you can engage with those people rather than
communicating with them through a piece of paper.

The point of the experiment is to prove that you do have the

time and resources to manage social media well, and maybe
even do some paid ads. You just need to prioritize what you are
spending your time and resources on. Why spend so much time
and effort on bulletins, when you can accomplish the same thing
through social media but with higher quality and greater
returns? Why spend millions on overseas missions so people
can have an experience, when you can reach every nation in the
world through the content you post and conversations you have
online?

If you’re a larger church maybe you can do it all. I know

plenty of churches who do social media well, have a large
missions budget, and still print a bulletin. Do what works for
you, but don’t give up on the potential of social media just
because you didn’t try to do it well.

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So how do you move from using social media as a billboard,

to using it as a communications tool that helps you build a better
perception for your church and reach your organizations goals?

ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

Social media should be conversational. It’s not so much

about what you post, but how you interact and engage with
people.

Rather than posting about your church and what you offer,
ask more questions that lead to conversations and create
opportunities to point people to Jesus.

The best way to build up engagement — people

commenting and interacting with you — is to start engaging. If
that sounds like it was way obvious, it’s because it is. You don’t
go to a party, sit in the corner and don’t talk to anyone, then
complain how everyone was unfriendly. Ask questions. Move
around a bit. Introduce yourself. Dance!

When you ask questions, and expect your audience to

engage, you have to engage back. Acknowledge their
participation with a like, a reply comment, or a share. You can't
ask them a question, or ask them to share a photo, and then
never participate in the discussions or acknowledge the effort
they made. If you don't engage back then the perception you are
creating is that you clearly only care about getting likes.

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BE STRATEGIC WITH THE CONTENT YOU SHARE

What you share speaks volumes about what is important to

you, and what you want to be important to others.

When you post content, don’t just share church related

posts. In one of the church communications Facebook groups
that I am a part of, a young woman asked the group if they
thought it would be appropriate for her church to share about a
missing girl in their community. She wasn’t sure if it was
appropriate because it wasn’t a “church related post” and she
wasn’t even sure if the missing girl had any association with the
church.

I and many others suggested that this is the exact type of

thing you should be posting about from your church social
media platforms. A little girl is missing in your community! If
the church can’t get involved in that because they’re too busy
posting about the next bake sale, then something is very wrong.

The best way to know what to post, is to first get to know

who you are posting for. Do you have a target audience and goal
in mind when you post, or are you simply checking off the list
of things each ministry needs to communicate?

GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

These days in order to sell a product, you can’t just talk

about how great it is and expect people to buy it. You have to
put your product aside, and start thinking about the consumer
directly.

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Successful marketers will appeal to a buyer’s needs, and

convince them that their product solves their problem.
Starbucks isn’t just a great cup of coffee, it’s a great place to
hang out and meet with others besides the home or the office.
The iPhone isn’t just the best phone on the market, it’s an
extension of who you are and how connect with your friends,
your business, and the world. If you voted for Obama, you
weren’t voting for a man, you were voting for change. All of
these brands know how to appeal to their audiences needs and
desires, and not just focus on how great their product is.

The main focus of a church isn’t to sell products, but the

buyer-first marketing concept can be applied just the same.
Rather than focusing on your next event, or your great worship
service, you need to focus on the people first, and create content
and messaging that appeals to their interests and needs.

Instead of “Don’t miss this week’s message,” try something

like, “We’d love to see you this weekend. You’ll feel like you
finally found a place where you can belong,” might appeal more
to your audience’s desires.

You can learn what they want by listening to what they are
saying. When someone likes your page or comments on a post,
click over to view their profile. Who are they? Where are they?
What type of stuff do they post? Are they married? Kids?
Conservative or liberal?

Within a minute or so you could easily be able to classify

that person in at least one or two ways. This is very much like

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creating personas and target audiences, if you’re at all familiar

with those marketing tactics.

One of the most important categories you could place

someone in is whether they are a current member, or potential
member. Or do they live too far to ever be a member?

You can also easily pick up on how they talk, so you can
start to use the same words and phrases that they use in your
posts and comments.

Also look for what websites they frequently share, including

news sites, magazines, and blogs. That will help you start to
generate a list of sites that you could possibly share content
from. If a large part of your audience reads and shares posts
from Harvard Business Review, then maybe you can find some
relevant posts to share from that site as well. Or maybe recipes
and cat videos are more their flavor, then it should become
yours too.

Use all of this information to know more about who you are
reaching, and what they may want to see, or need to see, in their
news feed. Craft your content around their needs not yours.

You may find that you have several different categories of

people who follow and engage with your church. That’s OK.
That’s totally to be expected. And there’s nothing wrong with
crafting content to reach each group. This is where an editorial
calendar may come in handy so you know what type of content
is going out and when.

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When people start to feel like they know you, and you know
them, then they’ll more easily be able to convert into a visitor,
and a member, and a donor… or more importantly, a disciple of
Jesus Christ. Remember that people generally convert to
community before they convert to Christ.

It takes time. You have to play the long game. Think of it

like dating. Would you walk up to a pretty girl for the first time
and ask her to marry you right off the bat? No, you’d introduce
yourself. You’d maybe buy her a drink or ask her to share a
meal. You’d ask her questions about herself and get to know
her. After a few dates, you earn each other’s trust and you
decide whether you really like each other. Then comes a kiss,
then marriage, then kids, then a boat. You know how it goes.

My point is, don’t expect to post about your next event and
expect everyone to just sign up. Most of them probably don’t
even know you, have never visited before, and don’t know if
they can even trust you. You’re coming off as the creepy guy
who’s moving too fast. Get to know them first before you go
asking everything of them.

MEASURE WHAT MATTERS

One of the great things about the internet and social media
is that everything can be tracked and measured. When you post
something, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social
network will automatically track things for you such as how
many people liked it, how many people shared it, how many
people watched your video, etc. You can also measure how
many people like your profile page, thus increasing your

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potential audience for the next post. Then there’s things like
reach - how many people your post could potentially show up
in front of, and impressions - how many people actually saw it.

It can be incredibly satisfying to watch those numbers grow

and grow the more active you become on social media.
Likewise, it can be very frustrating and depressing when they
don’t grow. Or when you post something that you know is
important, only to find hardly anyone saw it.

When I ask churches what their social media goals are, I

hear things like “We want to have 5,000 page likes by the end
of the year,” or “We need to get 100,000 page views on our
website by Easter.”

The problem is, those goals rarely match up with the

church’s goals or vision. When I ask what the goals of the
church are, I hear things like “We want to be a church where
the un-churched and de-churched love to attend,” or “We want
to be known for serving our community.” I even hear things like
“We want to grow our attendance numbers to 3,000,” or “We
need to increase the number of regular donors by 10%.”

Typically, that increase in traffic or increase in social media

likes isn’t necessarily going to translate to your church’s goals.
So why are you spending so much time worrying about how
many people liked the last post if it isn’t putting more butts in
seats on Sunday, and it isn’t converting your regular attenders
into regular givers?

You need to align your communications goals with the

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goals of the church.

Instead of reporting on how many likes you have, try

creating a report that shows the different demographics and
personas of the people you are reaching. Then show how many
people in your audience you learned something new about
based on what they are posting and conversations you’ve had
with them through comments and messages. Show how many
people got a direct invite to church, or how many people you
helped by answering questions about the church. Show how
many of your church members shared a post and included an
invite to come to church on their own Facebook. Share stories
more than you share likes.

You get the picture. Align the things you are tracking with
the goals of the church, and you’ll be able to better track how
your efforts are actually affecting the bottom line (meaning
attenders, members, donations, etc.).

Focus on engagement, learn about your audience and craft

content that puts people first, then measure your success against
your organization’s goals not just your department’s goals.
Follow those principles and social media will end up being one
of the best tools for shaping your church’s perception, and
getting your true message out to as many people as possible.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Part of your social media strategy should include the use of

a social media policy. This can be a controversial move for

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many people, but it can be incredibly useful to not only protect

the church, but also to help align everyone with your mission.
And more importantly, align the public’s perception with your
vision and goals.

A social media policy is a written document of guidelines

and policies that can either be suggested or enforced, depending
on what is needed and acceptable within your organization.

Typically, this is a document that would be placed into an

employee manual, or included in on-boarding training for staff
and volunteers.

It’s simply a document of written guidelines suggesting

how to act and interact with people on social media, so that your
church is always seen in the best possible light. Remember that
everything we say or do (or don’t say and don’t do) is PR. It all
adds to the overall perception that people have of us as a person,
of us as Christians, and by extension, how they feel about the
church you represent.

The most common objection I hear to social media policies

like this is that your employer, even a church, can’t control what
I do or post on my own personal channels or on my own
personal time. First Amendment rights and all that. While that’s
legally true (it’s actually a gray area, but I’m no lawyer), it
doesn’t mean the church can’t provide some direction on what
the best biblical behavior should be.

It’s also good for a church, or any employer, to set

exceptions in writing so everyone is on the same page. They

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may not be able to control what you post, but they certainly can
fire you if what you post is shining a bad light on the church or
dividing people from the core message.

Hopefully working for your church isn’t just a job for you.
I don’t know why anyone would choose to work at a church just
to check a job off their list. Certainly, the stress and lack of
income isn’t worth it. If you just want a low paying, low reward
job, you can find that anywhere.

If you work for a church it’s likely because you believe

enough in the mission of the church to sacrifice things like time,
status, money, and most likely the way you present yourself
publicly through things like social media.

Your social media policy can be simple or extensive, but it

should align with your church’s style and culture as well as your
biblical beliefs and overall mission. The idea isn’t to control
your people and what they say, but to provide them a guide to
represent the church and Jesus well. Most of it should be pretty
common sense.

Below you’ll find a sample Social Media Policy that you

may copy and use to develop your own. Take what you want
from it, or use it as is.

If it matters, know that this social media policy has been

reviewed by competent and licensed attorneys. This specific
wording is currently being used by dozens of churches already.

However, I’m not a lawyer and make no guarantees. It

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would be wise to have your own counsel as well as your own

HR department review and approve the final version you use.

S AMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA

POLICY FOR A CHURCH

At Our Church (the "Church"), we know that online social platforms,

including blogs, wikis, message boards, video and photo sharing websites,
and social networking services, are constantly transforming the way we
interact.

We also recognize the importance of the Internet in shaping the public

view of our Church. The Church is committed to supporting your right to
interact responsibly and knowledgeably on the Internet through blogging
and interaction in social media. We want our staff, volunteers, and church
attenders to share and learn from others in order to build a valuable online
community.

The purpose of these guidelines is two-fold: First, the Church has an aim to
protect our interests, including, but not limited to, the privacy of our
employees and confidentiality regarding our plans, partners, users, and
operations. Second, these guidelines will help you make respectful and
appropriate decisions about your work-related interactions with people on
the Internet.

Your personal online activity is your business. However, any activity in or

outside of work that affects your performance, the performance of others at
the Church, or the Church's interests are a proper focus for this Social
Media Policy.

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You must always assume that your work-related social media activity is
visible to the Church as well as current and potential employees, clients,
partners, and prospects.

The Church reserves the right to direct its staff to avoid certain subjects
and remove inappropriate comments and posts. Our internal policies
remain in effect in our workplace.

Guidelines for Discussing Our Church on the Internet

• You are not authorized to speak on behalf of the Church without express
permission from your manager.

• If you have permission to discuss the Church and / or our current and
potential activities, employees, or partners, please follow these
guidelines:

• Identification: Identify yourself. Include your name, and when

appropriate, state your role or title within the Church.

• Disclaimer: Use a disclaimer that "the views you express on the

particular website are yours alone and do not necessarily
represent the views of the Church."

• Proof: Support any statements made online with factual

evidence. Use links where appropriate.

• Also, let your manager know about the content you plan to publish. Your
manager may want to visit the website to understand your point of view.

Guidelines for Confidential and Proprietary Information

You may not share information that is confidential and proprietary about
the Church. This includes, but is not limited to, Church strategy,
information about trademarks, upcoming product releases, sales, finances,

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donation information, discipline or counseling information, and any other

information that has not been publicly released by the Church.
The list above is given as example only and does not cover the range of
what the Church considers confidential and proprietary. If you have any
questions about whether information has been released publicly or any
other concerns, please speak with your manager before releasing
information that could potentially harm the Church, or our current and
potential business interests, employees, partners, or clients.

The Church's logo and trademarks may not be used without explicit
permission in writing from the Church. This is to prevent the appearance
that you speak for or officially represent the Church. If given permission to
use the Church logo, you must use it in accordance to the current Style
Guide.

It is fine to quote or retweet others, but you should not attempt to pass off
someone else's words, photography, or other information as your own. All
copyright, privacy, and other laws that apply offline apply online as well.
Always give proper credit to credit your sources when posting a link or
information gathered from another source.

Ownership of Social Media Contacts

Any social media contacts, including "followers" or "friends," that are

acquired through accounts (including, but not limited to email addresses,
blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or other social media networks)
created on behalf of the Church are the property of the Church.

Transparency and Disclosures

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If you have permission to publicly share what a client, partner, or other

Church is doing, such as launching a new website or coming out with a
new product, you must disclose your relationship to the other party.

Do not discuss a Church or product in social media in exchange for money.

If you receive a product or service to review for free, you must disclose it
in your post or review.

Respect and Privacy Rights

• Use common sense.

• Follow the rules of the social media sites you use.

• Speak respectfully about the Church and our current or former staff and
members.

• Write knowledgeably, accurately, and with appropriate professionalism.

Despite disclaimers, your Web interaction can result in members of the
public forming opinions about the Church and its employees, partners
and interests.

• Refrain from publishing anything that could reflect negatively on the

Church's reputation or otherwise embarrass the Church, including posts
about drug or alcohol abuse, profanity, off-color or sexual humor, and
other inappropriate conduct. Do not use ethnic slurs, personal insults,
obscenity, or engage in any conduct that would not otherwise be
acceptable in the Church's workplace. Please also show respect for
topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory.

• Honor the privacy rights of our current staff, members, and partners by
seeking their permission before writing about or displaying internal
Church information that could be considered a breach of their privacy
and confidentiality.

• Ensure that your social networking conduct is consistent with the all
policies contained in the Church's Employee Handbook.

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• Respect the law, including those laws governing defamation,

discrimination, harassment, and copyright and fair use.

Media

Media inquiries for information about our Church and our current and
potential products, employees, partners, clients, and competitors should be
referred to the Communications Manager. This does not specifically
include your opinions, writing, and interviews on topics aside from our
Church.

Your Legal Liability

The Church complies with all federal and state laws that apply to our
operations and activities. Since you are involved in the Church's operations
and activities, you are responsible for understanding and observing these
policies.

Note that the breach of privacy and confidentiality, use of copyrighted

materials, unfounded or derogatory statements, or misrepresentation may
be considered illegal and is not accepted by the Church.

Each person on staff at the Church is personally responsible, and may be

legally liable, for the content he or she publishes online. You can be sued
for not disclosing your relationship to the Church, or for purposely
spreading false information. You can also be sued by Church employees,
competitors, and any individual or Church that views your commentary,
content, or images as defamatory, pornographic, proprietary, harassing,
libelous or creating a hostile work environment. In addition to any legal

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action, your activity can result in disciplinary action up to and including

employment termination.

If you have any questions, please ask the Communications Department or

the Human Resources Department for guidance on compliance with the
laws.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

ENGAGE & ENRAGE

“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate,

hate. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake,
shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off.”
- Taylor Swift

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In his book Gift of Fear, celebrity security consultant Gavin

de Becker explains the risks with engaging critics, stalkers, and
other detractors.

If you engage with a certain type of people they will only

feed on your interaction and become more enraged, never
satisfied and never swaying from their negative bias.

In an increasingly hostile world, particularly for Christians,

there’s more and more temptation to stand our ground or fight
back when we experience opposition for our beliefs. However,
there is wisdom in backing away and letting the Lord work
through other means when it comes to people who have an
agenda to distract from our mission.

As Christians, we have a desire for everyone we interact

with to meet Jesus and be changed by the gospel, especially our
most negative critics. But has anyone ever come to know the
Lord by arguing with a Christian over their beliefs?

“For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where

there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As
charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a
quarrelsome man for kindling strife.” - Proverbs
26:20

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ACCEPTING CRITICISM
We must accept criticism and learn from it. We must correct
mistakes when they need to be corrected. We must repent when
we need to repent. But we cannot become quarrelsome people,
or participate in gossip. Doing so would be like throwing more
logs on the fire.

Where you’ll experience the most criticism is on social

media. In order to always handle yourself well as you moderate
comments on Facebook, YouTube, and even Twitter, you need
to develop a plan and some guidelines to follow. This can be
particularly helpful when leaning on volunteers and others to
help manage your social media accounts as well.

HANDLING SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS

In my experience, there are typically five different types of

commenters on social media:
1. those who leave a compliment or express excitement
2. those with genuine and earnest questions
3. those with antagonistic or accusatory questions and
statements
4. spammers, or those deliberately leveraging the post to
sell something or distribute malware, etc.
5. malicious people who deliberately want to harm your
church and seek out your posts to continually distract and
bait you and your followers.

For those who leave a compliment, thank them. Followers

love interacting with the pages they follow. Like their post,

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provide a witty reply, or simply thank them for taking the time
to comment.

For those with genuine questions, answer them. Feel free to

engage to help them with practical questions or theological
questions. Usually with theological questions you can point
them to resources on your website (sermons and blogs) or even
other websites that you trust. You can also reply and tell them
to talk to a pastor or deacon after a service, or better yet provide
an easy way for them to connect directly with a pastor online.

For spammers, go ahead and delete their comment if you

can tell it is spam, if they’re asking for money, or if it’s telling
others to check out another website. You can also block that
person from posting again in the future if they continue to abuse
your page. If it’s someone you recognize, then reach out to them
first to let them know the comment was inappropriate and will
be deleted. It’s usually pretty easy to differentiate between
spam and a real person who is just abusing the platform.

For those who are antagonistic commenters, remember the

advice from Gavin de Becker: If you engage, you will enrage.
These are the type of people who just have to disagree with
everything, and a public debate on social media isn’t going to
change their mind. It will only distract everyone else from the
message, and create an awkward experience that won’t help
your reputation.

Most of the time these types of people are fellow Christians,

and maybe even attenders at your church. It’s best to ignore
their comments and not take the bait. On Facebook, you can

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hide their comment without deleting it. This way only they and
their friends can see it, but it won’t appear for anyone else.
They’ll never know it’s hidden, and because no one will be
replying to it, they’ll likely move on without incident. If you
delete it, you risk enraging them for being censored.

Be cautious that you don’t appear to ignore anything. You

don’t want to be seen as replying to only the comments you
want to reply to. If you don’t want to hide the comment, then
reply with something that clearly ends the conversation and
moves it offline. Something along the lines of “We understand
your concern and welcome the opportunity to chat more about
it if you want to message us.” This shows publicly that you
acknowledged the person, but you aren’t going to get into a
public debate about it. If they message you, then you can have
a private conversation with them. But more often than not, they
don’t actually want to have a conversation and probably won’t
message you.

People like that usually aren’t looking to learn or get

answers to questions, they just want to attack someone or they
just want to promote their position. It’s usually best to nip
antagonistic comments in the bud before they engage debates
with your other followers or distract them from the mission of
Jesus. If those people honestly want to have a loving
conversation then the best place to do that is in person or via
email where it isn’t public.

If you need to apologize or retract something, go ahead and

do it. It’s better to apologize publicly than to delete something
and pretend it never happened because antagonistic followers

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will comment on other threads saying that you’re hiding

something (which you are).

Remember that your social media channels are yours, and

they exist to engage with others in a positive and helpful
manner. There’s nothing wrong with policing your channels
and choosing how you want people to use them. Just be honest
and candid about it.

On Twitter, you may see people tagging you in mean tweets

or harassing your other followers. There’s less you can do on
Twitter to manage this. The best thing is to ignore anyone who’s
being antagonistic. Most people following your Twitter account
won’t even see those tweets unless they do a search. There’s
also less expectation for interaction on Twitter.

For the final group of people, the malicious people who

deliberately want to harm your church, it’s best to delete their
comments and block them. There is no reasoning with this
group. They are like terrorists, and we don’t negotiate with
terrorists. While we would love for them to become saved and
change their ways, that’s likely not going to happen through a
Facebook debate. These people are wolves, sent to distract you
from the mission. Pray for them, and move on.

If people call you out on deleting someone, know why you

did it and be prepared to back yourself up. Hopefully you are
only deleting and banning as a last resort, so when it happens
you’ll clearly be able to point out how the person was abusive
and how you did your best to love them and meet their needs
before having to make a hard decision.

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I can’t state this clearly enough - blocking should be done

as a last resort. These are real human beings you’re dealing with
online, treat them as such. Think about what you would do if
the person were sitting in your worship service on Sunday or
walking into your church lobby.

The same rules you have about banning people from your
church building should be the same rules you have about
banning people from your social media channels.

As Christians, it’s also important to always be open to grace

and forgiveness. There should be no ‘once blocked always
blocked’ rule. I’ve seen blocked people beg to be allowed back
into the community. Give them a second chance when this
occurs. You never know what God is doing in their lives.

CREATE A COMMENT POLICY

A comment policy (or sometimes called an engagement

policy) posted to your Facebook page is another great idea to
protect you and your church from undue criticism and
accusations.

It is simply a set of rules or guidelines that you create which

help people know how to engage with your page. It can include
reasons why you will delete a comment or ban a user, as well
as language and discussions that won't be tolerated, as well as
what type of questions are appropriate for Facebook and which
type of questions would be better to email.

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What you put into the comment policy is up to you. Don’t

worry if it gets too long, as most people won’t actually read the
policy before commenting. Rather the existence of the policy is
so that people can see you are playing fair and not just
haphazardly managing your page.

While no one is legally bound by a comment policy, it can

still help build integrity. If people know the expectations up
front then they can verify if you’re being fair or not if you do
have to block someone or remove a post.

Below is a sample comment policy that we have used in the

past. Feel free to use the same policy or adapt it as you see fit.

The best place to post this is in the about section of your

Facebook page where it can live and easily be linked to. Don’t
post this as a new post on your page, as it will just get buried
over time.

You can also use a comment policy for your other channels,
such as Twitter, but you will have to post it on your website and
link to it from your bio and posts as needed.

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S AMPLE COMMENT POLICY

Thank you for being a part of the community here on our church’s
Facebook Page.

This page is meant to be a way to keep you informed on various church

events and content. It’s also an opportunity for us to engage with people
who have benefited from our ministry, or who have genuine questions
about our church.

The page does have administrators who will do their best to answer
reasonable questions or by directing you to existing content that may help
you. The administrators also moderate comments and reserve the right to
delete any comments or block users who abuse these policies.

Please note that the comments expressed on this page do not necessarily
reflect the opinions and position of our church.

In general, the following types of comments are prohibited and will be

deleted:

• Hate speech of any kind

• Inappropriate content, including excessively foul language,

pornography, etc.

• Self-promotion such as links to personal blogs, websites, etc.

• Requests for donations or money

• Spam of any kind, including reposts of the same comment and/or

repeating the same sentiment over and over again

• Promotion of political candidates and policy

• Insults of other commenters or egging other commenters on

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• Malicious attacks against church members and leaders

• Anything strange, demanding, obsessive, threatening, etc.

• Anything that infringes on a copyright

If a comment is deleted, consider the deletion a warning. Those who persist

in posting comments that are in violation of this policy will be banned
from the page.

Things like Facebook are 24/7. However, our administrators are not.
Therefore, we ask that, as community members who care about this page,
that you do not reply to obvious attempts to bait you into arguments. Please
ignore comments in violation of this policy until they can be properly
moderated.

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MODERATING COMMENTS

As you see comments that violate your policy, explain to

them your policy through a Facebook message, then delete or
hide the comment. If the commenter keeps posting, go ahead
and ban them. And of course, use your judgment and
discernment. Weigh out the good vs the bad of possible
outcomes and just try to be wise. When it comes down to it,
comment threads on Facebook hardly ever provide any
significant value, so tread lightly and don’t stress about
moderating. Remember to always have a reason for what you
do, and treat each situation on its own. These are real people,
not just anonymous commenters.

PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES

It can be hard, but don’t take hateful comments personally.

If your church is preaching the Bible and you’re sharing it
online, hateful comments can sometimes be a form of spiritual
attack, so pray for them and pray for yourself and your church.

Matthew 5:44 8 instructs us to love and pray for those who

persecute us. Praying for them gives us the perspective we need
to be long suffering and patient before responding or acting out
of anger or retaliation. God has the power to change their heart
and yours, so you never know what the outcome will be if you
stop and pray for people who may not like you.

I also encourage you to always look for ways to improve.

8
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” -
Matthew 5:44 ESV

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Even if someone says something mean hearted, it doesn't mean

there isn’t truth in their words. Take everything with a grain of
salt, but take the time to reflect and ask God if there is anything
you need to learn from them. Take what’s valuable from it, and
leave the rest.

Trust the Holy Spirit to help you discern what is a word

from God, wise counsel from a peer, or trash to be ignored.

GRACE AND DONUTS

At the end of the day, we want to be known for grace, not

known for enforcing the rules. Keep this in mind when you’re
dealing with haters, negative commenters, bully reporters,
protestors, or even that tough church member.

We got a visit once from the nice fellas at Westboro Baptist

Church. I use the words “nice’ and “church” pretty loosely here.
They are the people known for their protests, the ones where
they hold up signs that say, “God hates fags,” and “Sinners go
to hell.” Not necessarily the most biblically sound message nor
the most effective medium.

They were kind enough to send out a press release letting

people know they planned to protest our church on an upcoming
Sunday. In the press release they called our church a whore
house, our pastor a false prophet, and claimed that we were all
a bunch of blind lemmings for following him. I don’t even
remember what their issue was with us specifically. They are
such a hateful and misguided group that I honestly don’t think
we put a lot of effort into listening to their concerns.

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But we did offer them grace, as well as some donuts and

copies of free books on biblical doctrine.

We had these posters printed which welcomed them as they

picketed our church entrances.

Sometimes you have to just have a little fun, let people do

their thing, and move on. Haters gonna hate. Not everything is
worth the panic. Focus on showing people God’s grace, and
whenever possible offer free donuts.

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HOW TO AVOID BURNOUT

With all that said, burnout can still happen. The constant
dripping of social media and comments from people who are
less than polite. The nasty articles calling your church a cult,
and attacking everything you believe in. It can really get to you.

So, what do you do?

There are two things I have found that help with burnout in
general, particularly when dealing with a lot of negative
feedback.

The first is that whenever you pour yourself out in ministry,

you need to take time to be poured back into by Jesus. This
means rest and Sabbath, whatever that looks like for you.

For me that means ensuring I have a day off where I don’t

work at all. Sometimes you can’t avoid your boss emailing or
calling, or a even a crisis happening on your day off. But that
should be the exception and not the norm.

I also moderate my own email and notifications on a daily

basis. This means that only certain people make it onto my VIP
list. If you’re on the list, then I get a notification when you email
me. If you’re not on the list, then I won’t see your message until
I check my email next. This way I can block off time to work
on something specific, or take a break, and I know that I can
safely ignore my phone unless it alerts me.

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Little tricks like that can really free up your mind to be able
to concentrate on what is important. It is particularly important
when I am spending time with my family.

The second is to have your eyes and heart down on the

ground. In social media, it can be really easy to view people
online as just names, but they’re real people who need Jesus.
Be active in biblical counseling or prayer ministry if you can,
and at least be active in a small group where you can be around
other believers.

I joined the baptism team so that I could be in the tub as

often as possible. It didn’t matter how hard of a week I had, as
I would baptize someone I got to hold their hand and hear their
story and their profession of faith in Jesus (often for the first
time). It gave me the perspective I needed to continue doing
what I was doing. Knowing that my hard work throughout the
week was paying off in life changing ways was the most
satisfying experience.

When you get discouraged or feel off track, that’s a great

opportunity to learn and grow and focus on our first love, Jesus.
Take time to put your head down, get on your knees, and spend
more time with Jesus and his word.

Just remember that for every hater out there, there’s a lost
and hurt person who saw a tweet, came to church and met Jesus
for the first time. Find and think about these things 9.

9
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” -
Philippians 4:8 ESV

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I said earlier that this is war. This is what I mean by that.

The more you put yourself out there and interact with others,
the more attacks and issues you’ll be exposed to. But that’s the
mission. The alternative is to not engage with people, but that’s
not church.

Don’t let a few haters telling you to quit speak louder than
the one guy who says, "you helped me." Keep doing what God
wants you to do.

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CHAPTER NINE

CONTENT ON
CONTENT ON
CONTENT

“When you have something at the top, using it as

a source for other content is something you have
to start thinking about.“ - Gary Vaynerchuk,
Author and CEO VaynerMedia

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There are enormous opportunities for a church to distribute

content inside and outside of your church that will not only help
educate and train people, but it can have incredible effects on
your reputation and influence.

About a third or more of your social media posts should be

content, whether you are sharing your own, or sharing content
from other sources. This can help build relationships with
others, and it can help with the perception that it’s not all about
you. Use your channels to not only communicate things you
need to communicate, but to also provide value for the people
who are following you.

A well thought out content strategy should be an essential

piece of your PR plan. Not only because it can be so effective,
but because it’s just too easy.

You likely have the communications channels already.

From social media, to blogs, podcasts, and YouTube, you
probably have it all setup but struggle to think of what content
to post. You understand you need to post more than just events,
but what else is there to post?

Don’t stress over creating content. If you open your eyes

you’ll see that part is already done.

Your church is already producing consistent quality content

every single week of the year: your Sunday sermon. Depending
on your preacher, you’ve got 30 to 60 minutes of prime content
to work with every week. Let’s start there.

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4 W AYS TO STRETCH YOUR

SUNDAY SERMON

There are four types of content that can easily be extracted

from any sermon, and used every week to help your message
reach a much larger crowd than who showed up in the pews that
week:

• Social Media Quotes

• Blog Posts
• Photos
• Video Clips

That’s certainly not everything that can be pulled from a

sermon, but it’s a place to start. And before you start wincing at
all the additional work I’m going to put on your plate, hear me
out. It’s easier than you think.

SOCIAL MEDIA QUOTES

These are the easiest to collect each week. Assign someone

to listen to the sermon on Sunday and write down any pithy
quotable phrases that the preacher uses.

Depending on the preacher you should be able to pull

anywhere from two to twenty quotes from the sermon. This
should give you enough Facebook and Twitter content for the
whole week.

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Edit the quotes down to 140 characters for Twitter and

schedule them out using Buffer or Hootsuite, or however you
schedule social media posts. Pick your top 7 and post one per
day, or do multiple a day and use them all up. These work well
for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any of the platforms you
are using.

This is a great way to help people remember the sermon

throughout the week, as they see the quotes pop up in their
social media feeds. It can also be a great way to drive more
traffic back to your site, especially if you post the sermon online
and link to it with each quote.

I have found that many people will share their favorite

quotes as a way to show others what their church is all about,
and even to invite others to church. It’s a lot easier to share one
important point, then it is to share the entire sermon.

This doesn’t take a lot of time. Chances are you are already
listening to the sermon at least once, so it’s not a lot of extra
effort to write down some quotes as you hear them. You don’t
have to do it yourself though. This is an excellent task for a
volunteer or intern to do.

Some pastors write out pretty detailed sermon notes, and if

you’re able to get a hold of them you could even pull the quotes
out ahead of time, scheduling some to hit on Sunday as the
sermon is happening. I personally do this for a handful of
churches as a freelance service, so there’s plenty of ways to get
it done if you can’t or don’t want to do it on your own.

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Go the extra mile and use your favorite apps to create

images out of the quotes. You don’t need a graphics design team
to get this done. Don’t over complicate it. Apps like Over and
Adobe Spark easily enable you to create unique and engaging
graphics by putting text over designs and photos. Mix up your
posts, some with graphics and some just text. Then test what
does better with your audience.

BLOG POSTS

The next step is to turn the sermon content into a blog post
or two. This is assuming your church utilizes a blog for
distributing content on your website (which it should!).

Take the key point of the sermon and condense it down into
300 to 500 words. This is really easy if the preacher included
any kind of list or top three points in his sermon.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to take the transcription

of the sermon and copy and paste a section into a blog post.
Some minor editing and tweaks and it will take you no time at
all. If you don’t transcribe your sermons already, you can
upload an audio or video file to rev.com and they’ll transcribe
it for $1/minute. $30 to $60 per week is a small price to pay for
the convenience, and it provides some great content to put
online. Consider including that transcription on your website
with the sermon. People like to consume media in different
ways. Some prefer audio, some prefer video, and more people
than you’d think prefer to read.

A transcription service is also a great way to provide your

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sermon in multiple languages. For about the same cost you can
have the sermon transcribed into Spanish for example. While
you may not be able to provide audio or video in Spanish,
providing the written sermon is a great step towards reaching a
more diverse crowd.

If your church doesn’t have a blog already, or building one

into your website is going to be a hassle, consider some other
options such as posting the blog posts to medium.com or even
to your Facebook page as a note. Both have great advantages
over your website anyway, as they have the potential to
reaching existing audiences that you aren’t yet tapping into.

Want to get really crazy? Take those top 7 social media

quotes you pulled already, and turn that into another blog post.
It could just list them out, or it could be created so that each one
is clickable and easily shareable as people read them. Call it the
Sermon Social Media Roundup.

Once you start thinking this way, you’ll discover you can
build content on top of content on top of content. Use the same
set of content in multiple different ways, enabling you to reach
larger and larger audiences.

PHOTOS

Photos is another easy type of content that you can capture

each Sunday, and even throughout the week.

You don’t need a fancy camera or a professional

photographer on staff to capture photos of the life in your

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church. Those are great assets to have, but more than likely
you’ve got an iPhone or a similar camera phone in your pocket
that is more than capable of taking great photos.

Capture the life in your church. Don’t just focus on the

preacher or the awesome stage lights and worship band. Take
photos of the people, the crowds, and things that show what it’s
like to participate in your church.

Throughout the week try to capture photos of small groups,

weekly events, staff meetings, and other behind the scenes type
of content.

This is all content that can be shared on your social media

platforms throughout the week, either on its own or linked to
the sermon, your blog posts, or other content.

One thing I love to do is to grab an extra phone or iPod

Touch and let a trusted volunteer or key member take the phone
for a week so that they can capture the church from their unique
perspective. Ask them to take photos of their small group, of
the events that they attend, photos of the stage but from their
particular seat on Sunday. You’ll get some unique shots that
you would never be able to capture yourself. Whether they use
your loaner phone, or used their own, have them submit the
photos to you so you can schedule them out. Or if you really
trust them, sign them into Instagram and let them post them in
real time.

Do you know what I’m going to say next? Just like that
Social Media Roundup blog post, consider creating a photo

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roundup post as well.

We used to publish a post like this every week and it

consistently was one of the most popular. All it included was 7
to 10 photos from the week showing what was going on in our
church. People ate it up because they wanted to see if they made
the cut, and new people checking out our church appreciated
the inside look at what the church was really about.

VIDEO CLIPS

This can be a little harder if you don’t already have a video

team or someone creating sermon videos for you. But posting
clips of the sermon each week is a massive opportunity to reach
a lot more people with that week’s message.

I’m not talking about posting your whole sermon online.

That’s great and serves a purpose, but it’s mostly going to be
your own church people watching the sermon online.

By posting shorter clips of the sermon, you open up the

potential for key points in the sermon to go viral. It is so much
easier to share a three-minute clip of a sermon than it is to post
a link to the full service.

People only watch short videos, especially when posted on

social media. By pulling two or three clips from the sermon
each week, you are creating opportunities for your people to
share your content and use it to invite others to church.

Now hopefully you’re catching on and you’ve already

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thought of my next point. Take those video clips and make

yourself a third blog post full of highlights from the sermon.
This could easily be combined in the same post as the photo
roundup if you wanted to.

That’s it. Social media quotes, blog posts, photos, and video
clips. And it’s all using content that you already produce, and
tools you already have in your pocket.

These are all valuable tools that can help grow your church,
by using the content you already have. It doesn’t take a whole
lot of extra effort to produce any of this content. In fact, if
you’re organized enough, most of it can be done on Sunday
shortly after the sermon is preached. By the time you go home
for the day, you have an entire week’s worth of content
scheduled out already.

That frees your week up to be able to engage with people

on social media and reply to comments as they consume the
content you are posting. It means you don’t have to worry about
what to post, and can actually use social media as a platform for
conversations and community building.

Once you’ve nailed the process down for these four types
of content, start thinking of some other ways you can turn what
you already have into more content. Could you create an
infographic from the sermon? Maybe not every week, but
certainly sometimes. There are a number of templates you can
buy to make it easy.

Does the current sermon series deserve its own landing

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page? Should you start a podcast with the sermon audio? Can
the last four sermons be turned into an eBook that you create as
a PDF and give way through an email capture form on your site
or a Facebook ad? Can some of the photos be turned into funny
animated gifs?

Once you get your process down, a single sermon can be

stretched out into a dozen or so pieces of content, and the best
part is your preacher is doing all the hard work for you already.

They say content is king because it’s one of the easiest ways
to get people to engage with your church or organization. By
providing value to your audience in the form of short, easily
consumable content, they can get to know your message better
and hopefully share it with others. Don't ignore this massive
opportunity you already have before you.

LOOK BEYOND THE

SERMON

Once you have your sermon content plan in place, you’ll

want to look beyond the sermon for ways your church can
continue to spread the gospel and reach more people.

Look no further than the Bible sitting on your bookshelf or

accessible through the Bible app. This isn’t hard. Again, the
content is already created for us… we’re just in charge of
distributing it.

Instead of trying to create content that gets you more likes,

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or gets you more people in your church, just focus on spreading

the Good News and let it work its magic.

The more content you produce that reflects your mission of

spreading the gospel, the more you’ll be known for just that.
Everything you create should point people to Jesus.

You could create weekly YouTube videos where you take

biblical questions and provide the answers. You could write
daily devotions and distribute them through your blog and
Facebook. You could start a podcast where church leaders
debate culture and provide biblical context for how Christians
should engage with it.

It’s too easy these days to distribute content for the church
to not be leading the charge. We have the best content to share.
It’s already produced for us and it will always be relevant and
timeless. No one else has that advantage, yet they're lightyears
ahead of us already.

Worry about increasing the quality and frequency later. Just

start with what you have and don’t stop. Because if you aren’t
sharing content, if you aren’t sharing the gospel, then what are
you even doing?

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CHAPTER TEN

CRISIS PLANNING

“When it comes to crisis communications,

if you always focus on building a relationship with
your customers, fans and followers, you will
always find yourself communicating in the right
direction.”
– Melissa Agnes, Co-Founder of Agnes + Day

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Hopefully by now you’ve got a hold on your social media

plan and content strategy. You see the value in creating content
and distributing it to spread the gospel, and how it can help your
overall reputation. Your PR plan is coming together and almost
feels complete.

But as your exposure is increasing, so is the risk of

something going wrong. All your efforts to manage the
perception of the church and get your message out to the masses
can come crashing down at any moment. Not very encouraging,
I know.

That is called a crisis. And you won’t be able to control it

or avoid it. Just because one has never happened before, doesn’t
mean it won’t ever happen.

It doesn’t matter how on the up and up your church is. Every

church is susceptible to sin, mistakes, negligence, or even bad
weather. Like I said before, if you’re doing something right then
you’ll face persecution and push back. This isn’t supposed to
be easy. But sometimes it’s going to be really hard. You can't
plan for any of this, but you can plan for how you’ll react and
what you’ll do if/when something does happen.

That’s what crisis management is all about… planning. You

must plan ahead so when a crisis hits, you can follow the
guidelines and manage the situation in a calm and collected
manner. Communication is critical during a crisis - and happens
quickly, so the more you plan ahead, the less likely you are to
make a mistake or say the wrong thing.

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Everything we’ve covered so far, from building

relationships, to social media, is all part of supporting your
crisis plan. It’s the foundation you’ve been building so that your
crisis plan can be a success. The more stable your reputation is,
the better you’ll be able to weather a crisis. The stronger your
relationships are, the easier you’ll be able to navigate through a
difficult time.

WHAT IS A CRISIS?

A “crisis” is defined as a problem that can endanger the

church’s reputation and/or financial position and can occur as
the result of a legal, management/employment, advocacy,
political, or public relations issue. In short, a crisis is anything
that can derail a church or organization from its mission,
whether for a short period of time or indefinitely.

It doesn’t have to be something your church did wrong. It

just has to be something that can affect you and your ability to
continue doing church in the most effective way possible. Bad
weather can be a crisis. So can the suicide of one of your church
members, or your pastor sleeping with someone besides his
wife.

We were in a bit of a crisis mode when we realized the

shooter at a local Christian school in Seattle was a member of
our church. The media never linked the story to us, but we went
into crisis mode just in case they did. It would have been
devastating had the headlines turned to “Local Church Member
Shoots Up School.”

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You never know what will happen or when it’s going to

happen, but you can do your best to prepare for almost any
scenario.

There are five steps to developing and maintaining an

effective Crisis Management Plan that I will cover:

1. Form a Crisis Communications Team

2. Document a Plan
3. Anticipate Common Crisis Scenarios
4. Stay Informed
5. Keep it Updated

FORM A CRISIS TE AM

The Crisis Communications Team should consist of the key

players that you will need to convene in the time of a crisis. It
is important to decide who these people are now, so you don’t
waste time debating about it when a crisis hits.

Typically, these are the key decision makers in your church

already. The team could include your senior pastor, your
executive pastor, elders, board members, HR representatives,
and other pastors and ministry leaders. At a larger church, it
may include a lawyer, and members of your communications
team.

Ideally you want to keep the team small, but include

everyone needed to make swift decisions. You can divide the

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team up into key members and secondary members to make

things run more smoothly. The key players may only be the
communications director and one executive. If the crisis
warrants it, then they decide to bring in the secondary members
as needed.

The purpose of this team is to assess a crisis when it occurs,

and work together to make quick decisions about what needs to
be done, what needs to be said, who should say it, etc.

“Information breeds confidence, silence breeds

fear.”
- CJ Craig, from The West Wing

Hardly ever should our response to a crisis be to hunker

down and wait until it blows over. Believe me when I say that
will only work a handful of times before the next one blows the
door in.

The goal of your Crisis team is to be able to communicate

well the information that needs to be shared at the time, so that
you can steer through the storm and keep the ship pointed
towards the mission. Say what needs to be said, take the hits
you need to take, and get people back on track towards what
really matters.

In the next chapter I provide a complete crisis plan that you

can copy and use for your church. That plan goes into more
details about the Crisis Communications Team and the

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individual roles of the key players.

Essentially this is the team that executes the tasks outlined

in the crisis plan.

DOCUMENT A PLAN

A crisis plan isn’t just a loose plan you have in your head.
It needs to be written down, rehearsed and constantly adapted.
It needs to be something all the key players know about and
understand.

When a crisis occurs, you don’t have time to suddenly

inform your staff and those involved about your crisis plan and
how it’s going to work. You don’t have time to convince them
that the plan is good, or debate what should be in it. It needs to
already be written, approved, and well known.

As you go through these chapters, start thinking about

developing your own crisis plan. By the time you’re done
reading this book, take our sample plan and start documenting
your own right away. Don’t put this off for another time. Do it
now while it’s fresh on your mind. Craft it, pitch it to your
bosses and get them to buy into it.

Ideally, you’ll update your crisis plan at least quarterly. It

needs to be an ever-evolving set of documents. This keeps you
fresh and prepared, but also ensures that your plan covers
current trends, technology, beliefs and systems of the church,
as well as potential threats and situations that may occur as your

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church grows and adds more people and ministries.

ANTICIP ATE COMMON

CRISIS SCENARIOS

You won’t be able to anticipate and plan for every type of

crisis, but you can anticipate, even predict, many of the most
common ones.

The idea is to identify the most likely scenarios, and start

planning now for what you will do if any of those scenarios
become real life.

These are not scenarios that you necessarily think will

happen, but are simply things that could happen and therefore
they are things we can prepare for. While many are going to be
common, each church is going to have a different list of
scenarios that are applicable to your context and setting.

For example, a church in Orlando, Florida probably doesn’t

need to worry about drafting up a plan for what to do if they are
hit with a major snow storm.

Start by writing down every possible scenario you can think

of that would trigger a crisis at your church.

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Some crisis examples are:

• A major service impact issue at one or more local

churches due to weather or natural disaster
• A church leader scandal
• Staff or key member death
• An online hack or information leak
• Major website outage affecting donations
• A highly visible or viral campaign against the church
• Accusation of illegal or unethical accounting practices
• Church members forming unsanctioned groups or
activities in public that may harm the church’s reputation
• A violent crime at a church location
• Picketers or protestors showing up at church
• Bomb threats and other security concerns
• A missing child or kid’s ministry incident
• Reporters showing up unannounced at a church event

Keep going until you can’t think of any more. Then narrow
the list down to the top five that are the most likely to happen
at your church.

If you know that you get snowed in every year, then that’s
something we can plan around. If your church often gets threats,
perhaps a security breach is a likely scenario. If you have
particular beliefs that you know will be controversial to some,
then let’s put a plan around how to communicate about it should
it stir up some noise.

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The next thing you are going to do is write up specific plans

for each of these scenarios. You’ll pretend that the scenario
happened, then walk through each step you should take and start
writing it all down.

Not every scenario need a plan prepared ahead of time.

Figure out the unique scenarios that may occur at your church,
and develop plans for the most likely ones. You may even want
to convene your Crisis Communications Team and walk
through mock scenarios from time to time. This can be
extremely helpful in ensuring everything runs efficiently and
smoothly when the real thing happens.

STAY INFORMED

You can’t just create a crisis plan, throw it in a binder, and

store it on the shelf. You need to be constantly prepared and
ready. That means having a pulse on the public perception of
your church, the internal perception, current events, political
issues, laws that may affect your church or its members,
potential threats, security issues, and so much more.

If you think that alone sounds like a full-time job, then

you’re right. It should be. But chances are you are going to have
to juggle it with social media, media relations, and bulletin
printing. I suggest planning out your time on a calendar, and
ensuring that at least once a day you spend twenty minutes
reading articles, searching for your church online, scanning
social media, and doing what you can to keep an eye on things.

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You’ll also want to create a line of communication between

you and your senior leaders so that you aren’t the only one
judging when a crisis may hit, and so you’ll be able to act
quickly when it does.

One of the most effective tools I’ve used to keep your

church leaders informed and constantly prepared for a crisis, is
delivering a weekly PR Brief.

PREP ARING A PR BRIEF

Using various tools and methods the Communications

department or PR person for a church should be monitoring
news sites, blogs, social media, comment threads, forums, and
other internet sites for mentions of the church, its pastors, and
topics relevant to the church.

Those mentions can then be vetted, researched, and when

necessary, added to a Public Relations Brief that is provided via
email to interested parties on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly
basis as necessary. Usually this is something that would be
communicated between the Communications Director and the
Senior Leaders or Lead Pastor in order to keep them informed.

This concept is very similar to what the President of the

United States receives on a daily basis, called the President’s
Daily Brief or PDB. The more informed you are about your
surroundings and the public’s perception, the more you can
anticipate when a crisis may hit. Sometimes this knowledge

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alone is enough to help you avoid the crisis, but if it does hit
you’ll have more time to prepare.
While daily may be a bit excessive, to maintain organized
communication between the Communications Team and the
Senior Leaders of the church, I recommend preparing a weekly
PR Brief which covers the following information:

• New Issues: situations that the Senior Leaders should be

aware of
• Status of Issues in Progress: ongoing issues that the
Senior Leaders are already aware of, and the status of our
actions
• Potential Issues: issues that may or may not come to
realization but that are being monitored and prepared for by
the Communications Director
• Internal Issues: issues regarding staff, pastors, deacons
or members that the Senior Leaders needs to be aware of
• Issues Worth a Mention: issues that don’t require action
or active monitoring but Senior Leaders should be aware of
• Wins: public relations items that have had a positive
external or internal impact

Each item mentioned in the brief should also include

recommended actions from the Communications Director.
While the decision making may be left to your senior leaders,
the Communications Director should work as an informed
advisor who can make recommendations based on what they
are seeing and hearing.

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RATING SYSTEM

In the PR Brief, new issues can be rated 1-5 concerning their

severity and action needed. This helps prioritize what needs to
happen first, and makes the weekly brief easier and quicker to
read.

• High Urgency: Action is needed and this issue should be

addressed immediately.
• High Risk: This issue should be addressed within 24-48
hours and may need immediate action.
• Medium Risk: This issue may or may not require
immediate action but should be addressed this week.
• Low Risk: Problem can be resolved with current
resources, does not require immediate action.
• FYI: This is information you need to know. No
immediate action is required.

KEEP YOUR PLAN

UPDATED

Lastly, you’ll want to keep your Crisis Plan updated. You

can’t just write it up and stick it on a shelf. It will become a
living document that you should update monthly.

Schedule time on your calendar, once per month, to look

through the crisis plan and make updates. Do any contacts need
to be updated? Were there staff changes or phone numbers that
changed?
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Are there new scenarios that can be added based on the way
your church has grown, or how things in culture have
progressed? Sometimes a law will pass in your area that may
affect your church. Update the plan on how you’ll respond if it
becomes an issue.

I also suggest on a quarterly basis holding a staff meeting

where you remind everyone of your crisis procedures, and
update their individual versions of the plan. You may also need
to update anything that has been added to the employee
handbook.

One thing we did to keep people fresh and aware was to

hold monthly staff training webinars. Each month a different
team lead would host a webinar via video conference on their
area of expertise. One month it was training on social media
best practices, the next it was HR updates.

Work in a webinar on crisis management and make sure

people know what to do if they are contacted by someone from
the press, or what to do if a camera crew shows up at church
unannounced. The more you talk about it, the more people will
be prepared and won’t panic if something happens.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

READY-TO-USE CRISIS
PLAN

“By the time you hear the thunder,

it’s too late to build the ark.”
- Unknown

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A crisis is something you hope you’ll never have to face,

and you probably work hard to avoid being in the negative
spotlight. But in the world we live in today, no church is
immune to an attack by our enemy or the sinful behavior of our
people. It is best to be prepared so you know how and why you
will communicate what you want to say (and not say) during
those moments.

To get you started, I have included a complete crisis

communications plan that you may copy and use at your church
or organization. I’ve included it here so you can see what’s in
it, but you can also download a free copy at
churchprbook.com/bookperks.

Keep in mind that this plan was originally developed for a

large megachurch with multiple locations and a high profile
senior pastor. It has changed over many years of using it in real
crisis scenarios at churches big and small.

This version has been edited to be more generic, in order to

give you a base to use as you develop your own Crisis
Communications Plan.

Please feel free to take and copy the entire plan and make it
your own. Change the wording and phrasing to match your
context and needs, or use it as is.

Throughout the plan I refer to the primary contact and

keeper of the plan as the “Communications Director.” At your
church, this person may be called something else, perhaps a
Communications Manager, PR Manager, Marketing Manager,

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or the role may be filled by your Executive Pastor, Worship

Pastor, or someone else. Change the field to match your
church’s unique staffing structure.

What matters most here is that a single individual or

position within your church is tasked with ownership and
maintenance of this plan.

I also refer a lot to “Senior Leaders.” The terminology used

here can also vary from church to church, so replace this with
what works best for you. This is referring to your Lead or Senior
Pastor. In some cases, there may be a team of senior officials at
your church. Who makes the final decision in your church?

These documents are by no means all inclusive, but they

should be enough for any size church or organization to start a
plan of their own. I hope what I’ve developed here will help
take some of the obstacles away for you as you prepare and plan
for the future of your church.

I’ve included this sample plan on the following pages so

you can see what is included, but be sure to download your own
copy, which you are free to use and edit, at
churchprbook.com/bookperks. I’ve also included additional
documents such as Likeness Release Form, the sample Social
Media Comment Policy, and more.

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WHAT’S INCLUDED?

The sample crisis plan includes the following assets:

CHURCH CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

This is the master plan which you must keep updated and
maintain monthly. It includes how to pro-actively prepare for a
crisis, and walks you through step by step what to do during and
after a crisis. It is best to make copies of this plan and keep it in
binders or on an online intranet so that department heads and
ministry leaders can easily access it and refer to it as needed.
You will update this asset several times a year.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT POLICIES & PROCEDURES

This document contains policies and procedures that you

may enter into your employee handbook or use to develop a job
description for your Communications Director. These policies
and procedures should guide your philosophy behind how you
wish to respond to any crisis. Adapt it as needed to fit your
needs.

ACTIVE CRISIS WORKSHEET

This is a simple worksheet to fill out during a crisis that will

help you gather all the important information needed to
effectively manage the crisis. This helps keep your entire team
on the same page, and by having these questions written down
ahead of time ensures you don’t miss a step during a crisis.

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CRISIS CHECKLIST

This is a one page checklist of questions the

Communications Director should ask and fill out at the start of
a new crisis. Having this developed and accessible beforehand
helps ensure you are asking and answering the right questions
during a crisis, when your head may not be the clearest and you
certainly don’t have the time.

LOCAL CAMPUS ONE SHEET

If your church has multiple campuses or locations, this one

sheet can be helpful to distribute to each campus so they know
what their role is if a crisis situation presents itself locally at
their location. For example, it explains what to do when press
and media show up on a Sunday at their location.

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CHURCH CRISIS
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

OVERVIEW

The purpose of this document is to pro-actively layout a

plan for directing communications during a crisis, so that we
are able to act swiftly and consistently in a way that reflects the
mission and work of the church and honors God.

While this plan includes step by step instructions to follow

during a crisis, it is imperative to the success of this plan that it
be read and understood in its entirety by all who may be
involved in the execution of this plan should a crisis arise.

GOAL OF THIS PLAN

This plan will serve as a comprehensive guide in the event

of a communications crisis and will enable our teams to respond
to the crisis in a timely, effective, well-considered, sensitive
way that is appropriate to the severity of the crisis.

This plan will also strive to ensure that issues are not
escalated inappropriately in situations which appear to be a
crisis but in fact are not.

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INTENDED RECIPIENTS OF THIS PLAN

List the recipients or groups of recipients who will receive

a copy of the plan (such as ministry teams, pastors, all staff,
connection volunteers, social media volunteers, etc.)

ASSUMPTIONS MADE WITH REGARD TO THIS

PLAN

• You know how to deal positively with media

representatives in accordance with this document.
• You will respond in a timely manner to all
correspondence with regard to this plan, or you will appoint
someone to do so on your behalf.
• You understand the overall position and voice of the
church on key issues.
• You have a clear understanding of whether or not you are
authorized to speak on behalf of the church and/or its leaders
and in which medium (broadcast, print, online, etc.) this
authorization applies.

KEY CONTACTS

List the name, position, phone number, and email address

of every person in your organization who may need to be
contacted in the event of a crisis. This usually includes your
communications team members, senior leaders, board
members, and any other decision makers. Having this list
printed in your plan and continually updated helps save time
during a crisis.
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KNOWN LOCAL NEWS CONTACTS

You should also include a list of known media contacts that

you can rely on to get information out during a crisis.

BEFORE A CRISIS

MAINTENANCE OF THIS PLAN AND RELATED

ASSETS

This plan and the assets that support this plan will be revised
and updated at regular intervals to make sure that all
information is current when it is needed. Content will undergo
a light review monthly and a deep review quarterly.

Content may also be updated after a self-assessment of the

Communications Team reveals areas where this plan can be
improved upon.

TEAM STRUCTURE AND FLOW OF INFORMATION

The Communications Director is the primary person on the

Communications Team who has the authority to call this plan
into action. The Communications Director may appoint
someone to carry this authority in his absence. The Senior
Pastor may also call this plan into action.

Information and communications that occur as a result of

this plan must be coordinated by the Communications Director
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unless he or she delegates that authority.

RECOGNIZING A COMMUNICATIONS CRISIS

A “crisis” is defined as a problem that can endanger the

church’s reputation and/or financial position and can occur as
the result of a legal, management/employment, advocacy,
political, or public relations issue.

A crisis can be anything from bad weather shutting down a

church service, to a pastor being accused of moral failure. An
event is a communications crisis if it is deemed so by the
Communications Director or his approved substitute, or by
Senior Leadership.

In order for an event to be deemed a communications crisis,

the responsibility for mitigating the communications crisis must
clearly fall within the goals and the scope of the church. If a
communications crisis is deemed to be active then this plan will
go into effect.

Remember that many events deemed as a communications

crisis are not “PR problems” at their core; they are actual
conflicts that involve actual people.

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DURING A CRISIS

ESSENTIAL ACTION ITEMS DURING A CRISIS

In the event of a communications crisis, take these steps

immediately:

PAUSE AND PRAY

Take a moment to ask for God’s direction and discernment.

INFORM LAW ENFORCEMENT

If there is any indication that illegal activity was conducted

by any party, anyone acting under the scope of this plan must
contact law enforcement immediately with the relevant details.

If you are trying to decide whether or not to contact law

enforcement, the answer is yes.

The same is true if you are in the position to suggest that

someone else contact law enforcement about a possible crime.
The church is not in the business of protecting people from a
legal investigation no matter who they are or what their
affiliation with the church is.

INFORM THE PRIMARY CONTACT

The Communications Director must be informed

immediately of any activities undertaken as relates to this plan.

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DISABLE LOGIN ACCESS

If a crisis involves an individual who has login access to

internal or external church communications platforms and/or
file management systems, such as CMS and email, all attempts
should be made to immediately disable those logins. Logins are
a privilege extended by the church, not the right of an
individual, and they can be restored at a later time.

PROTECT THE IDENTITY OF MINORS

If there is an individual under the age of 18 involved in a

crisis, that individual’s identity, likeness, location, age and all
other related information should be secured so that it cannot be
accessed by anyone who is not in receipt of this plan document.
All reasonable action should be taken to this end regardless of
what role the underage individual is playing within the crisis.
The minor’s parents and/or guardians should be involved as
soon as possible.

CONVENE THE CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

The individual who activates the plan is the Team Director.

Ideally this person is the Communications Director and keeper
of this plan. In certain crisis scenarios, it may make sense for
the Communications Director to assign someone else as the
Team Director, particularly if the crisis directly affects or
involves the Communications Director or their family.

The first order of business for the Team Director is to

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convene the entire team.

The team will then select a Spokesperson and an Internal

Communications Manager. Often these will be the same person,
but dividing these roles up may be appropriate in certain
scenarios.

The Spokesperson will be the primary contact for all media

inquiries including press conferences, press interviews and
internal announcements. The Spokesperson must also approve
any copy or content that is distributed through online media and
social networks.

The Internal Communications Manager (ICM) will assist

the Director and is primarily responsible for:

• Ensuring that this plan is executed

• Ensuring that the team has the most current and
developing information at all times
• Seeing that the decisions of the Director and of the team
are carried out appropriately

After the roles are appointed, the team will complete the
Active Crisis Worksheet.

INTERNAL TEAM COMMUNICATIONS

The primary method of team communication during a crisis

should be on email. All members of the Crisis Communications
Team mentioned on the worksheet below should be copied on

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all communications.

Email is the easiest and most universal form of

communication and is not dependent on any one app or device.
This ensures everyone you may need to involve can be easily
communicated with.

It is important to direct all communications outside of in-

person meetings through email so that nothing is forgotten and
there is a record of all communication. If needed, all other email
except for those coming from the Crisis Communications Team
can be avoided during an active crisis.

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ACTIVE CRISIS
WORKSHEET
Use this sheet to gather pertinent information during a
crisis.

1. What name will we give this communications crisis for

internal use?

2. What other resources from the Crisis Communications

Team folder will be utilized to handle this event?

3. Who is the Team Director, the Spokesperson and the

Internal Communications Manager?

4. Who else is on the team and needs to be included in all

communications?

5. What is the nature of the crisis and where is it being

played out?

6. Rate the need to disseminate a public response:

• Immediate
• Within the day
• Within two or more days
• Not immediate or evolving with the event

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Use this chart to determine messaging for each key audience

that needs to be addressed regarding the crisis, including how
they will be messaged and what supporting facts should be
utilized.

Use this chart to determine which key elements of the crisis

need monitoring and make assignments.

7. What are the sources of the content needed in order to

respond to this event? (an individual, a specific Crisis Scenario
Plan, etc.)

8. If applicable, where should public media be directed to

find the most updated information about the event?

9. If applicable, where should internal audiences be directed

to find the most updated information about the event?

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10. Are there any internal weaknesses or conflicts of interest

that the team must address?

11. Do we need a translator in order to respond adequately

to this crisis?

12. If law enforcement is involved in this crisis, is the team

informed about their needs? And, how will we ensure that the
team is fully cooperative?

13. Is there anyone for whom we need to attempt securing a

Likeness Release Form?

14. What date and time should the entire team convene
again to collaborate on this event?

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CRISIS CHECKLIST

What is the nature of this communications event?

Who needs to be involved in working this event?

What tasks or roles are assigned to me for completion?

Who is the Internal Communications Manager managing this event?

Do I need to prepare for interviews?

What surprises should I prepare for?

Is there anything unique about this event to be mindful of?

How might this event impact or influence other active communications

events?

Should I communicate up the chain about this and what should I say?

Is this event going to expand from one media format to another?

Do I need to communicate anything to the content or web teams?

Are online and real-world security and privacy threats being mitigated?

Are local church teams going to have what they need?

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AFTER A CRISIS
The Team Director will determine when the
communications crisis is over. Within a few days of that time,
the Communications Crisis Team will assemble for an
evaluation and complete the following worksheet.

EVALUATION WORKSHEET

What worked well?

What could have gone better?

Were the messages received and interpreted in the way we intended?

Did the messages elicit the expected response?

Did the channels of communication we use worked as we expected?

Did we effectively monitor the situation and were we able to adapt our
response as needed?

How can we modify this plan or related resources to improve it?

What would we do differently regarding a future, similar communications

crisis?

Were there any specific issues that came up which should be reported to
another part of the organization? (Example: A behavior by a staff member
during the crisis.)

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CHURCH CRISIS
M AN AGEMENT POLICY

The following are crisis management policies you may

adopt for your church and place in your employee handbook,
bylaws, or any other necessary document.

Our church is committed to taking a biblical and preemptive

approach to public relations crises, using disclosure whenever
possible as the preferred strategy for preventing or minimizing
public relations crises.

A “crisis” is defined as a problem that can endanger the

church’s reputation and/or financial position and can occur as
the result of a legal, management/employment, advocacy,
political, or public relations issue.

A crisis can take one of two forms: building over time or

all of a sudden. During a crisis, both internal and external
messages must be strategically written and consistently
delivered to minimize a negative public relations crisis or the
outflow of inaccurate or incomplete information. It is important
to control the distribution of messages and documents from the
Church so that accurate and non-contradictory messages are
shared.

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With the foregoing purpose in mind, it shall be the policy of

our church that:

• All media interviews and inquiries at any time are to be

coordinated through the Communications Director.
• Generally, the principal spokesperson(s) for the church is
the Communications Director. During times of a crisis
communication, no person shall be authorized to speak to the
news media in a crisis without prior clearance from the
Communications Director. The Communications Director
may direct specific staff members to serve as the media
contacts for specific projects, issues or media releases.
• The Communications Director shall be responsible for
developing and implementing the Church’s crisis
communication strategies. These strategies will be circulated
and reviewed annually by the Board. The final approval of
these strategies shall be subject to the consent of the Senior
Leaders.

CRISIS MONITORING & PREVENTION

The Communications Director shall be responsible for

monitoring local, state, and national news coverage issues,
blogs, and social media, advising the Senior Leaders of issues
and/or trends that might lead to negative stories or opportunities
for the church to support public dialogue on issues central to its
work and mission.

The Communications Director will maintain regular contact

with the Senior Leaders and shall be responsible for advising

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the when internal or external issues or developments appear

likely to lead to public relations problems.

Similarly, the Senior Leaders will regularly notify the

Communications Director of internal developments that may
escalate into public relations crises.

CRISIS RESPONSE PROCEDURES

When crises erupt, the Communications Director, under the

leadership of the Senior Leaders, shall be responsible for
gathering and verifying information about the crisis, assessing
the severity of the crisis, and developing strategies to address
the crises, such as how information is to be released, who
should speak for the church, and who is to be notified.

The Communications Director will reach out to media

consultants and legal counsel, as appropriate, work out
logistical details of releasing information, and distribute
verified information as quickly as possible to internal and
external audiences, depending on the type of crisis, as outlined
below.

TYPES OF CRISES

1. Foreseeable Crises
• Crisis assessment: The Communications Director
will be notified immediately of an emerging crisis by
the Senior Leaders and will work with them to
determine who should be involved in the crisis team.

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• Formation of a crisis team: The crisis team will

gather as many details as possible, recommend
strategies for internal and external communication,
potential involvement of legal counsel or external
communications consulting and select an appropriate
spokesperson(s). The Senior Leaders have final
approval of the recommendations. The crisis team
serves as long as the Senior Leaders deem necessary.

2. Sudden Crises
• Immediate action: When the sudden occurrence of
a severe crisis precludes convening a crisis team, the
Communications Director will draft and implement a
strategy immediately upon approval of the Senior
Leaders.
• After implementing a “first-wave” communication
strategy, under the direction of the Executive Team, the
Communications Director will convene the crisis team
to develop ongoing strategy.

ESTABLISHING CLEAR LINES OF

COMMUNICATION

The Communications Director will be authorized to gather

and verify information in a crisis, and will be the only person
authorized to release information.

1. Releasing Information Internally

• Upon approval of the Senior Leaders, the
Communications Director will inform church elders,

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staff, and members (in that order) of the crises in any

appropriate manner before details are released
externally.

2. Releasing Information Externally

• After internal notifications, under leadership of the
Senior Leaders, the Communications Director will
work with the crisis team to prepare a briefing sheet
providing instructions to the chosen spokesperson(s) as
to how to handle questions regarding the crisis.
• When deemed appropriate by the Senior Leaders
the Communications Director will work to supply
verifiable details to the news media as rapidly as
possible. All statements and information to be
distributed to the media shall first be reviewed and
approved by the Senior Leaders.
• After releasing information, the Communications
Director will monitor the news coverage and quickly
correct any errors that are made, conduct an assessment
of the lessons learned, and propose any new guidelines
for the next crisis to the Senior Leaders.

3. Communicating With the Board

• During a Crisis:
• During a crisis the Senior Leaders and
Communications Director will conduct planning
and strategy on a regular basis, with the
expectation that they will provide at the
conclusion of the crisis an evaluation and follow-
up report to the Board.

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• Where Disqualifying Charges are Made

• In the event the crisis involves disqualifying
charges being made about any one of the Senior
Leaders, the Communications Director will
communicate and report directly to the Board for
oversight and planning during the crisis.

EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP

The Communications Director will document the news

coverage surrounding a crisis, including social media, wire
stories, newspaper articles, radio, and television broadcasts.

When the crisis is past, the Communications team will

supply the Crisis Team and Senior Leaders with a summary of
news coverage, in addition to a full evaluation and follow-up
report about the crisis. This report will then be provided to the
Board.

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LOC AL CAM PUS CRISIS

PLAN

For use with multi-campus churches.

Know that at your local church, you are not responsible for
dealing in depth with the press. However, you should be ready
to communicate with them on a cursory basis at any given time.

The press includes TV, radio and print reporters, high

profile bloggers, news personalities and any agents of the same.

Typically, you’ll have notice when members of the press

want to visit a church event, however if they are responding to
a live event such as a protest then they may show up
unannounced.

COORDINATING PRESS INTERVIEWS

If you know in advance that someone from the media will

be at church or an event, please coordinate that with the
Communications Director beforehand. Please do not conduct
any interview or speak with any member of the press without
coordinating with the Communications Director first.

UNANNOUNCED INTERVIEWS

If press shows up unannounced on a Sunday or at a mid-

week event:

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• A senior leader should greet them and thank them for

coming. Do not tell them to go away.
• Inform them that you don’t want to disrupt Sunday
services, and that our Communications Director would be
happy to speak with them over the phone to coordinate
whatever they need.
• Get their name, company name, and phone number (ask
for a card or to see their credentials).
• Give them the contact information for the
Communications Director.
• Let them know that they may perform journalism
activities outside, but that doing so inside will disrupt services
and cannot be permitted.

Immediately inform the Communications Director about

the event and relay all pertinent information such as the name
and contact info of the reporter.

We do not hold you responsible for dealing with the press

or any unplanned communications event, and we are here to
help you. When you are dealing with the press, remember to be
polite, professional and helpful. Do not say “no comment” or
offer anything “off the record”. Simply refer them to the
Communications Director.

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CHAPTER TWELVE

GO JUMP OFF A CLIFF

“To be prepared for war is one of the most

effective means of preserving peace.” - George
Washington

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JUSTIN DEAN

One of my favorite TV shows is The West Wing. I didn’t

watch it when it was on, but recently I viewed the whole series
on Netflix and loved it. While I thought it would be too much
about politics, it actually stays pretty moderate and the story
centers mostly around the communications team at the White
House. There’s a lot that can be learned from watching one of
the most influential communications teams in the world, even
if it’s a fictional one.

One of the best episodes is called “Third Day Story” in

season six. In the episode, Chief of Staff Leo McGarry suffers
a heart attack and can no longer fulfill his duties for the White
House. As he and the President, Jed Bartlett (played by Martin
Sheen), reminisce about their past six years together, Leo asks
the President, “You remember what you told me when you
offered me the job?”

The President nods and replies, "I need you to jump off a
cliff.”

In the next scene, we see the President pull aside his press
secretary, C.J. Cregg, and he says, “C.J., I need you to do
something for me… Jump off a cliff.” While that probably
sounded odd to C.J. we quickly discover he was promoting her
as the new Chief of Staff to replace Leo McGarry.

I share this story because it’s time for you to jump off a cliff.

You’ve read this far. There’s so much more I can share with
you that would help your church reach the next level when it
comes to communicating well and reaching a larger audience.

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And so much more I can share about protecting your church and
preparing for a crisis. But that’s all content for another time. It’s
time for you to get to work.

I've given you the basic tools you need to survive in this
ever-changing, but increasingly hostile climate, as well as some
tools to help you thrive and take your communications to the
next level.

Even though I feel like I've only just brushed the surface, I
hope these tips have been practical enough for you to get started
working on a PR strategy for your church.

I’ve walked you through what PR is, and why your church
should care. I’ve shown you the power of working with the
press, the power of utilizing social media as your biggest
opportunity to reach the world and engage with your
community. You’ve seen the value in creating and distributing
content, and how easy it is to create with the resources you
already have. And I’ve helped you plan for a crisis, so you can
be prepared when things get tough.

Now it’s time to put it all into action. The mission is too
important for you to ignore what's already happening around
you, and think you can survive doing it the way you’ve always
done it. I have no more patience for churches who choose to be
naive or are too lazy or scared to do things differently than
they’ve done for the past 200 years.

I know you think your church is small. I know you're under

staffed and under resourced. I know you're doing a great job

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already. But better is still possible. We have a lot of work to do

to get the church up to speed.

Everything I've shared in this book is easy to do and already

uses the tools that you have in front of you. Nothing I described
takes a large team or expensive equipment. Use the tools you
have already and do the best you can with it before worrying
about your next hire or that expensive camera.

If you feel alone or you’re not empowered to make the

changes you know you need to make, then hand this book to
your pastor. When he’s done reading it, ask him if he’s ready to
jump off a cliff with you. (Make sure he’s actually read it first,
otherwise that may not go over so well.)

My job here is done. The church has the best story to tell,
and you have the tools in front of you to be the best at telling it.
Now it’s time for you to get out there and continue to boldly
proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, prepared for whatever
may get in your way.

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 #PRMATTERS

DOWNLOAD FREE
BOOK PERKS
Download the complete crisis plan, social media policy,
and many other helpful resources for FREE at
churchprbook.com/bookperks

Available for free with this book purchase.

219
JUSTIN DEAN

220
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Justin Dean is a church
communications advisor and
entrepreneur.

He served in senior marketing

roles in the corporate startup
world for over a decade
before joining Mars Hill
Church in Seattle as the Communications Director in 2011. He
oversaw all social media, content, editorial, communications,
and public relations for the growing megachurch until they
ultimately closed their doors for good at the end of 2014.

He is now the co-founder of That Church Conference, helping

digital communicators tell the best story the church has to tell
through conferences, workshops, and online resources (learn
more at thatcc.com).

When he’s not helping churches, Justin can often be found on

the lake or eating tacos with his wife and four kids. You can
contact Justin on Twitter @justinjdean or go to
justinjdean.com for more info.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am incredibly grateful to my wife Heidi, and my adorable
children, Dylan, Evelyn, Ellie, and Jake, for sacrificing so
much, not only as I wrote this book, but throughout the years as
we have continued to serve the church. It’s a wonderful thing to
have a family that’s on mission.

I’m thankful for the support of godly men who have spoken
into my life over the years, namely Mark Driscoll, Sutton
Turner, and Greg Laurie. It has been an honor to serve in the
trenches with these men.

Thank you to the friends who have risked their own

reputations to lift mine up and encourage me to continue doing
what God has called me to do: Van Baird, Tim Schraeder, Dave
Adamson, Matt McKee, Chris Dunagan, Ashley Williams, Kem
Meyer, Carrie Kintz, Justin Brackett, Carey Nieuwhof, Nils
Smith, Greg Laurie, Brendan Stark, Paul Briney, Stephen
Posey, Daniel Irmler, Jonathan Malm, Andy Girton, Jesse
Wisnewski, Phil Bowdle, Jim Tinsley, and many others. Also
to every stranger who has listened to a podcast or read an article
and took the time to email or DM me… your words of
encouragement have saved me from giving up countless times.

And thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to read this
book. I truly hope it is helpful for you and your ministry.
 ADDITIONAL NOTES
Portions of this book were taken from Social Media Guide
for Churches (2015) by Justin Dean and Corrin Bauer.

Other publications mentioned in this book and

recommended by the author:

• So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

(Riverhead Books, 2015)
• Less Chaos. Less Noise. by Kem Meyer (2016)
• A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or
a Future? by Mark Driscoll (Tyndale, 2013)
• The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect
Us from Violence by Gavin de Beker (Dell, 1998)
• Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator
by Ryan Holiday (Portfolio, 2013)