The Power of Communicating
Apr 18th, 2007 by John Goodell
Communicating with membership is vital to the effectiveness of any ministry and to creating a sense of involvement and community. Printed material is expensive, takes time to produce and is costly to mail. Mass email is free but difficult manage effectively. This past summer we decided to begin a bi-weekly newsletter that would have the look and feel of a web page, with pictures and graphics. We would offer this to anyone who would choose to subscribe through our web site. The question was, how best to accomplish this.
After considering several "services" we learned about ChurchPost. It provided all of the features that we were hoping to find:
- easy enrollment and management of groups to receive various emails, each with a different focus . . . and all enrollment and cancellations managed by the user themselves!
- easy creation of attractive newsletters and communications, using the same features as found in Microsoft Word and Publisher. And best of all…
- excellent customer service and support provided by friendly, helpful, people.
We now have over 650 who have subscribed to various e-newsletters and the number grows daily as people become aware of the value of a communication device of this nature. Our Church Board can now make a decision at their Monday evening meeting and communicate it to the Congregation on Tuesday morning. This is what our folks want, and deserve.
Another one of our groups allows individuals to be notified when there is a death of a church member - allowing a visit to the family or attendance at the funeral. Not everyone is interested in receiving death information - so those who have subscribed to this service are the only ones who receive this type of information. The ways that this can be used are limited only by our creativity and the interests of our congregation.
I am pleased to recommend ChurchPost to anyone who is serious about communicating effectively with their constituency - whether large or small - on a timely basis.
Barry McKenna
Director of Administration
Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Northville, Michigan