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5 questions to evaluate church events
Deborah Ike Religious CommunitySpecial events can be productive and beneficial to your church. Community service projects, youth camps, couples retreats and more may be a core part of your church's annual calendar. However, if you're running the same events year after year, it might be time to step back and evaluate your events.
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Churches planning to build need expert guidance with finances
Robert C. Foreman Religious CommunityChurch leaders are sometimes reluctant to seek help and advice. This seems to be especially true when it comes to facility planning and financing. They may believe they know enough and are wise enough to undertake a building project without seeking the best professional guidance.
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Your welcome card needs updating
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityWhy do we expect visitors to fill out our visitor or welcome forms? I'm not saying to stop with welcome cards, but please be careful with them. Recently, I was at a church that had a welcome tab with 19 form requests including name, address, cellphone number, email, and birthdate. No one will offer all that — especially a visitor.
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Your church needs an alarm clock
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityI often listen to iHeartRadio and one of its many stations. I'm not even sure what I'm listening to most of the time. It's just music. When I get tired of one of the stations, I move on. Sounds like church, doesn't it?
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6 low-cost ways to achieve excellence on a budget
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityWe've all experienced seasons where the budget is a bit tight. However, we still want to provide the absolute best for our communities and congregations. So how can you achieve excellence on a shoestring budget? Here are some practical tips you can implement at little or no cost.
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2 McChurch lessons to stop the decline
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityFast food gets a bad rap in the media (from poor wages to high fat content). This means the average person has a bad perception of fast food, while the economy is forcing different purchasing decisions. Similarly, churches aren't getting much positive news coverage either.
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How to stand out in your next meeting
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityI've been thinking a lot about communication lately. Communication isn't just what we say. It’s how we say something — our tone of voice and our nonverbal queues, including facial expressions and body language. Sometimes our nonverbal cues can betray our intended message.
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An open letter to church communications directors
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityHave you noticed that in our field you never get comfortable? Ideas, clients, production, suppliers, methods and software are changing continuously. You think you've mastered something and bam!, it changes. Here are three things I wish someone shared with me earlier on.
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The 10 commandments for church volunteers
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityWe have very diverse churches with different styles, but one thing we all have in common is the need for great volunteer teams. A strong, healthy volunteer program doesn't happen by accident or overnight. It requires planning and strategic effort to make it successful.
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‘My church’s website is my favorite,’ said no one ever
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityWhat is your favorite website? What site do you go to over and over again? It's probably not your church's — even if you designed and produced it. And the sobering truth is; that your congregation will never say your church website is their favorite place to go online either. It will never happen.
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