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“Effective communications is really about releasing the right response, not sending the right message. – Kem Meyer
In September 2010 I began a journey of several months in a communications coaching network along with communications directors from the east to west coast, from Minnesota to Texas, and many points in between. Kem Meyer, Director of Communications at Granger Community Church (GCC) in northern Indiana, led our motley crew.
Kem is also the author of Less Clutter, Less Noise: Beyond Bulletins, Brochures And Bake Sales, and has led many seminars and workshops across the country and in Granger, through Wired Churches initiative to train church leaders.
During these seven months we met twice in Granger for long, intensive sessions together, we conferred offline and we read book assignments. Now, we’ve joined with many alumni of Kem’s coaching group who collaborate, ask questions and learn from each other online through an Alumni Google group.
All of life is communication
Now you can join this Church Communications Strategy Coaching Network for the next session in Spring 2012. Apply here by February 1.
Here are the reasons I preferred this group to any conference, seminar or church communications book I’ve read:
- Time intensive. You’ll learn and grow with these people through six face-to-face sessions, and a three-month online journey.
- Communal. Kem teaches, but more often she facilitates. This is the key to any kind of communication, right? You’ll learn from everyone present, they’ll learn from you, and together you’ll learn more than you knew separately.
- Life is fun outside the box. We all have our networks, affiliations, denominations and movements, for many good reasons. But Kem will pair you with church communications directors and pastors from churches across the denominational spectrum, from different regions, of different sizes, ages and demographics.
- The good times just keep rolling. Like I said, once your coaching network ends, you’ll join the alumni, including me, in a Google group. Here’s an example of how this can help:
Periodically in Sojourn pulpit team meetings, Pastor Daniel Montgomery turns to me and says, “Find out how other churches are communicating X issue. Can you ask some communications people what they’re churches have done?”
Before joining this network, requests like that took much longer to fulfill. Now, I sign click on the Alumni Google group, I ask the question, and responses roll in. It’s like using the remote control on your TV – less work, but it gets results.
If you’re a lead pastor, you should consider sending your communications director. Unless you don’t have one, in which case you should consider attending yourself. If you’re a communications director, you should go. If you play another role within your church that relates to strategic, creative thinking, you would benefit from this as well.
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