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Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church and SchoolCommunications Audit

+Survey Response

100% of respondents want to continue to receive weekly email

99% consider Mt. Calvary a friendly church

49% belong to Mt. Calvary Facebook Page

73% feel either very informed or extremely informed about what’s going on a Mt. Calvary

63% feel either very engaged or extremely engaged to the mission at Mt. Calvary

66% feel that The Messenger is less than effective in sharing news needed to participate in the mission at Mt. Calvary

+Survey Response

93% feel the weekly bulletin is at least generally effective in providing needed information

97% feel the weekly email news is at least generally effective in connecting to the mission at Mt. Calvary

60% sometimes or never read The Messenger

71% believe our screen should be used for pre-service announcements

42% receive most of their information about Mt. Calvary from the weekly email; 27% from the Sunday bulletin

+Summary

Mt. Calvary is in a period of change

More than ever: consistent, effective, 2-way channels of dialogue are needed

Messages need to be frequent, on-point, and focused on articulating mission/vision

Mt. Calvary is distinctive: talent, determination, passion, facilities, most of all “hearts that are truly on fire for mission”

+Goals

Assess/realign communications activities to increase current member engagement and to multiply mission to community

Coached in the development and implementation of sustainable, substantial social media plan that complements its larger strategic goals for mission/ministry

Inspired to launch social media communication that ties together passions, energies, interests of member/staff with needs in congregation/community to build stronger, more diverse, and more active membership

+Strengths

Heart of messaging is in place

Consistency in articulating Mt. Calvary’s core distinctive

Leaders firmly focused on mission/ministry

Significant openness to strategic development

Pastor E. as consistent champion for mission (relational/leadership skills)

Positive and welcoming spirit

Diverse membership

+Implementation/Support/Integration of Strengths

General familiarity with digital channels

Weekly email consistently mentioned as a key source of info

Creativity and passionate expression of weekly worship (central “communication” activity of any congregation)

Pastor’s capacity for vision/dreaming

Senior leaders recognize more resources needed to improve communications

General responsiveness to change over a period of time

Digital “savvy” exists across membership

+Weaknesses

“Destination” urban church

Membership divided about Mt. Calvary’s future as urban mission vs. church in urban setting; must be resolved

+Implementation/Support/Integration of Weaknesses Resistance by older/engaged members to changing vision

Website lacks effectiveness in sharing Mt. Calvary story

Messenger not as effective as it could be

Perception of some “engaged members” that it is “all up to them”; newer members use “they” language when referencing church activity/programming

Potentially not enough “person power”

Budget limitations

Some missional discord between church and school

Value for high quality materials

Leadership has clear “head” knowledge of the importance of core values and of the need for better communications

+Threats

Lack of cohesion around mission (are we an urban mission or a congregation in an urban setting; are we focused first internally or externally) must be a prime focus for communications and coalition building

+Implementation/Support/Integration of Threats

“Worn out” core has strong martyr complex that stands to impact the success of new tactics

General lack of awareness in immediate neighborhood

Too frequent use of “they” language by members reinforces leadership’s concern that not great enough percentage of the congregation is actively engaged in the mission

Fragmented cohesion between congregation/school mission will hurt complete success of the church’s total message focus

+Recommendations

Never miss an opportunity to tell the Mt. Calvary story

Clarify SHARED vision of CHURCH and organizational structure

Write/implement communications strategy

Reignite passion/turn attention toward the urban vision of Mt. Calvary

Identify credible messengers

Tell individual stories of Mt. Calvary members (not just school children); people over programs (website!)

+Recommendations

Tighten channels for message delivery; combine messages more intentionally and for greater impact

Deepen weekly email; redevelop The Messenger (recommend abandoning it); use screens to share pre-service announcements; deepen “About Us” section of web site

Match ministries and messages to needs (inbound and outbound)

+Implementation

Develop effective materials

Build valuable partnerships

Train messengers

Conduct steady message outreach

Monitor and Evaluate

+Support and Integration

Integrate communications throughout the organization: plan, train, teach how to use social media channels

Involve staff at all levels: Training of church AND school staff in strategic development and communications strategy/practice that help provide a context for why we message the way we do and practical instruction about how to do this