Effective Communication For Church Growth
The Church is a living organism…..every living organism is identified with growth. Growth is inevitable in every facet of life…the day you stop growing, you will start dying.
Effective communication is the cornerstone of every successful venture. Great empires, businesses, marriages, churches and relationships are all built on effective communication.
Without effective communication, no enterprise stands the chance of surviving.
The primary reason God created man was beyond replenishing the earth. It was beyond dominating the works of creation. The most important purpose behind creation was for effective communication between man and God. God created man to become a link of communication between the Heavens and the Earth.
God needed a man to share His feelings with….To communicate His divine agendas….
Just like in Amos 3:7, when the bible said God will do nothing except He reveals His heart [secrets] unto His servant.
In Genesis 18:17 Hear what the Lord said…Shall I the Lord hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Watch this! The first line of verse 19 says…..FOR I KNOW HIM. [It takes a constant relationship for God to say He knows you by name}
Let me share some deep secrets with ya’ll.
It wasn’t just the eating of the forbidden fruit that provoked God to drive Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden……
Watch this!! In Gen 3:8-9
And they heard the VOICE of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the evening [time for evening fellowship] and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst the trees of the garden…
And the Lord God called [in Hebrew GERA meaning to call out] unto Adam, and said WHERE ART THOU?
Every time there’s a breach of effective communication, there’s bound to be a commotion in the house.
The foundation of every marriage is LOVE...but what sustains and keeps the marriage growing is EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION.
The foundation of every Church is LOVE… but what sustains and keeps the church growing is effective COMMUNICATION.
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? The Process of exchanging information between people.
This information can be conveyed by different forms….Examples: By means of word expressions [voice] , body gestures, writing , or using common systems of signs, like bill boards, sign posts and other information technological appliances like the media and all electronic devices.
Studies have shown that WORDS account for 7 percent of information communicated.
Vocal TONE accounts for 55 percent of words communicated.
Body gesticulation [body language] accounts for 38 percent of information communicated.
Among these three, Vocal TONE has the greatest impact in communication.
It is one thing to communicate to your workers, but another thing to let them understand the TONE of your communication……This… I called EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION.
Three Cardinal points you must rehearse before embarking on any communication…
I. SENDER
Communication is a two-way process that starts with the sender. The sender should be conveying information necessary for mission accomplishment. The sender must be proactive in making the receiver understand the message. Too often, what is said is not always what is heard. To prevent this from happening, do the following:
- State one idea at a time.
- State ideas simply.
- Explain when appropriate.
- Repeat if appropriate.
- Encourage feedback.
- Read between the lines.
Did your choice of words, tone of the sentence, and body language (intentional gestures or subconscious movements) convey the same meaning?
II. MESSAGE
The message is simply the information the sender wants to communicate to the receiver. The message is usually verbal, but it can also be non-verbal. To reduce potential problems, the sender should:
- Use correct terminology (standard commands).
- Speak clearly.
- Time the message to be sent when the receiver is able to listen.
- Use appropriate vocal tone and volume. Commands must be heard and perceived as an imperative, not a question or comment. When breaking error chains, or returning others to situational awareness, express a tone of urgency and importance.
- Be relevant to the receiver, not a distraction. The message needs to be inclusive and informative. Inclusive means that it contains everything necessary for the receiver to understand the sender’s point. Informational means it is something that the receiver needs to know.
III. RECEIVER
The receiver needs information to accomplish his/her task. The effectiveness of the team often rests on its members’ ability to listen. Unfortunately, most people find listening difficult.
The receiver must exert control over the communication process. For receivers to have control, it is important that they ensure that the senders understand what the receivers want and why they want it.
Example: Without the conning officer exerting positive control over the flow of information from the navigation evaluator and shipping officer, important information could be buried in the large amount of information that is periodically relayed during a transit in a congested waterway.
Keys To Effective Communication For Church Growth
[Key #1] Make IT PLAIN…..Precise, simple, on point….Don’t complicate it with big grammar. Keep it simple and CLEAR while unveiling your VISION TO THE CHURCH WORKERS…
Habakkuk 2:2 ….And the Lord answered me and said…Write [communicate] the Vision, and make it PLAIN…SIMPLE… so that whoever reads [hears the information] may run with it.
Proverbs 24:11… A word fitly [nicely] spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of sliver. Words when rightly communicated produces positive IMPACT.
Proverbs 16:24 ….Pleasant words are as an honey comb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
When the words of your vision…are pleasant…[attractive ] to the ears….it attracts hope to the hearers….
[Key #2] You must Constantly COMMUNICATE your Purpose effectively. Nehemiah 4:6-17 Rick Warren calls it the Nehemiah principles……
The wall of Jerusalem was completed in 52 days…… Although the wall took 52 days to be completed, the people got discouraged at the half-way point...which was just 26 days into the project.
Nehemiah had to renew and rehearse the Vision to the people. Rick Warren said in his book Purpose Driven Church, "Every vision and purpose must be RESTATED every 26 days to keep the church moving in the right direction."
In other words, make sure you communicate the Vision at least once every month.
[Key #3] Power of Persuasion: These bring to mind the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, J. F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Apostle Peter and Moses in the Bible…. These men were without brochures , power points, or hand outs…..yet with the power of persuasion were able to communicate their Vision and Purpose to their generation.
Dr. King had only one message……Equality between the white and the Blacks.
Moses had only one message….Let my people go.
As a church leader, you must be able to persuade people through effective communication….That’s the only way they can constantly believe in your purpose.
Acts 2:14-41 says 3000 souls were added unto the Church in one day…after Peter’s persuasive speech.
I love verse 37…. Now, when they heard this…..they were pricked in their heart…and said unto Peter…what shall we do to be saved.
Steps to Effective communication For Church Growth.
Step ONE: The Community
Under the community we have EVANGELISM, OUTREACH AND SOUL WINNING STRATEGIES…..
Our Key tools…. Church business cards, websites, church Logos, banners, flyers, journals and invitational slips, billboards, etc…….
Keep your communication simple….
Do not complicate your write ups with Pentecostal jargon…. Big grammar confuses the community from comprehending your VISION.
Recent studies and research has it that 70 percent of those who come into our churches don’t normally come back. The reason is because our communicating format leaves them confused and confounded.
Examples…..The Church bulletin which displays the weekly activities….
When you have stuff like INVOCATION, CHARISMATIC HOURS, HOLY GHOST CANTATA….
You make those that are the "unchurched" in the community look confused and stupid….
Keep your communication simple and straight.
Step TWO: Word of mouth
The number 1 way to invite people is by word of mouth. And the cost ratio for word of mouth is phenomenal: zero.
The biggest influx of people result when your friends bring their friends, who bring their friends and so on. That's why some churches can grow by a thousand people in worship in one week, when it took them years just to get to that same number the first time. The larger a church grows, the more important word of mouth becomes.
Direct mail. Compared to other mass communication methods, direct mail is an inexpensive, effective way to tell your story. People have to pull it out of their mailbox and throw it away. And for half a second, they look at it before tossing it. But they did look!
The best time to use direct mail is when you're announcing a sermon series or hosting a special event.
Television and cable. The larger the church, the more important TV advertising becomes, if for no other reason than creating and maintaining your church's image. Both of us used TV quite frequently. In most communities, 20 percent of new church VISITORS come because of T V ADVERTISEMENT.
Web sites. A church Web site appeals mostly to younger Christians who are shopping for a church. It's not likely that many non-Christians will seek out and look at your Web site. Nevertheless, a good Web site can close the deal. It's now possible for any church to have a professional-looking Web site for very little cost. You can purchase the template and ask someone in your church who knows a little bit about Web text and design to manage the site.
Radio. Radio…sometimes makes more sense than TV due to the difference in costs per ad. Its real benefit is the ability to target a segment of the population that you can't with TV.
Newspaper. Neither of us puts much stock in newspaper ads, especially the church page. If you must use the newspaper, position your ad in the personal columns, entertainment section or sports pages.
Media combinations. The combination of multiple impressions in diverse media brings your advertising to a tipping point. We recommend using a mixture of word of mouth, direct mail and cable television to reach unchurched people.
Scriptures to help you…
Colossians 4:6 Let your communication be always with Grace.. seasoned with salt….
Isaiah 50:4 The Lord has given me the TONGUE of the learned….That I should know how to communicate my message unto them who are weary, hurting, and broken.
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