The Pastor as an advocate for the Local Church’s Communications Ministry

PresenterPastor Taurai Emmanuel Maforo

Zimbabwe Episcopal Area Communicator & Web-Master

Introduction• Africans at best we are proudly good story tellers, more so from

an oral perspective. Many stories have been passed on between generations.

• The challenge however is the loss of the original content because many variations to telling the story develop as different person retell. In the past there would be one elderly person who would know where to find herbs to treat certain ailments.

• The church is not left out either, hence the importance of looking at how we can improve the process of communicating our faith, documenting it and keeping the record under lock and key.

• Putting pen to paper is key in making this a possibility. As a result I have come up with a thesis – “ANYTHING NOT WRITTEN, DID NOT HAPPEN”

Disclaimer

• This presentation does not aim to present itself as the ultimate or pinnacle in the field of communications ministry, but seeks to create conversations for further exploration for the relevant contexts.

Aim

• To engage the Pastors in the Murewa UMP District in conversation for the purpose of informing, inspiring and engaging them to take an active role in building a robust communications ministry at the local church.

Aim

4. Training Objectives

• Casting the communications advocacy role within “order” in the four-fold ministry

• Introduce the concept of Missional Marketing

• Explore the communications mandate and contextualizing the communications activity

Objectives

Definitions

Communication• Two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which

participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. (businessdictionary.com)

• Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share") is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of ideas, feelings, intentions, attitudes, expectations, perceptions or commands, as by speech, non-verbal gestures, writings, behaviour and possibly by other means such as electromagnetic, chemical or physical phenomena and smell.

• It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or more participants (machines, organisms or their parts)

• In order to accomplish this, communication therefore requires a sender, a message, a medium and a recipient

Ministry

• “Ministry is meeting people where they are at and taking them to where God wants them to be.” (J.R. Briggs.com).

The Pastor and the Four-fold Ministry

• With reference to the UMC Book of Discipline 2012, every pastor is called to a Four-fold ministry of; Word and ecclesial acts, Sacrament, Order and Service.

• Under “Order” every pastor is called, “To be the administrative officer of the local church and to assure that the organizational concerns of the congregation are adequately provided for.”(2012.340,2c)

• Here we will consider sections 1(a),(b) and 2(f);

1(a) “To give pastoral support, guidance, and training to the lay leadership, equipping them to fulfil the ministry to which

they are called.”• Within this scope, it is the responsibility of the

pastor to take the leading role to ensure that those involved in the communications, publications, History and Archives ministry are fully equipped to meet the contextual needs of their local church.

1(b) “To give oversight to the educational program of the church and encourage the use of the United Methodist

Church literature and media.”

• It is within this oversight role of the pastor that he/she assists both the education and communications ministry in ensuring that both come up with appropriate tools of relaying the discipleship message using current media.

2(f) “To care for all church records…”

• The 2012 Book of Discipline paragraph 247:5a lays out clearly the importance of preserving history, that is by keeping “historical records up to date” and provides for the production of an “…annual report on the care of local church records and historical materials no longer in current use.”

What records are kept?

a. All documents (Contracts, membership records etc)b. Minutesc. Journalsd. Diariese. Reports(Charge Conferences etc)f. Lettersg. Pamphletsh. Papersi. Manuscriptsj. Mapsk. Audio and video recordingsl. Documentaries etc.

The Communications mandate

• “As United Methodists, our theological understanding obligates us, as members of the body of Christ, to communicate our faith by speaking and listening to persons both within and outside the Church throughout the world, and to

utilize all appropriate means of communication.” (Bk. Of

Disc.2012,1801,p698)

“The responsibility to communicate is laid upon;

• Every church member• Every pastor

• Every congregation• Every annual conference

• Every institution• And every agency of the Church

Communications as a Strategic Function for the church

“Communication is a strategic function necessary for the success of the mission of

The United Methodist Church.” (Book Of Discipline 2012, 1806).

NB - Communications is not optional but a necessity.

The church’s communications system must be understood or cast within the scope or context of the nature of our

connectionalism.

Nature of the UMC Connectionalism

Multi-levelled• Section,• Preaching point,• Local church,• Circuit, • District,• Annual Conference,• Central Conference• General Conference.

Global in scopeThe UMC is a global denomination and thus churches in Mutoko-Mudzi District may relate with other churches in the worldwide church. Examples – Crofton Community and the Mashambanhaka partnerships.

Local in thrustAs much as the connectionalism is multi-levelled and Global, it has a local thrust. Understanding of the local context is also critical in meeting the denomination’s goals.

Newswriting Basics

• Getting started...avoid procrastination

• Tools for content gathering• Definition of Newsa. New Information

b.First Draft of History

Writing the story – 5Ws and an H

• What?• When?• Who?• Where?• Why?• How?

Focusing the story

• The Leada. Scenic leadb. Introductory leadc. Summary lead• The Nut Graf - what makes the

story “The STORY”

News Values

• Urgency• Prominence• Bizare

• Proximity • Conflict

Means of Communication• Appropriate means of communication range from usage of;

word of mouth(announcements), communiques, text messaging services, telephone, fax, email, social media (eg. Whatsapp, facebook, website)

• A key component and point of departure in building content, firstly is news.

• News is defined as new information and the first draft of history. It is from that view that communicating becomes the first port of call.

• After communicating our faith stories, then if well archived becomes protected history.

Communicating in a Global Village

Social Media/Groups

1,39Billion Users(Feb 2015)Facebook Messenger 900million

Over 1Billion Users300hrs of Video Uploads every minute

1Billion plus users468million users overtaking Google+ and Twitter

Important Facts – Opportunity for the Church’s Ministry

• 12.4million mobile phone users by 2015 third quarter

• Zimbabwe’s mobile penetration 106%

• Zimbabwe has 6.1 million internet subscriptions with 99% of those being mobile devices based.

• The country has 6,900 km of backbone fibre

Why social networking?

Online space for individual to present themselves

Articulate their social networkEstablish & maintain connects with othersExamples

Facebook connects you with people around you (400 million active users)

Twitter (65 millions tweets posted per day)

Things to consider when working with social media

Target audienceWhat tools to use?CostingPrivacy levelCommunity drivenStakeholders

The Pros and Cons of social media and social networking

Pros of using social media

Instant, real-time, Make the publication easierReach a big audience groupLow or no costGood tools for sharing and consume contentReal time communication and engagementUse hashtags to create twitter backchannelAllow chance for reticent student to express

themselvesWork within their comfort zone and voice out in

writing

Sharing & learning

Professional developmentPersonal learning networkPersonal learning environmentSelf engagement

Cons of using social media

Take time to create accountsImmediacyEmotionalPrivacyImpersonate

Social media in Education

Technology take too much timeSocial media in school is dangerous!Social media is for entertainment onlySocial media increases off-task behaviorYou don’t need to learn about social media in

schools

Marketing• Marketing is the messages and/or actions that cause messages and/or

actions. Jay Baer – President, Convince & Convert. Author with Amber Naslund of The Now Revolution

• Marketing is creating irresistible experiences that connect with people personally and create the desire to share with others. Saul Colt – Head of Magic, Fresh Books

• Marketing is helping your customers understand how much they need something they never knew they needed. Doreen Moran – Digital Strategist

• P.Tailor of www.learnmarketing.net suggests that 'Marketing is not about providing products or services it is essentially about providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customer (P.Tailor 7/00)'

• Marketing is the ongoing process of engagement whereby strangers are nurtured into advocates. Trey Pennington

Using Trey Pennington’s marketing definition, let us try and translate that to

disciple-making .Theme: Making Strangers Advocates.

“Missional Marketing”• “Missional Marketing” as a concept therefore may be

understood as the how, when and where to propagate the discipleship agenda through connecting with the market place and finally creating a transformative turn in relationship exchanges.

• NB – Missional marketing therefore takes care of the packaging of the messages. A church may have sound theology but as long as the packaging is not attractive, we may not meet the desired goals or at the very least reach the target market.

What do we need to market?

• a. Mission and goals of the church• b. Discipleship Programs• c. Building projects – parsonage, sanctuary

construction.• d. Outreach programs – eg. Community

action programs eg. Water and sanitation

NOW MINISTRIES

• This acronym depicts timeous action; Nurturing, Outreaching and Witnessing. These three provide anchorage to the entire discipleship enterprise.

NURTURING

• Nurturing – communications ministry provides resources needed for equipping of disciples. Eg. Multimedia Christian Education kits – projector, screens, television screens

OUTREACHING

•Outreaching – prepares packaging for all outreach programs – branding, posters, fliers.

RE-THINK CHURCH

•What if church does not only become the place we go to but something we do.

Conclusion

Communications Ministry therefore has and can become a powerful ministry driver if taken as a strategic function,

prilmarily by the chief administrator of the local church – the pastor who is the

advocate.

ΩThe End(Omega)