THE VIBRANT PARISH NEWSLETTER

Does Your Church Need a Communication Crew?

There has never been a more vital time to communicate the good news of your parish than there is today. From community outreach, Catholic school news, prayerful opportunities, and fellowship with parishioners, so much is happening in your parish … are you letting people know?

The weekly bulletin, while still the central vehicle in parish communication, is only one facet of efforts out there. And the parish secretary, while also a key figure in the innerworkings of your parish, is also just one person with many hats. Your parish needs more, in order to do more.

If your parish has yet to create a marketing or communication team, now is the time to get one going — here’s why.

People Prefer Multiple Methods

Email, text, website, push notifications, social media posts, print, digital … the list of ways people can and prefer to communicate grows bigger by the day. And when most parishes can’t afford a full-time staff member or have access to a volunteer willing to donate the hours of time required to accurately fulfill the role, they become severely limited in what they can do. And that is where the beauty of a working communication team comes in.

If you have yet to connect with parishioners or community members, now is the time. Ask around the parish for people who are skilled in communication and/or marketing. Perhaps they own a small graphic design business or worked in the communication field before becoming a stay-at-home parent. Whatever they may have done in the past or currently do now, their skills are invaluable in what they could contribute.

Some ideas to consider:

• Create and manage select ways of communication for the parish, including website, Facebook, bulletin, and email newsletters.
• Make the parish visible enough for those searching for a church home to easily find you.
• Build bridges between the many ministries in your parish by exploring ways to communicate information throughout all groups.

PRO-TIP: It doesn’t need to be a big commitment! A monthly or every other month meeting and a working Google document is enough to get the ball rolling on ways to communicate effectively within your parish. Just keep each other in the loop, make sure Father approves all ideas and initiatives, and of course, have fun!

Volunteers With Different Skill Sets

Rarely do volunteers come with an all-in-one skill set. You may find someone who can create beautiful marketing material but has a horrible time with grammar (and vice/versa!). That’s OK! As long as you can correctly fill the needed roles and work together to get work accomplished, you can make a huge difference in the way people perceive your parish — inside and out!

Ideally, you’ll want to staff your team with people who have skills in graphic design, writing and editing, social media, photography/videography, website and SEO, and marketing. But depending on who you have in your parish, or inner community, take what you can get and ask for recommendations later for other people who should join.

Do More, With More

With social media and emerging technology growing all the time, people except more these days — especially when it comes to their faith community. At the very least, your church should have a web presence, weekly bulletin, and a social media platform like Facebook. But imagine what you could do to increase and enhance the spirituality of your parishioners if you could add on more avenues to live their faith!

Think weekly email newsletters bursting with Gospel reflections and upcoming events, text messages reminding people about the capital campaign goal and how they can easily donate, a series of images from the faith community that is shared on social media, and even short videos or podcasts about the importance of the Mass or Confession. The more you can add in these additional (yet necessary) vehicles, the better your members can live their faith.

PRO-TIP: As a group, sit down and come up with a list of essentials — website, bulletin, social media, etc. — and then start a second list of what you’d love to see added. You may discover that you can do more than you thought!

Ready to build your communication crew? Check out “New Ways to Recruit Parish Volunteers” for some helpful tips on getting people interested.

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How Facebook Stories Can Work for Your Parish

It’s no secret that social media organic reach is on a downward spiral. As a parish, you may have noticed that the number of users who engage with your posts is disproportionally lower than the people who actually like your page — and you’re not alone. According to a 2020 study compiled by We Are Social, the average reach of an organic post on a Facebook page remains stagnate at 5.20%, meaning only one in roughly every 19 of your followers will see your page’s non-promoted (free) content.

As Facebook and its metrics move more towards “pay for play” advertising methods, parishes without a marketing budget need to find other ways to engage and inspire followers. A great tool that you may not be using is Facebook Stories.

Creativity at its Best

Facebook Stories are short user-generated photo or video collections that can be uploaded to a personal page. Around since 2017 (one year after Instagram Stories launched), it has started rising in popularity the last couple of years. Each story posted can be viewed up to two times and disappears after a full 24 hours. It also offers a wide variety of creative options, such as music, filters, stickers, emojis and text.

Facebook pages as large as Pepsi Co. and as small as your friendly mom and pop restaurant have been using Stories for a while now in their social media strategy. To get the attention of your followers when they are already bombarded with thousands of messages every day, Stories are a great way to stand out from the crowd. About 500 million people now use Facebook Stories every day, meaning it has the potential to help you reach a much bigger audience than through traditional posting.

How to Use it for Your Parish

There are a number of ways that your parish can use the Stories feature. The goal is to use this as short “bursts” of digital content that will hopefully catch the attention of your followers. This happens in two ways — placement because it appears at the top of your newsfeed, and then through Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm.

Here are some easy ways you can repurpose your social media content for Facebook Stories:

To Bring Attention to a Traditional Post | Say you created a post for an upcoming parish event. On the day of, remind your followers of the fun that’s to come by highlighting your post in a Story. Add music, some copy like “Tonight!” and a sticker or two. That post will then move to the top of Facebook feeds everywhere, making the chance of others seeing it that much more likely.

To Share an “IRL” Moment | Video that is shared in a Story needs to be less than 20 seconds, which is often perfect for those “in real life” parish moments. Think a small greeting from your pastor before Mass, reminding parishioners to come to church, or a line-up of the homemade desserts that are sure to sell out at Saturday’s spaghetti dinner (bonus if you use the “boomerang” feature for that one!).

To Encourage a Follower “Follow-Up” | Why just post this Sunday’s Gospel reading, when you can highlight it in a Story and encourage followers to read it before Mass? And when a custom link is added, viewers will be able to select “See more” to open the page within the Facebook browser, so it goes straight to the source without much effort.

To Allow Your “Personality” to Shine Through | Your parish, whether you realize it or not, has a voice. It’s how people perceive your community, and sometimes, it’s hard to highlight that “voice” with a traditional post. Using Stories allows you to add humor, quirkiness, creativity, boldness and more to whatever you’re trying to get across.

Looking for more ways to get the most out of Facebook? Check out “Facebook and Your Parish” for additional ideas.

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Tips to Keeping Your Church Office Organized

With so much to do and so little time to devote, keeping your parish office organized and up to date can be a struggle. But with a few simple tips, and some easy-to-use office platforms, you can transform any chaotic office into a streamlined operation.

Everyday Office Platforms You Need

In addition to the Microsoft Office Suite of programs (Excel, Word, and Publisher), you can find a lot of other great ways to keep organized with some easy-to-use programs.

Video Conferencing: As we’re still dealing with COVID-19, and being careful in how we interact with one another, the ability to connect virtually has been indispensable. From free but limited Zoom logins to paid Go2Meeting accounts, there are so many ways you can take advantage of connecting from anywhere with anyone.

Instant Messaging: When we’re so used to popping into an office or tapping a coworker on the shoulder for a quick answer, having to rely on phone calls or emails means we’re often stuck waiting for an answer. Thankfully, instant messaging platforms like Slack and the chat feature in Microsoft Teams allows you to get those quick answers in the same amount of time (or sooner!) without jamming your inbox.

Cloud File Sharing: If you have office members that are always on the go (like pastoral associates or business mangers who meet with people on the daily) it’s essential that documents be readily available when and where you need them. Keep things safe, secure and accessible with DropBox or Google Drive.

Password Management: With the prevalence of phishing scams and email hackers, it’s essential that you protect sensitive information at all costs. A password management platform like Dashlane or LastPass will allow you to have access to all your logins and passwords, without the threat of someone hacking into your files and using it against you.

Tips to Staying Organized

Prioritize What’s Most Important: Divide your day into must-do/should-do activities. Responding to emails and answering phone calls are definite “yes” tasks, while updating parish contacts and cleaning out the supply room can probably be scheduled on a weekly or monthly basis.

Take Advantage of Notifications and Alarms: With the digital calendars and task managers, it’s easier than ever to plan your work week. Just make sure to keep to the schedule. If you find yourself running out of time for one task, and another one not taking as much time as needed, feel free to adjust!

Close Your Email: If you tend to get distracted easily, consider turning off your email notifications. Instead, choose certain times during the day to respond to emails. Just because you can receive a message instantaneously, doesn’t mean you also need to respond in kind.

A Clear Desk Helps Clear Your Mind: Spend the last 15 minutes of your day cleaning off your desk. Whether that means clearing off your desk of all the post-it notes, emptying your inbox of new emails, or crossing off the last task on your written list, you’ll get a better sense of what’s still needed for the next day, week or month.

Your parish staff works hard — do they know how much you appreciate them? Check out “Tips to Honor Your Administrative Staff” for ideas on how to keep them around.

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Order “52 Sundays” Today!

“52 Sundays” is a dynamic guide to help families reclaim the Lord’s Day with prayer, activities, food, and more. This resource, now in its third year of publication from the Archdiocese of Detroit, helps guide families through weekly exercises based on the Sunday Gospels. It includes reflections on saints, a prayer activity, and a recipe for each week.

Prayer Cards for All Seasons

rom Advent and Christmas to well-known saints and prayers for the special people in your life, we’ve got a variety of prayer cards on our online store. A perfect keepsake for your parishioners, order today for upcoming holy days! English, Spanish, and bulk order pricing available.

Could Your Website Use a Refresh?

Ensure your website attracts and engages visitors with WeConnect, our custom website builder designed for Catholic churches. With no programming experience required, it’s easy to choose one of our attractive templates and make it your own. Mobile responsive, simple and engaging layouts, and expert tech support when you need it are only a few of the features that comes standard.