A communications ministry that isn't working makes ministry harder for everyone. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way for your church. The Pathway to Health that will take your communications ministry from wherever it is today, to healthy and effective.
The journey toward a healthy communications ministry starts with the free Creative Ministry Health Assessment. After this 24 question assessment, you'll have clear insight into the current health of your communications ministry.
The assessment evaluates your communication ministry in the context of The Four Creative Cores: Skills, Systems, Heart, and Imagination.
At the end of the assessment, you’ll have the opportunity to schedule a free assessment call to discuss your results and next steps. The assessment call takes a deeper look at your results, uncovers any additional challenges in your specific ministry context, and answers any questions you may have about next steps.
The most common source of an unhealthy communications ministry can be traced back to one thing: the role of communications in your church.
When leadership and comm aren't on the same page, every comm decision made amplifies the problem and, often unintentionally, works against the mission of your church.
The Missional Alignment phase works with church leadership to establish a clear direction for your communications ministry–one that moves forward the mission of the church and aligns with the direction leadership is leading.
Without a clear desired state for your communications ministry, you won't be able to protect its health over the long term.
Once we have a clear understanding of the role of your communications ministry, we begin an audit to get to know your people, systems, and processes. This process involves:
One on one calls with every staff member involved in your communications ministry
Digital footprint assessment (website, app, social media, and mass emails)
Evaluation of existing communication channels, promotional plan, project management, and standard operating procedures
The audit reveals what is happening in the trenches of your communications ministry. Like the health assessment, this phase focuses on The Four Creative Cores to identify what is (and isn’t) working in the areas of Imagination, Skills, Heart, and Systems.
Beyond assessing the functional operations of your communications ministry, this phase gets to know the people making creative decisions for your church.
Phase 4 is the consolidation of the work done up to this point. The results of this work will be compiled into a plan that will lead your communications ministry from wherever it is today, to healthy and effective. This plan will be presented to church leadership in a conversation (and document) called the Pathway to Health.
The Pathway to Health provides insights on the following areas:
Mission misalignment
Individual Development Plans for each creative staff member
Recommended system development or improvement
Recommend communications strategy adjustments
The Four Creative Cores is the framework to achieve health in your communications ministry. Implementation is a partnership between Lunchtime Heroes and your communications ministry staff to make the adjustments recommended by the Pathway to Health.
The approach to Implementation is built specific to the needs of your church. Some examples as to what this has looked like with other churches:
Interim creative leadership
Mentorship
Execution of individual development plans
Communications ministry restructuring
Interviewing and evaluating creative candidates
Development of communication strategies (promotional plan, email, web/app, social media)
Handling graphic design project workload
Owner of Lunchtime Heroes
Matt Curtis has been using creativity for ministry since 2002. After two years promoting missions and 16 years on church staff—in roles ranging from graphic designer to Creative Minister—Matt shifted from serving one church to equipping many.
In 2022, Matt launched Lunchtime Heroes to help churches effectively leverage creativity for ministry. Through branding, design, coaching, and consulting, Lunchtime Heroes has partnered with churches to build healthy and effective creative ministries across the country.
Outside of ministry work, Matt enjoys content creation, BBQ, roasting (and drinking) coffee, and gaming with friends.
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