This post introduces a new feature on the Ekklesia 360 blog.
We want to regularly take a moment and share stories and successes from some of the church communicators we work with. We'll be interviewing church tech, church website, and communications staff. I'll be asking a variety of questions, trying to learn what really works for them. And what can really work for the rest of us, too!
This month I interviewed Karen Kubiak, the Director of Communications at Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin. We talked about how she does her job, where she likes to hike, and how she has worked to build trust on her team.
Q. Let's jump right in. What's the best advice you have for a new church communicator?
Focus on really building trust with the key stakeholders. Trust is essential when it’s time to make decisions and stick to them… particularly when it comes to decisions about what needs to be communicated, how often, and to whom. That can be a little bit of a tricky wicket when a lot of people are asking you to communicate their stuff at the church-wide level.
Q. What's the most important thing you do to earn trust?
For my first year on staff I spent time building relationships and investing in other people's projects to learn about the ministries and what their visions were, where they want to go and who their audiences were. I focused on helping them in any way I could, teaching them how to blog or how to use social media to reach their target audience.
Q. That sounds like a lot of work...
Building trust is highly relational. It’s important that ministries know that I have their backs, that I have their best interest at heart and that I care about their audiences. Sometimes it’s just a matter of trying something new, then following up and debriefing with them later to find out how something went.
Q. Has Elmbrook's communication improved since you starting working this way?
I'd like to think so. :) Before we started setting systems in place, we had no options to say "yes" or "no.” The communication team just did it all. As a result, EVERYTHING got communicated with equal weight so no one heard the most important messages clearly. Now, we can prioritize. We need to be able to shout some news from the rooftops, while some can be whispered in the ears of a smaller audience.
Q. Are you excited about the future of Elmbrook?
Yes! Our leadership team recently came to clarity on our church's mission and vision — and we've got some exciting things ahead. With a clear mission and vision declared, I’m able to better prioritize how we communicate and really streamline our messaging. It’s time to rebrand and it’s time to get ready for all the BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) that have been set. Frankly, I’m a little terrified…But happy terrified! I know that God has faithfully equipped me to do whatever I am called to. I do have the benefit of being systems oriented and have already laid some ground work for this, but a lot of it is going to be learn as I go.
Q. That's awesome. I love it when we can learn on the job! Ok then, when you're off the job and like to have fun, what's a hobby of yours?
I’m passionate about hiking and backpacking. It is the ultimate way for me to decompress and destress. I recently took off for four days on a trip hiking with a friend on the North Country trail along the Wisconsin/Michigan border. It was remote and mostly wilderness… right up my alley!
Q. So you go from the high-tech end, running all the email lists, to the "unplug everything" mindset?
Yes! I’m a bit of an extremist. It’s either checking my email every 30 seconds or completely leaving it behind.
Q. Back closer to home, what do you love to hear when you're "sitting in the pews"? What makes you happy to know about your church?
We’re a big church so I love to hear "you are known and we care about your story." At Elmbrook we’re very much about sharing what God’s doing in individual lives so other people can be encouraged and look for those signs of God’s faithfulness in their own life. We even have a Stories blog on our website!
Jesus is in the business of life change and so those stories are the best advertising for Him that we can do. In a church our size, it’s easy to feel anonymous and invisible in the sanctuary with 2,000 other people, but when you see one person’s intimate story shown on screen during services, the church gets smaller… and that feels really good.
Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story with the Ekklesia 360 blog readers!