Twice a month, we gather ‘round our conference room and pore over notes and ideas to make our blog posts come to life. We talk to our customer advocates to see what our clients are actually asking about––and those questions usually become titles. We look over the posts that have resonated with you each month, and dive deeper into those church communications topics to help you take the next step.
So it only makes sense that at the end of 2015, we round up your favorite posts of the year! We hope today’s post helps our new readers feel wiser and more in-tune with our community.And for those of you who have been with us for months, we hope revisiting some of these posts provides a little nostalgia (and a lot of reminders of how much you’ve grown with your church this year). If you find these helpful, consider forwarding these on to a colleague who might also benefit from some church communication insights.
“6 Software Tools Church Communicators Can’t Live Without”
We published this August post at a time when we knew our communicator friends would be bursting at the seams with back-to-school programs, pre-fall tasks, and lots of things on the to-do list. This was one of the most-viewed posts that month, and we loved knowing it was so helpful in tackling your workload more efficiently and effectively!
A Quick Summary:
“With all of the great developments in technology and the internet comes an even greater to-do list for church communicators. We have more tasks to complete, more staff to coordinate with, and more church members who want to communicate more often.
Time management and communication software tools can be your extra set of hands. They can simplify and organize your responsibilities and streamline internal processes. No matter the size of your church or the number of people in your community, everyone needs these six types of tools at our fingertips.”
Read the rest of the post here.
“48 Free Ministry Icons You Can Download Now”
Whether it was the free icons that grabbed your attention or your love for all things design (we’ll talk about that in a minute), this post was by far one of our most popular last year. Nearly 600 of you wanted the chance to use these relevant, interesting icons in your church. If you missed it the first time around, they’re still available for download right now!
A Quick Summary:
“Icons are not just a graphic way to make your site more interesting, they serve a real purpose. When icons are used to supplement text, they actually help site visitors comprehend content faster. Visual cues (used well) create a quick overview of content and make content easier to scan…
You can easily find quality sets of icons online, but finding ministry specific sets is still a little trickier. We value website design that attracts new visitors, builds engagement and creates lasting connections with the body of Christ. With that in mind, we set out to make a set of free icons that could be used alongside ministry content to help foster growth.”
Read the rest of the post (and download the icons) here.
The Design Category
Overwhelmingly, our readers jumped for joy at our blog posts about design. Whether it was website design, icons, website examples, or embodying your ministry through visuals––we hear you. Throughout the next year, we’re going to keep the great design-focused content coming. You’ll see more in-depth, graphic posts about making excellent design work for your church and community!
Don’t Miss These Top Church Design Posts:
“What Should Your Custom Church Website Redesign Process Look Like?”
“12 of the Best Church Websites Launched in 2015”
“8 Key Tips Pros Use When Designing a Church Logo”
Your Church Website, Your Colors, and You
Read the rest of the post here.
“How To Create a Compelling ‘Next Steps’ Page for Your Church Website”
“Please raise your hand if you’ve ever struggled to clearly explain how people can get connected.” This May blog post struck a chord with many of you: the need to explain what’s next to your visitors and potential members––and how to invite them to join your church family when they find you online first. We gave you a lot of visual examples, tips, and free resources to help you create this page on your church website.
A Quick Summary:
“The programs and processes are in place, but how do you make them come to life online? Many churches have a number of opportunities for people to get involved, and each individual is at a different point on their faith journey. So, how do you make it clear for everyone?
With the right church website design, including content and design elements, you can encourage people to take action towards growth. Use these tips to create a “Next Steps” page for your church website and see how easy it can be to help people get connected.”
Read the rest of the post here.
“7 Statistics Every Church Communications Leader Needs to Know”
Not only are we active in our own local churches, the Ekklesia 360 team downloads resources, follows influencers, and reads hundreds of industry articles a year to keep up our expert status so you don’t have to. But we know that none of the facts or best practices we learn are useful if they simply sit in our brains and gather dust all year! So we chose the top 7 stats we had recently been talking about in the office––and taught you how to apply them in your church communications strategy.
A Quick Summary:
“As a church communicator, you have a lot of information at your fingertips. You keep up with the religious news of the world, best practices on communications and media, and you’ve got to be in-tune with the pulse of your own church.
To keep you from getting behind, we’re bringing the news to you. Read up on these 7 statistics making waves in our industry, and see how you can use them to be a more effective, engaging church leader.”
Read the rest of the post here.
“5 Leadership Tips Pastors Can Use to Grow Their Influence”
It’s an incredible thing to know that our spiritual leaders are reading our blog! Pastors are teachers, public speakers, grief counselors, spiritual guides, mediators, fundraisers––and so much more. So we published this post to provide some important leadership tips that every pastor needs to read.
A Quick Summary:
“Peter Drucker said that being a pastor is one of the hardest jobs in the world, behind hospital CEO and president of the United States. It’s easy to see why.
Because pastors need more encouragement than ever, Point Loma Nazarene University started Pastor’s Day. Each year, pastors from Southern California and surrounding areas gather together to network and step outside of their own church to get perspective from an expert. This year’s speaker was David Kinnaman, President of The Barna Group, one of the foremost research organizations trying to understand how culture and faith overlap.
One of the most interesting parts of Kinnaman’s talk was when he discussed Barna’s findings from a study they completed on the state of the church in Scotland. Using examples from the study, he encouraged pastors and gave them insights on how to lead.”
