The Communication Practices Of GVLC

1590 Words4 Pages

Research Questions and Methods
Interviews with staff and church members to informally discuss the communication practices of GVLC and what we could do to strengthen how we communicate. A survey was sent to all full-time church staff, Board of Deacons, and a select group of members. Focusing on how staff, lay leaders, and members evaluated overall effectiveness of GVLC’s communication practices, preferred methods of receiving communications, feedback on the effectiveness of current strategies being used, and recommendations for improvement. Observation of organizational activities and physical space and evaluation and review of print materials, website and social media sites, and current communication practices where used to determine areas …show more content…

Involving members of all ages in the ministry of GVLC is something they believe is important and there is an openness to having new people get involved in the various ministries. But this appears to happen a bit haphazardly and they lack an intentional process to facilitate the integration of new members. “Research tells us that of all the people who drop out of church due to inactivity, 82 percent leave in the first year! The first 12 months are critical in the life of both the new member and the congregation” (Arn, 2011). Arn (2011), goes on to say that new members are asking questions like: Can I make friends at this church? Is there a place for me to fit in? Do they really want me? Is my contribution important? If they can answer yes to these important questions, chances are they will become active members of your congregation. GVLC needs to not only develop an intentional process for new members to be integrated into the life of their congregation and ministry, but they also need to communicate that process to their …show more content…

Ten surveys were returned. Overall, GVLC appears to be doing a good job at communicating with their members and the perception is that they are being effective in their communications with the community. Six of the ten indicated a four or five on how well informed they are in terms of the ministry of GVLC. When asked about what their main sources for obtaining information and their preferred method of receiving information, the weekly bulletin insert and email communications were ranked the highest. Interestingly, the website and other social media sites are used less often, but most participants indicated that if the website were updated and posts to social media were done on a more consistent basis, there preferred methods for receiving information may

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