Healthy Creative Ministry

What’s your question about communications? This week on the Leading Healthy Creative Teams podcast, Justin Nava of Nava Marketing shares some marketing secrets to becoming the best known church in your community.  You don't accomplish this by beating out every other church in your city or spending the most money–you do this by knowing who you are gifted and equipped to serve best. Once you kn...

What’s your question about communications? Discover the benefits of having a structured onboarding document for new employees in your church. Learn how an onboarding document can improve your hiring process and increase retention rates. Get a free example of an onboarding document by signing up for the Creative Bites newsletter. Use this document as a starting point or as inspiration to build a cu...

What’s your question about communications? Are you a church communications leader who is struggling to get your ideas heard? It can be frustrating to constantly face resistance in your projects, but the problem may not be with the leadership team - it could be with your own leadership skills. In this podcast episode, we will be diving into 7 essential principles for growing as a church communicati...

What’s your question about communications? Building a communication strategy for your church is an important part of being organized. But more than that, it gives you an opportunity to represent the gospel in the way you share information, tools, and resources.  When we look at the Gospel, we see an incredible example of practice grace. Christ was sent to us. We didn't initiate the plan of re...

What’s your question about communications? In today's digital age, social media is a powerful tool for churches to reach and connect with their communities. In this podcast, I'll be sharing 5 reasons why your church should be creating content specifically for social media. From increasing building trust to growing your congregation, I'll unpack the benefits of using social media as...

What’s your question about communications? While no system will prevent everything that could go wrong in a graphic design project, a good system will help you avoid most of them.  This graphic design workflow was built to formalize the lessons learned by experienced and successful graphic designers in the church so it can be shared with junior designers that don't have the same level of expe...

What’s your question about communications? This week on the podcast we'll be talking through the two types of church communication teams: ministry team vs. support team. Ministry team: missions approach, front line evangelism, focused on inviting those outside the church into the church. Support team: tasked to do whatever ministry leaders ask, respond to submissions, and supporting the minis...

What’s your question about communications? This week on the podcast we'll look at ways you can add clarity to your feedback process. If you don't provide structure for feedback, you'll end up getting opinion and preference driven changes. Things like "I don't like these colors" or "I really like this font better". The problem is that none of these changes ac...

What’s your question about communications? Find the visuals for this episode here . What does a strong church brand do? It delivers on the promise of growing people in their walk with Christ  If you have an event, it moves people toward growth  It helps clarify pathways for spiritual growth.  It directs those with needs to biblical solutions  It is an identifier of a specific gathering of the body...

What’s your question about communications? Church branding has become a more popular than ever. But what exactly is it? What is a brand? - it isn’t a logo - It isn’t a product - It isn’t your most successful ministry - It isn’t the quality of your outreach A brand is made up of those things, but at the end of the day, a brand is the entirety of someone’s perception of you from their perspective. T...

What’s your question about communications? How you spend your time as a church communicator will always be a tension. You know you are busy, but leadership doesn't seem to see it. How do you bridge the gap? In this episode you'll hear the story of how the comm ship was sinking because of an unexpected conference, and how clarity around time made a huge difference. - - - - - - - - - - - -...

What’s your question about communications? This week we are stepping away from our clarity series to reflect on being thankful. The church communications space has a reputation for being pretty difficult. Both for those serving in the role, and for those interacting with comm. It seems like everyone has a different opinion on just about everything. With that in mind, Matt will be talking through s...

What’s your question about communications? The values you organization creates should help the rest of the organization make effective decisions. If they don't, they need to be retooled. Let's look at the values for Lunchtime Heroes and how they help guide day to day decisions. Leave a wake of restoration Help generously Navigate complexity lightheartedly Manage reality Make the unknown,...

What’s your question about communications? What's ahead in the Clarity Series - Why is clarity difficult for some organizations? - Who are we? Clarity that comes from knowing who you are. - How can we make decisions? Clarity that comes from values. - Why should we do this? - Clarity that comes from mission. - What should we be doing? - Clarity that comes from purpose. - What are the project d...

What’s your question about communications? PACSI helps you maintain clarity when managing massive projects. There are five areas this matrix clarifies: who will be Performing the task, who is Accountable for the task, who has Control (or final say) of the decisions made on the task, who can Suggest changes, and who needs to be Informed about the decisions being made. Download the (FREE) Practical...

What’s your question about communications? The SWOT analysis is a tool that reveals the health of your creative team so you can do something about it. This tool guides you through four quadrants: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  Download the (FREE) Practical Tools Bundle to follow along with this episode. Then, start implementing these tools with your creative team and lead them...

What’s your question about communications? The PEST analysis is an amazing tool for building strategic plans to make the most of opportunities coming your way. This tool guides you through four primary cultural areas: political, economic, social, and technological. Download the (FREE) Practical Tools Bundle to follow along with this episode. Then, start implementing these tools with your creative...

What’s your question about communications? When you or someone on your team feels like they don't have enough time get things done, it's time for the Eisenhower box. This is a tool that is often wielded in the midst of high stress, but it can be helpful well before that, too. Download the (FREE) Practical Tools Bundle  to follow along with this episode. Then, start implementing these too...

What’s your question about communications? The Four Creative Cores provides a framework that makes developing your creative team crystal clear. If you haven't already, take the Creative Team Superpower Assessment . Once you understand your team's health, you can begin building an effective development plan for your creative team. The team is only as strong as the individual humans on it,...

What’s your question about communications? This week I have the privilege of talking to Laura Howe, the founder of Hope Made Strong, and the force behind the Church Mental Health Summit. Laura and I talk through three keys to protecting  our mental health as individuals. Leaders: pay special attention to what you need to be healthy, because your team needs that too. Part of building a healthy crea...

What’s your question about communications? How do you deal with toxicity within your team? In this episode of the podcast, we'll talk though 6 practical step you can take to lead your team out of toxicity. 1. Go past symptom management (get to the core) 2. Address the broken systems that led to toxicity 3. Equip them with what they need to find creative balance 4. Invite them to help build a...

What’s your question about communications? When a creative is strong in Systems, everything gets done. Actually, more than done. Ministry leaders have clear visibility into where there project is in the process, the mechanics of getting a project started well understood by most (there's always that one team, right?), and there is a high level of confidence that projects will be delivered acco...

What’s your question about communications? When a creative is strong in Heart, the they care most about the needs of the ministry they are serving. Rather than walking in the door declaring that the creative talent has arrived, their goal is to deeply understand the needs of each ministry. Only then can they begin to build solutions based on their expertise. The goal isn't to flex how capable...

What’s your question about communications? When a creative team excels in the area of Skills, every project is an opportunity to flex the muscle of the team. Ideas aren't limited by "can we pull this off", they are limited by "how far do we choose to go". When everything is running smoothly, projects fly through the team. While no team is perfect, mistakes are uncommon. Yo...

What’s your question about communications? When a creative team excels in the area of imagination, new projects are exciting. You'll hear things like, "I wonder how much we can pull off". Not every idea is a good one and sometimes the ideas get a little crazy.  While every idea that comes from the Imagination-strong creative team won't get executed on, a team like this brings a...