For a Church Communication Team (CCT) to work in an average church, a lot has to coordinate correctly. I talk to a lot of CCTs who feel defeated and not appreciated. This helps nobody.

These are symptoms of greater needs. Every CCT wants church ministries to be successful.

They need 7 things for that to work:

1. A place at the Leadership Table. A CCT has to understand every church activity, event, and opportunity; so their leader needs to be at the leadership table. There’s no way they can understand the complexity of your church if they’re treated as order takers. The more leadership responsibilities you give them, the more they will work like a leader.
2. Respect. The CCT is juggling a lot of details. They’ll forget things. They’ll drop the ball. They need effective processes to keep them from doing it regularly. When you bring issues to them, they deserve your respect. The more respect you give, the more you’ll get. You’re christian servants seeking a greater good. Respect that.
3. Accountability. CCTs need someone who, with respect, will hold them accountable to deadlines. They don’t need someone looking to “catch” them dropping the ball. But in order to have the system work, you need to let them know you need it when promised. Do it with love. Reward them when they deliver!
4. Overview and Details. Sure, you don’t have all the details, but at the moment you have an overview of the event, you need to give a heads up to the CCT. Hopefully it’s already on the communications calendar so it won’t be a surprise. Try to be early and deliver it in the manner it’s requested. Once you have details, according to the team’s requirements, deliver them. CCTs should not be expected to retrieve, discover, or go without details. It’s your job.
5. Goals. What the win is. Your ministry is closest to the event. You know what your goal or dream is for the outcome. If you don’t? It’s not up to the church communication team to guess. Tell them clearly what you’re praying for as the “win”. Ask them to pray with you and ultimately if they can help you achieve your goals. Teams like to win.
6. Encouragement. The Church Communication Team wants to promote and enable ministries through their work. As they do that, the other ministry staff needs to have a heart of encouragement and fan the flames of the CCT.
7. Time. In order for the CCT to be successful, they need time for everything they’re doing. Ministries that want a lot from the CCT need to deliver the above 6 things in a timely fashion. Ask the team how long they’ll need to accomplish your requests. Understand that heavy work flow (time of year) can affect deadlines. Work with them. Understand them.

The goal in all of this is to create an environment of trust and ministry enablement. If your communicator doesn’t want this or doesn’t have the ability to deliver what they’ve promised on a regular basis, then the church needs 1 additional thing. A new communications person. It’s a huge responsibility.