Vince Marotte is the internet pastor at Gateway Church in Austin, Texas and author of Context & Voice. Recently he wrote an article for Church Marketing Sucks about his observations of a communication gap in church life. More specifically, Marotte is particularly concerned with two issues:
- Too many pastors lack the basic abilities to use modern communication tools and in turn have to rely on other people, which is inefficient at best and irresponsible at worst.
- Too many tech savvy people lack the basic abilities and/or the freedom to create content and shape the voice of their organizations, which is a squandering of their gifts.
So What?
Communication is an essential component of pastoral ministry. The vast majority of ordained ministers completed their seminaries studies well over a decade ago, whereas almost all of the current communication tools referenced by Marotte have been created in the last decade. If clergy are to effectively delegate some or all of this task to other staff members or volunteers they must be willing to complete some continuing education in order to better understand the scope and role of these new tools.
- Do the pastors in your congregation possess “the basic abilities to use modern communication tools?” If one or more of the pastors lack these skills, what are congregational leaders doing to ensure that the pastor sees value in attaining basic proficiency and has the resources to attain such?
- Are staff members or volunteer leaders responsible for communication ministries empowered to do their job and to integrate new tools or does the existing culture limit creativity and discourage or prohibit the use of certain tools? Are those responsible for this ministry included in creating communication guidelines and policies?