You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
========================================
This story may be seen here: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07592.htm
07592 September 20, 2007
Consensus sought on communication strategy
GAC, middle governing body execs weigh in on key elements
by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director Linda Valentine has said that Presbyterians around the church repeatedly tell her the denomination needs to improve its communication efforts. As she has put together her senior staff over the past 18 months, she has emphasized communication skills.
So Karen Schmidt says that her first assignment as the new deputy executive director for communications and funds development for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s General Assembly Council (GAC) was to develop a communication strategy. "I said, 'Okay, I can do that,'" Schmidt told a joint meeting of middle governing body executives and GAC members here Sept. 18. "But first there's several questions that need to be answered."
With 30 years of corporate experience in branding, sales and marketing, Schmidt knows what it takes to develop a communication strategy. And she knows the first step is developing consensus around the purpose of such strategy.
Since her arrival on national staff in April, Schmidt has been seeking input from a variety of PC(USA) groups as she has sought that consensus. This time it was the gathered middle governing body staffers and GAC members who had their chance to weigh in on the developing consensus.
Schmidt posed five multiple-choice questions:
Who is the communication strategy for? (Who is doing the talking?) Who are we? Who are we talking to? What do we call ourselves? What do we want our communication to accomplish? The responses of middle governing body (MGB) staff and GAC members were tallied separately.
Both groups said "the whole church" is doing the talking in churchwide communications. Forty-three MGBs and 47 GACs so responded. Twelve and 9 respectively said the "speaker" is the six General Assembly-related agencies (GAC, Office of the General Assembly, Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Foundation, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program). Just six of each group preferred that the speaker be identified as the GAC.
By an even wider margin, both groups (60 MGBs and 50 GACs) answered the "Who are we?" question, "The church." Two or fewer of each group answered "a religious organization that does charitable work" or "a faith-based charitable organization."
The overwhelming preference of MGBs (45) and GACs (53) as to the audience of denominational communications is church members/pew-sitters. The other options were middle governing body executives (0,0), pastors (0,0), pastors plus other staff (0,0), pastors plus staff plus church leaders (0, 9), and non-members (10, 3).
The group also said it preferred that the source of denominational communications be identified as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 48 MGBs and 44 GACs. Other possible responses were GAC (3, 6); something new, i.e. "Presbyterian Mission" (5, 12); or the individual program entities, such as Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, Presbyterian Hunger Program, etc. (3, 2).
Finally, participants were asked to rank seven possible goals of communication and responses were tallied of those who rated each option first or second:
Increase awareness (18, 7) Foster/improve climate of trust (56, 22) Increase sense of connectedness (28, 16) Increase advocacy for PC(USA)/GAC mission by church leaders (8, 8) Develop related networks across congregations, presbyteries, synods, GAC (9, 9) Grow membership and worship attendance (23, 8) Engage to empower/drive support (43, 56) "I was very pleased with the results from today's exercise," Schmidt told the Presbyterian News Service. "Participants gave important input into the building the bedrock of a communication strategy by airing multiple viewpoints and beginning the process of consensus building."
Schmidt said the challenge of developing a communication strategy for any organization is answering the questions "who are we?" and "What do we do?"
"Building consensus on these issues is hard work," Schmidt said, "and I believe we are up to the challenge of discovering consensus and creating clarity."
========================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228