A new book offering help for churches to reach their congregations and communities – using everything from social media and mobile-friendly websites to more traditional publicity methods – has been launched this week, and is available to buy here.
‘100 Ways To Get Your Church Noticed’ has been written by Neil Pugmire, communications adviser for Portsmouth’s Church of England diocese, and offers advice to churches on everything from creating a dynamic Facebook page to designing effective posters, and from putting together a must-read parish magazine to getting stories covered in the media.
The book is published by Church House Publishing, and includes extensive illustrations and photographs showing examples of good church publicity. Many of the examples are from Portsmouth’s Church of England diocese, but the book is designed to be used by churches of all denominations. The foreword is written by the Rt Rev Christopher Foster, Bishop of Portsmouth.
Neil said: “When I started giving advice to parishes about publicity, there was no up-to-date book on the market that I could point people to, which is why I thought of writing one in 2006. But since then, the ways we communicate with each other have transformed so much that we thought it was worth updating the entire book.
“Churches might want to think more carefully about the messages they are giving out. Does their publicity material include images of empty buildings or a vibrant congregation? Are they swamping their posters with text or communicating effectively using a single image? Are they using social media just to convey information or to have genuine conversations?