Author: Pastor Steve Duffy
I’m going to use this week’s email to highlight some changes I’ll be making to this email and communication in general. I’d love to hear your feedback on this. It is because of feedback that I’m making changes to better serve those who get this email. I want to ensure I’m being most efficient with the info shared, that I cover any gaps, and that I make meaningful changes per feedback received. We can assume we are doing stellar at communicating info but that is only confirmed through your input!
I sometimes need a reality check. Or maybe often! I falsely believe at times that everyone is in the know all the time when it comes to ministry to students at Stonebridge. Yeah right. I know for sure that is not true because I still get questions from students primarily about what we are doing and when. These questions expose the gaps I have in communication, especially when I get asked similar questions by multiple students or even parents-guardians.
A lingering question as well… how do I ensure I have a regular connection to students for important information? I’m not talking about the recurring gatherings on Sun AM, Sun PM, and Wed PM (although at times I need to share some info with them about what happens at those times), but namely, how do I get them important information so that they see it and are reminded or prompted with whatever info is shared? And the same applies to leaders as well as parents-guardians. No easy answers here. This email helps, but not a silver bullet for anyone.
So, what I’m going to do is make some adjustments based upon feedback and also proactively reach out to those that I am aware read this (that is the beauty of the MailChimp tool!) to ask for further feedback. Some key things that I’ll be doing include:
- Removing most of the content of this weekly email. There is quite a bit that doesn’t change each week. That just clutters stuff up. I’ll move the unchanging info in this email to a single reference place that captures what we do and why we do it in student ministry. See last week’s blog on the Trellises of Student Ministry for more detail.
- I’ll then dedicate this email to the key activities in view for the week ahead as well as any “heads up” as we look ahead in the coming month or so yet point somewhere else for all the detail.
Now along with this, I plan to still use church center for a few different groups, but I need to do some further work there. More to come on that. I also plan to leverage a broadcast text tool (sparingly of course) for key notifications to students, parents-guardians, and leaders. As I make these changes over the next few weeks, I’ll be asking specific people for feedback. I want to make sure that what I’m doing is helping.
All this is in the interest of partnering with you all in the gospel. To leaders, I want them to know all that is available to students so that they can encourage students towards next steps in growing. To parents-guardians, much the same but also I want to specifically be a help to them in a way that does not compete with so many good things that their young ones can be involved with. And for students, my hope is that they are well informed about all that Christ is doing at Stonebridge so that you know that there is something for everyone to take their next step with Jesus. To accomplish all the previous, I must continually be trying to improve how I communicate info. With all that goes into planning and engaging in communication, excel still more is the charge!
“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:1
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
