If you're in church communications, you're going to run into some difficulties.

As we talk to more and more church communicators, we've noticed specific problems areas arise time and again. Most of these pains stem from a lack of cohesive missional direction within an organization.

At MonkDev we've coached numerous churches and helped them establish missional goals. (If you think this might be your church, please let us know. We're here to help!) Without some outside help, these issues might not ever get resolved.

In the meantime, see if you don't identify with some of the issues presented on this list.

5. Moving from gatekeeper to consultant. Our CEO, Drew Goodmanson, often says communication professionals need to move to be consultants working with ministry leaders to be effective in using technology to achieve their ministry goals. Their role must shift from the "rubber stamp people" to the "how can we resource you to achieve your goals?" people.

4. Overall communications strategy. When we talk to church communicators, the tension they're feeling often comes from a lack of missional focus. Sure, there's usually a vague mission statement in place somewhere, but it hasn't permeated the entire organization. Communication requires a subject—an end point. Too often, church communicators feel like they're trying to hit a moving target. If the mission isn't clear, the communication surrounding the mission won't be either.

Missional alignment helps direct the course for focused posting. Combine alignment with our easy-to-use technology, and you have a strategy to help you create your ministry goals online.

3. Content strategy for the website. A website exists to convey who you are as a church to those outside the organization. It can also actively move people through the discipleship process of your church. The only kicker? It needs to be focused. The content on your website needs to cut like a laser beam, not blast like a shotgun. Does each word have a purpose? If not, it's time to look into a content strategy.

2. Budget constraints. One of the most mentioned obstacles is budget restrictions. Communication folks simply feel like they don't have enough in the budget tank to go as far as they'd like. Thankfully, there are affordable, free, and near-free solutions to do a lot of the church communications heavy-lifting. MonkDev's Instasite solution, for instance, can get your church into a responsive design church website for less then the cost of most iPads. (If you want further penny-pinching tips, check out this great post from Church Marketing Sucks.)

1. Time. Who's got the time? Not church communicators. Whether it's facing the challenge of navigating internal deadlines, a stalled project, or the cyclical Sunday deadline, church communicators nearly always operate under a time crunch. Simply put, there's a lot to get to for a church communicator throughout the week: bulletins, blog posts, posters, signage, emails, document approval, editing, writing, designing, announcements, slide decks...WHEW! Finding enough time in the week to get everything done is a major challenge for church communicators. 

If you're feeling the pinch, know there's an entire team here at MonkDev waiting to help. We've built modules to help church communicators leverage what time they do have. Easy-to-edit Staff Pages, role assignments (so you don't get stuck in the bottleneck), and a ministry-minded team to help you and your staff so you aren't stuck doing support. Let's talk!

Conclusion

Any way you slice it, church communicators have a tremendous responsibility to communicate a timeless message in a economic and interesting way. We'll lead you through that process here on the blog in the next few weeks.

If you do nothing else: What's one common challenge you face as a church communicator? Let us know in the comments. Try and surprise us!