We live in a noisy North American culture. Every restaurant now has a dozen televisions broadcasting ESPN and CNN. Every American receives, on average, about 950 pieces of bulk mail each year. There are about 5 billion junk emails sent every day. Communicating effectively in an environment where the background noise is staggering has become a challenge for the North American church. Even if we know the message we want to convey, we are often stopped cold by the lack of ability to be heard.

Many medium to large churches (1,000-plus members) are turning to a dedicated staff person or department to coordinate and enhance their communications. What should you aim for in a communications ministry, and what benefits should you expect from it? Here are five benefits that a dedicated communications ministry brings to a church:

Communication. This seems obvious, but the benefit of a communications team extends far beyond having someone responsible for doing mailouts and the bulletin. A communications team can improve inter-staff communication, inter-departmental communication and better target communications to the community and media outlets. It can provide feedback on what is working and what is not working. It can enhance the level of synergy between ministries and departments.

A communications team helps a church's message to "fire on all cylinders," reaching as many people as possible by using as many of the available means as possible. Just as a pastor stewards the Word of God and a financial staff stewards the resources God has provided to the church, the communications team stewards information, determining the clearest message and best means to disseminate (or occasionally contain) information.

Creativity. A communications team should bring a higher degree of creativity to the church's message. I say should, because many people do not consider themselves creative. Yet creativity is a skill that can be learned and applied to communications. Creativity allows communications to rise above the "noise level" that permeates our lives--from junk mail to spam to television to billboards. When living in such a media-rich environment, what we say must be clever, brief and engaging in order to capture attention.

Creativity in what we say, how we say it, and where we say it enables us to communicate more effectively. Thoughtful, considered and original material hitting its intended audience is the hallmark of an effective communications team.

Consistency. Among the most powerful benefits of a communications team is consistency. In design, in execution and in overall message, a central "clearing house" for the church's communications allows the church to be "on message" all the time.

Inconsistent communication is a tremendous hindrance in many churches. The Pastor says one thing, the staff say another, the Sunday bulletin says something else. The perception is that nobody in the organization is on the same page. The result over time is a growing distrust of the information coming from various people and media within the church.

A communications team assists in keeping all staff and lay leaders in the know. Something said from the pulpit will be consistent with something written in the newsletter or communicated in Sunday School. The result of this consistency is first and foremost a higher degree of trust in the integrity of church leaders. A second benefit is the streamlining of communication since erroneous information is eliminated and the task of correcting errors is reduced.

Control. Another major benefit of a communications team is the level of control it brings to the organization. No longer are you dependent on outsourcing for many tasks. A tremendous range of flexibility can be achieved in producing weekly and monthly publications, displays, graphics, logos, video and other media. You will not necessarily spend less on communications with a dedicated department, but you will definitely have a higher degree of control over how resources are allocated and for what purposes.

With a higher degree of control and in-house staffing, last-minute changes are possible when necessary. Additionally, the schedule on which media is produced can be flexible to meet the needs of the church. The level of control over time and deadlines is especially helpful in an environment that revolves around a weekly Sunday program.

Concentration. I've never met a Pastor or minister who said, "I believe I was called to write blog articles." For them, it is necessary but usually unwelcome task. Their calling is to build relationships with people, to shepherd them, to coach and disciple them, and to respond to their needs. Other ministry and support staff also benefit from a Communications Ministry. When communications are not centralized, various staff and volunteers spend hours to accomplish rudimentary communications tasks. These tasks are on top of ministry-oriented workload.

Print and online media is a background task, and better handled by a communications team. Additionally, a communications team can act as a spokespeson, handling the task of sharing program and ministry details. Giving ministry staff the freedom to concentrate on their "first love" is a key advantage of communications team.

Is a communications ministry worth it? When weighing the investment against the advantages, more and more churches, especially in North America and other media-rich regions, are saying, "yes." As the world gets smaller, faster and attention spans shorten further, effective communication will continue to rise to the forefront of concern for the church. A communications team has become a vital element in "getting the word out" effectively for the church.

About the Author. Eugene L. Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications. More...