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A Code of Practice for Communications

By With thanks to Central Baptist Church, Chelmsford.

It pretty much goes without saying that local churches of any denomination are complicated communities. They are largely informal in their communications within and among their members. The danger of such informality is that important messages are not heard and acted upon by the right people, and/or that communications are misinterpreted or not even heard at all.

Here at Ministry Today, we believe it's important to encourage best practice in all aspects of ministry, and that includes the ways in which we communicate with one another. We therefore offer the following Code of Practice as a starting place for any Christian community wanting to improve the quality of its internal and external communications.

Communication in the Christian Community – A Draft Code of Practice

(For all staff, members of the leadership team and all other team leaders)

General:

1. As in any family, good communication is to be commended and as Christians we should be representing Christ in all we say and write.
2. It is important to remember to use the most appropriate form of communication. This will ensure our time is used most effectively and individuals are not overwhelmed with issues and problems.
3. Where there is, or is likely to be a disagreement then a face to face conversation is the most appropriate form of communication.
4. In general, communications should be concise, to the point and courteous.

Internal Church Communication

Emails:

1. There must be recognition that an email is not always the most appropriate form of communication and the best response to an email may be a personal conversation.
2. All emails of which you are a main recipient should be acknowledged promptly (as soon as practicable), even if it is to be actioned at a later date.
3. All emails to which you have been copied in to do not require a response and are for your information only.
4. Where possible ‘out of office auto replies’ need to be set up before going on leave. These should include information about who can be contacted in their absence. For personal/church security, details of length of absence and reasons for it (ie “I am away on holiday”) should not be included in any out of office messages.
5. Where appropriate, the Blind Copy facility should be used on multiple mailings to protect peoples’ personal data.

Communication relating specifically to Church Staff:

1. As far as possible, all church officers should maintain an open door policy.  If you are able to speak to a colleague, do so, rather than taking the time to draft a document.
2. However, the church office is not a meeting place and should not normally be a place for conversation.  Conversations may take place in the designated area immediately outside the offices.
3. All staff must keep the Office Coordinator updated on their general whereabouts and report sickness and other planned or unplanned absence including lateness. At the same time they can also report to her any tasks or messages which need to be passed on to other team members. The Office Coordinator also needs to be informed of approved annual leave/study leave so she can update the calendar. It would also help if the senior deacon and treasurer could also let her know when they are on holiday.
4. The monthly staff meeting is the ideal opportunity to discuss any operational issues. Anyone is welcome to attend and all staff should be there as a priority.

 Team meetings:

1. All dates of planned meetings should be entered onto the church diary on Outlook, either directly or via the Office Co-ordinator.
2. If the venue is in the church please ensure that a room is booked via the internal booking system. In exceptional cases where a booking is forgotten please let the Office Co-ordinator know retrospectively so that we can accurately monitor church use of the building.
3. Leaders of teams are responsible to ensure that minutes are circulated to team members and also forwarded electronically to the Church Administrator.  The minutes will then be circulated by the Church Administrator to ministers and other people as seems appropriate, in addition to filing a copy centrally for the information of any member of the church.
4. Agendas for meetings should normally be set the week before or at least by the preceding Sunday to allow attendees to prepare.  Any items to be added to the agenda should come under any other business and need to be declared at the beginning of the meeting. Where there is a large paper for discussion (e.g. over 8 pages) the presenter could consider providing an executive summary. 

Correspondence

1. All correspondence should be on the standard church letterhead (available from the Church Administrator)
2. Emails relating to “official” church business should include the church logo and details in the signature.

Documents & Publicity intended for the wider church & external use

1. Except notices within a small group (eg a reminder to carers at Toddler Group that the group will be closed for half-term) all communications should carry the church logo and contact information including the church email address and phone number. This is downloadable from the church website from the Members area together with guidance on font type and logo usage.
2. Whereever possible, photocopying should be in black and white; colour photocopying should be the exception.
3. All communications need to be proof read by someone other than the author in order to ensure information is accurate and errors are avoided.
4. The communications team should be made aware of any significant external communications (press releases, adverts in papers/magazines etc). The communications team can help put these together or review both the text and graphics.
5. Avoid the use of clip-art wherever possible.

Useful References:

“Become a better emailer ….. And make everyone happy” 

http://www.john-truscott.co.uk/Resources/Articles/Become-a-better-emailer

“Value for the Support Staff” document originally circulated in 2009

How to write good, concise text: “The Economist Style Guide”: http://www.economist.com/research/styleguide/