025: 5 reasons #churchcomm should be taught in seminary

Your Digital Pastor - Dr. Marcus Cylar

This week, I’m sharing my #topfive reasons seminaries should offer church communications education. 1 - Just like pastors and seminary professors, church communicators are stewards of the greatest story that has ever been told. To be a good steward over something, you must be trained to handle it. While seminary is not the only place for training, it is definitely beneficial to be undergirded with theological training. You’re so much more than a flyer maker; you’re a minister of the gospel, and being trained as such can only help you do your job better. 2 - Receiving at least some of the same training a pastor receives can help the communicator and pastor get on the same page. On the flip side, offering at least a church communications survey course can help one preparing for pastoral ministry to see things from the eyes of the communicator. Not seeing eye to eye with the senior leader is one of the biggest pain points for church communicators, and seminary churchcomm instruction could help mitigate that. 3 - The Director of Communications is increasingly becoming a senior-level position in strategy, weight, and responsibility (or at least it should be). The communicator should therefore have theological training that is on par with senior religious leaders. One functioning in this role is best served when he/she has the trust of the senior leader and is granted some level of authority over strategic decisions regarding how the mission and vision of the ministry are communicated and the day-to-day execution thereof. If pastor and communicator are receiving at least somewhat similar training, then perhaps that trust will be granted. 4 - Offering church communications training can shorten the learning curve for a communicator just starting out. You hear many stories about communicators accidentally finding themselves in that role because they were young or because they were working with youth and the role was placed upon them, and they therefore had to learn on the job. Of course, communications is changing all the time, especially on the digital side, but establishing a standard baseline of training can provide a solid body of knowledge the communicator can start with and build from. 5 - Communicators can find themselves in pastoral roles through community management or responding to social media mentions, comments, DMs, and emails. Having at least some pastoral training would allow you speak with a pastoral voice or perhaps even gain enough trust and buy-in from your pastor to speak on behalf of the ministry when you’re engaging others online. Scripture of the week: Mark 14:32-35 Tool of the week: My Twitter list - Seminaries Connect with me or subscribe to the list @pastorcylar Need communications help? Holler at me: http://yourdigitalpastor.co/hire