The [RE] Campaign will take a 2 prong approach to reopen the church for in person programming. Focusing on getting people to re-enter a life of “normal” habits from attending worship – to regularly partnering with the church financially it is important we help people feel safe and prepared. The goal will be to prepare the church family to successfully re-join us for all face to face worship and programming.
Communication Goals
RE-ENGAGE
Re-engaging with a normal life is very fragile and scary for some people and it will be important that we balance the excitement of opening the concern of people’s health, safety and comfort levels. In this prong we also want to encourage people to re-engage with us though live stream or on demand. As engagement with online programming is slowly dwindling an exciting push as we reopen will help remind people of alternatives we are currently offering.
RE-CONNECT
Connections are key in helping people feel the draw back to church and normal church programing. As we work to promote connecting again in face to face worship (socially distanced of course) this will be a nice place to push and introduce the idea of Home Church, or on the more informal level of just inviting friends to watch church with you. The idea is to remind people what connects them to each other and why connections to their church family is so important.
RE-COMMIT
It will be crucial for us to look to inspire people that now, more than ever, is the time to re-commit to being an active church family member. As people’s comfort levels vary and the new “normal” has set in this may be the hardest prong in the plan. People are comfortable with Sundays off now, people’s finances have been greatly affected during this time and people might be enjoying less responsibility in their life and not ready to commit as a volunteer again. Making sure people understand we can’t do this without them will be the key messaging of this prong.
Key Messages
WELCOME HOME!
As people are deciding to “re-enter” life it is important for them to know we can’t wait to welcome them back with open arms. Although things may feel different, look different, and operate different, Reynoldsburg UMC is still your home and that will never change.
WE’VE MISSED YOU.
Reminding people that this time has been hard on us, remind how all that we are passionate about people and seeing real life change.
YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE IMPORTANT TO US.
As coming back might be scary for people and people might not be ready we need to do all we can to communicate our process for protecting their health and safety.
PLEASE BE FLEXABLE.
This world and this life is still ever changing. From day to day the stories and regulations are altering how we live. We need to encourage people that as we are making all these efforts to re-open this pandemic will continue to throw us curve balls and we need to be ready to pivot as needed. Remind people that when plans change to be understanding and not mad, to have some empathy that we are as annoyed as they are, and to know that when the time is right everything will work out.
YOUR FAMILY IS HERE FOR YOU…JUST CALL ON US.
The people of Reynoldsburg UMC are strong willed, independent and widely proud of who they are. It will be imperative to remind everyone that there is no better time to ask for help when needed. With the resources we have in place and the people ready to be the hands and feet of Jesus it is time to let everyone know – JUST ASK – and we will answer!
Communication Methods/Timelines
Daily Devos (Monday-Wednesday-Friday)
I think these are important even through the re-opening phase as they help hit a lot of the points on being flexible, practicing good habits, as well as engage people spiritually through-out the week.
However I believe we do need to lessen the amount from 6 days a week to just 3
Also I would like to start Mid July populating a new email list of people that want these daily devo emails. Currently we send to a massive list of people and we are seeing an unsubscribe rate of roughly 2 a day. They all have different reasons, but the main one is “to many emails”, I do believe people are emailed out.
By having people subscribe to a daily email list we can direct all emails to the people asking for it and give our full contact list a break.
Opening Emails/Very Important Information Emails (As Needed)
For more important emails we can utilize the main email list.
These emails for example would be all opening info, changes to the plan, video updates, general dates to remember and be involved.
These type of emails should only be sent as needed and no more than 2 times a week, if that.
The hope would be to move the “weekly email” list back to a more “normal” sending rate like we had with The Vine.
Update Videos
The goal and plan with all these videos is for us to come off very happy, excited, and ready for people to start re-engaging with us. The less scripted the better, the more casual off-the-cuff as possible the better, the more of a conversational tone and less of a “press briefing” type of tone the better. I will be using up-beat happy music and when possible b-roll of people in church.
Announcing Re-Opening Date
Church At Home – August 2-23
Utilizing the “offering/prayer” time in the service we take the opportunity to announce the re-opening date. A very quick announcement, no to much info, not to much about it. “Hey save the date, the time has come, we are getting ready…” type of push.
August 7 – Save The Date Video
Release, email, push, etc. a special SAVE THE DATE video announcing we are re-opening. This video should be no longer than 3-4 mins. The content should be the date, the only two services, the quick highlight of the new “normal”.
We should encourage people as they feel comfortable to re-engage with us. Remind people that all our online programs will resume for them to still enjoy al Reynoldsburg UMC has to offer.
Let people know we miss them and can’t wait to see them.
We should not highlight more in-depth procedures, or anything that does not pertain to saving the date for the reopening.
August 21 – Re-Opening Procedures
This video should be around 5-7 minutes so that we have time to really explain the procedures we will have in place in all ministry areas as we re-join on Aug. 30.
The goal will be to paint a picture of what walking through our doors will be life. What does children’s check in look like, what does being seated by an usher look like, where do I stand and wait, the mask rules. Etc.
The content of this video needs to match exactly what we are doing on Aug 30 and will need to be filmed once everything is set in stone.
Things to think about before filming and writing:
Are getting stickers for the floor on where to stand?
Is Children’s check in online and fully touchless?
Are we allowing people to congregate outside?
How are we “enforcing” masks?
I am sure there is more but that’s what I thought of off the top of my head.
We should stay informational but with a positive un-rehearsed feel.
August 24-28 – Staff Ministry Leaders Invite Videos
These videos should be no more than 1 minute long and filmed via personal cell phones and uploaded no-later than August 22.
Videos will be staff ministry leaders from all ministry stages inviting people back, encouraging people to reconnect, and saying how much we miss everyone.
Videos should be shot vertically as they will be only for social media.
We will release 1-2 videos a day as we gear up for the big opening that Sunday.
Social Media
We will continue to use social media to engage with our church family as much as possible. Pulling back a little on the amount we are posting we will start returning to the normal posting of important events, and ways to get engaged. The week before opening we will post every day announcing the opening and inviting people to join.
The main Reynoldsburg UMC page will continue highlight our resources as needed – sticking to the schedule below
Mondays:
Daily Devotion Post
Tuesdays:
As Needed
Wednesdays:
Daily Devotion Post
Meals With Mike
Thursdays:
As Needed
Fridays:
Daily Devotion Post or Update Video
Saturdays:
Church At Home push
Sundays:
Church At Home Push
As things change and come up additional posts can be added, shared, and created as needed. Communications will also urge the Reynoldsburg UMC staff to be sharing – reposting – and overall helping to continue to get the word out of what is happening and how to connect.
Additional Items/Suggestions:
Floor Stickers
I think we should design and order stickers for the floor and sidewalks on where to stand and wait to be seated and ushered into the building, rather than just using tape.
Banners
I know we did the A-Frame signs a the doors, but it might be a great idea to some stand up banners that we can place all around the building. Maybe a couple different designs with information on them about all the steps we are taking during this time.
Wrist Bands
So with everyone’s comfort levels being different, what if we had a way for people to be able to easily tell someone’s comfort level. At every entrance we could have 3 different rubber wrist bands you could pick up, the color would represent your comfort level.
Red : I am keeping my distance
Yellow: Ok with talking but no touching
Green: Ok with elbow and fist bumps.
This way we give people a little freedom “to connect” while still keeping some procedures in place.
Connection Center/Kisok Banners
In the spirit of probably removing ALL materials from kiosks and connection centers we take some time to still use the kiosks to promote things or show things.
To avoid things looking empty and “sad” what if we designed some graphics promoting – the app, the live stream, other programming, small groups, etc. To go on the sides of the kiosks and avoid them looking empty.
I think it is important to visually look happy and welcoming during this time and – no one likes empty stuff…