Pastor and author Tony Morgan, in a recent blog post on TonyMorganLive.com, lamented on the financial constraints under which churches now operate, particularly in the areas of church visibility and communications for outreach in the community.

I could not agree more with him about the frustration I see many pastors experiencing. So many ministries have taken advantage of the tech boom to drive their ministry visibility  through expensive avenues like direct mail and local cable ads, but now their budgets are slammed, with expensive publicity costs slashed to the bone.

How do you keep the message out to your target community on not just a “low” budget, but maybe close to “no” budget for media?Morgan’s answer is to go back to the low tech and low cost actions that really ought to power any church in it’s energy and outreach: excited people empowered by an insightful leadership environment. This combination invariably generates what I would term “word of mouth about the Word of Life.” Below are the first of ten great ideas he shared in this regard. I’ll post the final five tomorrow.

Morgan offers ten easy, cost-free solutions for churches of any shape and size for improving communications and the image of their church to those they are reaching for Christ:

1. Improve Sunday morning guest services. Morgan says “the number one reason people will come back to your church is if they find the church to be friendly.” He stresses that, on Sunday mornings, the church’s hospitality team should prioritize visitors to your church.
2. Follow-through with your promises. Morgan says following up with volunteers when they offer to participate in a service opportunity, a group, or an event is vital to your church’s image. Allowing those who want to serve to remain unacknowledged sends a message that the volunteer doesn’t really matter, that the need wasn’t that significant, or even that service isn’t a high value in your church.
3. Make it easy for people to ask questions. Provide an easy, one-stop option for visitors to obtain information about your church, and make sure all members can direct visitors to it when they ask.
4. Create a culture of excitement and life-change. Offer endless opportunities for life-change in your worship, preaching, children’s ministry—in every environment in your church. It creates a culture of excitement and spiritual growth to which, as Morgan says, “you won’t be able to stop people from inviting their friends.”
5. Embrace social media. Facebook, Twitter and blogs, Morgan says, easily engage people in conversation and relationship development. These provide a low-pressure way to “earn credibility and encourage people to take next steps.”

The final five ideas coming tomorrow…