Inspired by Google maps and Wikipedia, Alexandre Koriakine and Evgeniy Saveliev have created Wikimapia. It allows users to add comments to geographic places of interest. At the moment, it is a fun diversion from the work day. However, if its popularity continues to increase, it may be a great opportunity to let the people of your community discover your church.

It may be a long shot, but if it gets one unchurched person through your church doors, it is worth it right? Just don’t get too distracted from your work day and visit every satellite image of your childhood memories.

If you add your church to the map, don’t forget to add your church’s website address to the description.

Last month, Church Marketing Sucks (CMS) turned two years old. To celebrate, the Center for Church Communication and CMS have started a “Heart and Soul Series” discussing why they are passionate about improving church communications. They describe it as:

When that visitor who nervously took a bulletin and shook the usher’s hand eventually fell to their knees and cried out to Jesus—that is truly why we do what we do. Even though God can and does work in spite of our botched efforts, our vision is to see churches communicating in a way that doesn’t mess it up. God is worthy of more than our best efforts, and that means communicating with clarity, authenticity and effectiveness.

Mark Batterson of National Community Church (Washington, DC) adds that he is passionate about church communications because:

the greatest message deserves the greatest marketing.

So are you passionate about church communications? I hope so because that passion combined with a passion for Christ and spreading the gospel will without question change the world.

Churches spend a good deal of time and money trying to reach their community. Usually, this effort is planned out. Whether it is church marketing or an outreach event, churches try to best tailor these efforts to appeal to the needs of the people they want to reach. The only problem is that people are individually complex and no one program even if designed for a specific niche group of people can minister as effectively as a one-on-one experience.

With this in mind, don’t shun plans and turn to a one-on-one ministry because effective one-on-one opportunities can be few and far between. But rather add flexibility to your plans, programs, policies, and procedures so that if the opportunity arises you can have a one-on-one moment that will leave a big impact.

Consider this story by Shelly Ryan at MarketingProfs:

So I’m parked at a Sonic, ordering my kidlet some chicken strips and tater tots when she suddenly starts bouncing up and down in the back seat hollering, “Look, Mom! It’s one of those Geek Squad cars…!”

She got all excited about spotting the black and white VW parked nearby because “it’s just like the ones on TV!” Ah, how proud I am to be raising such a brand-aware little consumer.

Then came the surprise.

As we’re waiting for the carhop to bring our order, a very geeky guy in a white shirt, skinny necktie and black pants knocks on my window. He says, “Your little girl caught my attention. Do you mind if I give her a Geek Squad t-shirt?”

Geek Squad has planned out marketing, programs, policies, and procedures, but here is a case where an employee saw an opportunity for a random act to make a big impact. That $6 t-shirt made a bigger positive impact on that little girl and her family than any big budget commercial or employee loyalty program could.

Jesus practiced this concept. I am sure his schedule was very busy as he traveled and ministered from city to city, but He allowed his plans to have flexibility so he could stop and seize the opportunity to make a big impact. He did this in Mark 10:13-16 when He took the time to hang out with kids who looked up to Him. This flexibility allowed Him to take the opportunity to minister to people like the woman with the issue of blood on the way to Jairus’s house (Luke 8:40-56) and Zacchaeus on His way through Jericho (Luke 19:1-10).

When you are making plans for your ministry, be sure to set aside some time for people so that you too can take advantage of opportunities that make a difference.

If your church does not have an employed or volunteer security team, get one. The world can be an ugly place. Consider the following statistics from Family Watchdog:

• 1 of 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.
• 1 of 6 boys will be sexually molested before his 18th birthday.
• 1 of 5 children have been propositioned for sex over the Internet.
• 2 of 3 sexual abuses are perpetrated against teenagers or younger children.
• 90% of sexual assaults are committed against someone the perpetrator knows.
• The median age for male molestation victims under 18 is 9.8 years old.
• The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.6 years old.
• There are new 400,000 victims of sexual assault every year.
• There are over 550,000 registered sex offenders in the US.
• There are over 100,000 sex offenders that fail to register in the US.
• 76% of serial rapists claim they were molested as children.
• Over 40% of male juvenile delinquents were molested as children.

Churches without a security team or background checks for volunteers are an open invitation to predators.

Special thanks to transitionpete.org for highlighting the statistics.

Audio Treasure is offering free Bible mp3 files for your computer or mp3 player. Check it out and enjoy the freebies!

TJ Walker from The Speaking Channel offer three good tips for creating better PowerPoint presentations in this week’s video, Using PowerPoint the Right Way. His advice is:

1. One idea per slide.
2. Don’t use a lot of text.
3. Think of images to make your ideas come alive.

Those are great things to keep in mind the next time you find yourself building a PowerPoint presentation for your sermon or announcements. Some additional thoughts that I would add are:

• Consider the venue. If the slides will be used in a large auditorium, be sure the text is large enough to be read.
• Consider the audience. If you are a children’s minister, wacky might be okay. Design for the audience’s preferences and not your own.
• Consider the message. Don’t wear flip flops with your suit. In other words, do not dilute the message with design that does not match.
• Contrast. Another readability issue is contrast. Do not place text on crazy backgrounds, and be sure that the text’s color contrasts the background well enough to be read at a distance.
• Imagery. TJ Walker said to think of images that make your ideas come alive. If it doesn’t strengthen your ideas, forget the photo.
• Transitions. PowerPoint has a multitude of transition choices. You only need two: “no transition” and “1-2 second smooth fade-in.” Swirling slides and checkered intros should never be used with the exception of certain audiences (pre-3rd grade).
• Keep it simple. No explanation needed.

Those are TJ’s and my thoughts on good PowerPoint presentations. What are your tips on mastering PowerPoint?

If you like keeping up on the latest church web designs, check out Southeast Community Church’s new web look. It is a great improvement on their old website.

And if you are a designer, be sure to check out their free design resources at Vine Resources. They offer PowerPoint presentations, bumpers, countdown videos, Photoshop files, postcards, and more high resolution surprises from their young adult ministry, The Vine.

Church Relevance’s May 2006 newsletter, Flavorful Delivery, has been added to the site. Check it out if you want to learn how to deliver an irresistable message.

We will be posting articles from Church Relevance’s newsletter a few months after we send them to subscribers. If you would like to receive the latest issues of Church Relevance’s newsletter as soon as possible, you may sign up to begin your free monthly subscription to our newsletter.