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Spring 2015 - issue 5

Although the role of churchwarden can seemfocused on practical concerns, it is in everysense a ‘sharing in the gospel’ as you ensurethe smooth running of your parish so that Godcan be worshipped and the ‘good news’proclaimed. And so ‘thank you’ for all that youpour into the vital role that you hold, and foryour partnership in the mission of God.

The mission of God is what we are about as theChurch, and our diocesan vision for mission isclearly set out in the four strategy booklets. In‘Growing the Body of Christ’ we are remindedthat God is in the business of growth, both interms of deepening our faith as disciples ofChrist and in terms of calling others to Christiandiscipleship. In ‘Re-imagining Ministry forMission’ we are reminded of the call to everymember ministry in the life of the Church andour urgent need to re-think our pattern ofshared ministry, through mission partnerships,to make us fit for purpose at the beginning ofthe 21st century. In this newsletter you will findinformation about how the Parish SupportTeam can assist you in these vital areas ofdevelopment.

In ‘Salt and Light’ we are reminded of our callto be a transformational people who pray andwork for the coming of God’s Kingdom in thecommunities we serve. The Diocesan Board of

Faith and Justice has recently been restructuredto concentrate efforts on resourcing churches,by working closely with Parish Link Officers,to be good news to all.

And finally, in ‘A Little Letter on Giving’, weare reminded of our shared responsibility toresource the wider mission of God across thediocesan family. We would like to take thisopportunity to thank you and your PCC foryour positive response to the first year of theCommon Fund. As a result of local faithfulnessin what Bishop Steven referred to as‘generous and venturesome giving’, we havebeen able to halt the decline in clergy numbersthis year. It’s a significant step as we seek to‘grow a sustainable network of Christ-like,lively and diverse Christian communities inevery place which are effective in makingdisciples and in seeking to transform oursociety and God’s world.’

There is so much to be thankful to God for, notleast for your faithful service as churchwardens.Please be assured of our continued prayers foryou in your ministry, and remember that we arehere to offer support and help whenever it isneeded.

archdeacons’visitation news

www.ecclesiastical.com/churchmatters

Diocese of Sheffield

The VenerableSteve WilcocksonArchdeacon ofDoncaster

The VenerableMalcolmChamberlainArchdeacon of Sheffieldand Rotherham

Dear Churchwardens‘I thank my God every time I remember you... because of yoursharing in the gospel from the first day until now.’(Philippians 1:3,5).

Archbishop’s missionin Sheffield Diocese,10–13 SeptemberAt a retreat of northern bishops onLindisfarne, the vision emerged forthem to serve one diocese each year inevangelistic mission. Sheffield has theprivilege of being the first diocese tohost such an event.

Archbishop Sentamu will lead the missionand our own bishops will be setting asidetime to be fully involved right across thediocese. We should have at least onebishop for each deanery, in some casesaccompanied by a team of young Christians.

Rev John Hibberd of the Parish SupportTeam, who has plenty of experience ofevangelistic missions, will be heading upthe preparations. He’ll be supported byMark Wigglesworth and others, and willwork closely with area deans. There will becentral events to mark the start and climaxof the four days, but the main focus will beon events in parishes. This is a greatopportunity to further your own missionpriorities locally or a new initiative comingout of your MAP. We will make availablemission preparation and prayer resources.Please contact John if you would like toknow more.

The MAP tool will help parishes and deaneriesreflect on what God is currently doing amongus, and there is much to celebrate and givethanks for. It will also help us to work out whatGod is calling us to do next, and how toprioritise our time and resources as we seekto grow in worship, ministry and mission.

The Parish Support Team will use theinformation from the Mission Action Plansummary forms to identify where training andsupport can best be targeted at parish,mission partnership, deanery and diocesanlevels to help deliver the plans.

In addition to these two initiatives, teammembers have been working alongsideparishes and deaneries, helping them developtheir mission partnerships, growth strategies,stewardship campaigns, youth and children’swork, PCC and deanery planning days andmuch more besides.

In March, Father Grant Naylor, the Vicarof St Matthew’s Carver Street, will helpstrengthen the Parish Support Team’s abilityto serve all the parishes in the diocese byworking with us as a Mission DevelopmentAdvisor, specialising in mission andevangelism from an Anglo-Catholicperspective.

Stewardship supportThe diocesan vision is to grow a sustainablenetwork of Christ-like communities. Oneaspect of that sustainability is financialsustainability. In his Little Letter on Giving,Bishop Steven asks all Christians in thediocese to review their giving each year.He says, “Every parish church needs a momentin the year when we challenge one another toreview our giving to and through the church.”

Many churches recognise the importance ofdoing this, but sometimes struggle for ideasand resources. The Parish Support Team hasidentified theGiving in Grace website as thebest resource available to support parishesthat want materials to help them promotegood Christian stewardship and grow theirfinances. This excellent website provides arange of easy-to-use resources that can beadapted for annual renewals of giving, and alsofull-blown, more occasional full stewardshipcampaigns. This includes sermon outlines,tools for financial reviews and budgets, andtemplates for various pieces of literature.

The Diocese of Liverpool investigated theimpact ofGiving in Grace and discovered thattotal direct giving grew by 15.5% in parishesthat ran a Giving in Grace programme

compared to an increase of 6.4% in parishesthat did not.

There are links toGiving in Grace and otherstewardship and giving resources on theStewardship page of the new diocesanwebsite:www.sheffield.anglican.org/stewardship. We would like to encourage youto explore this page and theGiving in Gracewebsite and see which resources might helpus to become more sustainable as parishesand a diocese.

Tools to develop missionpartnershipsThe diocesan strategy document ReimaginingMinistry for Mission outlined a partnershipmodel of ministry, rooted in the NewTestament, but also appropriate to enablemission and growth in our current context.This was further supported by input at aDiocesan Development Day in 2013 and atour of deaneries.

Deaneries have been working towards anetwork of mission partnerships, some ofwhich are now quite firmly established. It isfair to say, however, that many churches havefound it difficult to know how to form missionpartnerships of any depth, even when linkedto other churches ‘on paper’.

The Parish Support Team has been workingwith groups of churches who have asked forhelp, and will continue to do so. We have alsobeen developing a new resource, Tools toDevelop a Mission Partnership, which should beavailable in early 2015. We have drawn on thewisdom of established mission partnerships inthe diocese. Their common experience is thatpatience is needed in making this transitionand that building strong relationships betweencongregations must go alongside the formalplanning and discussions.

The new resource provides criteria for what ismeant by ‘mission partnership’ and also a five-stage process for developing and sustainingfruitful joint working between churches. It alsoexplains how the formation of such partnershipsrelates to wider structures such as thedeanery and diocese, and provides examplesof Mission Partnership Agreements asillustrative templates.

Our new Parish Support TeamSince its formation in June last year, the Parish Support Teamhas been busy helping parishes and deaneries move forward inimplementing the diocesan growth agenda. Two significantinitiatives have been the development of a web-based stewardshipresource and a newMission Action Planning tool.

The Parish Support Team is...Mark CockayneDirector of ParishSupport Team

Mark WigglesworthMission DevelopmentAdvisor – Doncaster

John HibberdMission DevelopmentAdvisor – Roth & Sheff

Mike NorthChildren & YoungPeople’s Advisor

Grant NaylorMission DevelopmentAdvisor (part time)

Trish StaffordTeam Administrator

The new guides are available to reador download from our website. Eachprovides a simple summary of a topictogether with links to web pages andother documents that include more-detailed information.

For those of you looking after your churchinsurance, we now have a simple guide toadministering your policy. This includes helpand advice on paying premiums and ways youmight save money, including interest-freedirect debits or increasing the excess on yourpolicy (the amount you pay if there is a claim).It also explains when you need to tell us aboutchanges or activities at your church.

In addition we have also produced thefollowing ‘Made Simple’ guides:

Church Buildings – an explanation of theinsurance issues related to church buildingssuch as ensuring you have fire riskassessments and avoiding slips, trips and falls.

People in Church Premises – looking athealth and safety and other matters toconsider to help keep regular visitors to yourbuildings safe.

Events – from fundraising to Christmasservices, a summary of what you need to knowand when you need to tell us about events atyour church.

Community outreach – churchesincreasingly offer services such as nightshelters – here we summarise the main topicsand what you need to consider with youroutreach activities.

The ‘Made Simple’ guides reflect our desireto make sure that churches understand whatis covered by their insurance and what is not.Plus we hope they will help to encouragechurches to take simple steps to mitigatepossible risks. The guides supplement the widerange of content we have on our ChurchMatterswebsite. If you have any feedback on the newguides or ideas for topics we might cover, whynot email us at churches@ecclesiastical.comwith your thoughts?

All the new guides can be found atwww.ecclesiastical.com/madesimple

National CrimeHelpline forChurchesThe Church Buildings Council hasset up a national crime helpline forchurches to use after a theft.

Once a theft is reported it will trigger analert to auctions houses, museums andcrime prevention agencies which is afast, effective way of preventing thesale and permanent loss of treasures.Both the Church Buildings Council andEcclesiastical are keen that we can allenjoy the many treasures and artworksin churches. But, while the fear of crimeis greater than the reality there is noroom for complacency and weencourage churches to take simplesecurity measures to protect theirchurch contents such as marking metalitems with SmartWater (see overleaf).

To report the loss of a treasure orartwork from your church contactthe Church Crime Alert team on020 7898 1860, or emailchurchcrimealert@churchofengland.org. Visitwww.ecclesiastical.com/churchsecurity for more informationon keeping your church secure.

Church InsuranceMade SimpleWe’ve been talking to you, our customers, over the lastyear to find out how we can help make it easier for you tounderstand your insurance cover. Thanks to what youhave told us, we have now developed a new series of‘Made Simple’ documents to help you with key topicswhere you wanted straightforward, easy-to-follow, advice.

Top Tip...If you feel your church should normallybe kept locked, you might like toconsider making the key available tovisitors. You could ask a local shop,Post Office or garage to safeguard thekeys and take details of those visitorswho wish to use them. Informationabout where to obtain the keys can bedisplayed in the porch area or on thechurch notice board.

While we have seen a reduction in recordedtheft of lead roofing, it is important that weremain vigilant as metal theft has not goneaway. This is one of the reasons whyEcclesiastical is continuing its proactive workwith SmartWater and the police to target metalthieves. We also continue to encourage theuse of other security products such as roofalarms to protect churches.

One key aspect of the ongoing fight againstmetal thieves has been to target the scrapmetal and recycling industries in order to makeit more difficult for thieves to sell on stolengoods. In the last 5 years, our partners atSmartWater have made over 1,150 visits toscrap yards accompanied by regional policeforces in proactive ‘Days of Action’ to searchfor SmartWater-marked metals.

The purpose of these visits is to remind scrapdealers that they face being arrested andconvicted of handling stolen goods if they buySmartWater-marked metals. If scrap dealers

are checking for SmartWater and refusing tobuy anything marked with it then thieves willquickly learn there is no point in stealing it inthe first place.

For this reason, it is very important that youcontinue to display SmartWater deterrent signsaround your church. These should be placed inhighly visible locations where would-be thievesare most likely to see them. If you requirenew signage then please call SmartWateron 01952 204 102. Remember, you will not becovered for metal theft or any subsequentdamage as a result of theft or attempted theftof metal unless you have applied SmartWater(or an alternative forensic marker approved byus), displayed the signage, and registered theproduct.

A number of helpful crime prevention tips –including information about SmartWater androof alarms – can be found on theEcclesiastical website atwww.ecclesiastical.com/theftofmetal

The Ongoing Fightagainst MetalThievesEcclesiastical has led a concerted effort in recent years tomake churches less-attractive targets for thieves by workingwith the Church of England, parliament and other interestedparties to tighten up the law on scrap metal dealing andincrease building security.

COVER UPDATEWe have recently increased the maximum you may claim for theft ofexternal metal – for more information see your next policy renewal pack.We are also now able to provide cover for metal theft when scaffoldingis erected subject to certain conditions. For more information, visitwww.ecclesiastical.com/theftofmetal or call 0845 777 3322.

Man jailed formelting stolenleadAn Abergavenny man has been jailedafter being caught with £3,700 ofstolen SmartWater-marked leadfrom a church roof.

Jonathan Vaughn, 35, was caught afterpolice received an anonymous call tosay he was melting lead in his garden inSt Llanfoist. When officers recoveredthe lead it was found to be markedwith SmartWater traceable liquid.Subsequent analysis identified the leadas having come from St Mary’s Churchroof in Abergavenny. At CwmbranMagistrates’ Court, Vaughn admitteda charge of handling stolen goods.He was sentenced to four months forthe offence and 113 days for a previousoffence of assault after magistratesactivated a suspended sentence.Mr Vaughn stated he had bought thelead to melt for Christmas money andrefused to say where he’d bought it from.

CaseStudy

Top Tip...SmartWater can be used on other itemsin addition to lead roofing – make sureyou mark all church owned metalsincluding memorial plaques as well asother valuables you may have inside yourchurch such as silver, altar ware andvaluable portable furnishings.

The charity, founded in 1972, is chairedby Sir Philip Mawer, former ParliamentaryCommissioner for Standards andpreviously Secretary General of theGeneral Synod of the Church of England.A career public servant, he remainsclosely involved with the work of theChurch and its clergy.

According toSir Philip, ATL’srole is to supportchurches and otherworthy causes linkedto the Christian faiththrough a programmeof financial grants.Over the last decade,it has donated over

£75m to projects as diverse as churchbuilding refurbishments and repairs,creating new facilities for people in need– even helping Anglicans in New Zealandestablish a temporary cathedral followingthe devastating Christchurch earthquake.

In 2014 alone, ATL distributed grants of£9.7m, which went to a wide range ofchurches, dioceses and cathedralsthroughout the British Isles. “ATL’s missionis to promote and support the Christianreligion,” Sir Philip explains. “In broad terms,it does this by contributing financially to

charitable organisations and churches.Every month, we receive over 100applications for grants, which areconsidered carefully by our trustees.

“Although the majority of our support goesto the Church of England, grants are alsomade in response to applications fromecumenical partner churches, churchschools and charities. We particularlywelcome applications from less well-offparishes and for projects which will benefitmission and help local communities.”

Grants to parishes from ATL range in sizedepending on the scale of the project tobe undertaken.

The prospects for ATL’s activities arevery positive based on Ecclesiastical’scommitment to donate £50m during2014-2016. “This is a hugelycommendable ambition,” Sir Philip notes.“What this means is that, givenEcclesiastical’s solid financial performanceand favourable conditions in the insurancemarket, we hope to be able to increase ourgiving to the Church to record levels overthe coming three years.”

For more information or to apply fora grant, visit ATL’s website atwww.allchurchestrust.co.uk, wherefull details are available.

St Giles DellCentre, Ashtead,SurreyAshtead is about 15 miles fromLondon, close to the M25 motorway.Facedwith an old wooden church hallnowwell past its sell by date, membersof the congregation have set aboutfundraising for new facilities.

Designs for the new Dell Centre includemeeting rooms, a professional kitchenand a host of other facilities which thecongregation envisage being used bythe whole community. Pre- and after-school clubs, social gatherings, fitness,dance and art classes are all on theiragenda, alongside mentoring jobseekers, community support andactivities for the elderly.

Allchurches Trust aimsto raise giving torecord levelsThis January, insurer Ecclesiastical announced it had donatedover £23m in 2014 to its charitable owner Allchurches Trust(ATL), a huge sum by any standard. But what is ATL and howdoes it use its resources to promote the Christian faith?

CaseStudy

CaseStudy

St Aidan’s Church,Stobhill, MorpethSt Aidan’s is a modern churchlocated in a deprived area on theoutskirts of the market town ofMorpeth, Northumberland.

With an outdated hall, the church wasdesperately in need of more communityspace. An exciting project was devised,resulting in the sale of the old churchhall and the proceeds funding anextension to the church for communityuse. The new building will house acrèche, holiday clubs, a luncheon cluband meeting rooms, and it can also beused to provide extra seating capacityfor larger services, concerts and otherevents in the church.

All our risk management guidance notesare collected together and sorted into thekey categories of security, health andsafety, fire, and storms and bad weather.Many customers also now get updatesby email – just let us have your emailaddress if you, too, would like to beupdated in this way. For furtherinformation:

Our website:www.ecclesiastical.com/church

Customer services:call 0845 777 3322 oremail churches@ecclesiastical.com

Claims:call 0845 603 8381 (24-hour service) oremail faithclaims@ecclesiastical.com

Our customer service lines are normally openMonday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, except forbank holidays. However, claims can beregistered at any time during the day or night.

IndependentFinancial AdviceDo you need help with your finances?Ecclesiastical Financial AdvisoryServices can offer you totallyindependent financial advice oninvestments, retirement and protection.They can also help parishes who havefunds to invest with their investmentstrategy. Please note, the value ofinvestments can fall as well as rise andpast performance is not a guide tofuture performance.

For more information call:0800 107 0190 or email:getadvice@ecclesiastical.com

Keeping up to dateWe hope you are familiar with our Church Matters websitewhich has a wide range of information, guidance and toolsyou can use to help you look after your church.

Did you know?Here we highlight two features of your Parishguard policy thatyou may not be aware of.

Consequential lossConsequential loss cover is included inyour Parishguard policy to help offset lossof income if your church has to close forrepairs following insured damage thatEcclesiastical is covering under the Propertysection of your Parishguard policy. You maybe able to claim up to £100,000 over afour-year period for loss of income from yournormal church activities, such as servicecollections, income from hirers not beingable to use the building and costs such ashiring alternate premises.

Money coverThe prospect of having money stolen by achurch official or a volunteer is never an easyone for a church to contemplate, but sadly thisis a risk that needs to be addressed.

In the last year there have been a number ofcourt cases involving theft from church funds.For example, in 2014, a deputy churchtreasurer in theWirral was found guilty ofsystematically stealing collection money forover a decade, amounting to almost £20,000.

The good news is that our Parishguard policyoffers some protection against the risk ofmisappropriation. However, in order to meetthe conditions of the policy and ensure that aclaim can be defended, you will need toprovide specific information and makecertain that important checks are carried out.For example, regular reconciliations shouldbe carried out of bank statements, cash-in-hand and petty cash, and these checksshould be conducted by someone not usuallyresponsible for money, so that thefts cannotbe concealed during the reconciliation.Our website has more information abouthow to limit the risk of internal fraud.

Top Tip...If you are planning to support yourcommunity, for example, throughproviding a night shelter, food bank orparish nursing, there are importantregulatory issues you need to be awareof. We can help you with free advice tomake sure you comply with theregulatory requirements.

WINan iPad

Home insuranceprize drawJust call us for a quote or let us haveyour home insurance renewal date andwe will enter you into a prize draw to winan iPad for you or your church. You canenter the draw by calling 0800 917 3345and quote IPAD15 or go on lineat www.ecclesiastical.com/ipad

This money will support the growth anddevelopment of churches at grass-rootslevel by providing up to 15 developmentworkers for small groups of parishes,working together as part of a missionpartnership.

The Diocese of Sheffield has received thegrant from the Church Commissioners andArchbishop’s Council’s ‘Strategic DevelopmentFund’ in order to make a significant differenceto its long-term mission and financial strength.

The 15mission partnership developmentworkers (MPDWs) will provide administrativeand missional support to groups of about threeparishes, primarily in more deprived areas, sothe project will directly benefit up to 50 parishes.

This support will sit alongside a complementarypackage of coaching provision for the clergy.The aim is to free up clergy time to enable themto focus more on mission.

The MPDWs will contribute to the numericalgrowth of the parish churches and fresh

expressions of church in each missionpartnership by freeing up clergy time andenergy for mission.

Some of the areas they will be involved in include:

improving administration andcommunication

developing the gifts of lay volunteersacross the mission partnership insetting up sustainable mission projects

developing the financial strength of themission partnerships through a focuson stewardship and communication.

The development workers will be appointedthroughout 2015 and will be funded for six years.

The overall cost of the project is £1.4 million,with the diocese contributing to the funding fromits strategic reserves.

It is hoped that each MPDW post will besustainable from parish or other grant income atthe end of the six-year period. Other parishesmaybe encouraged to join the project and fund costsof moreMPDWs from grants or other income.

An overall Project Manager, GrahamMillar,has been appointed as part of the initiative tooversee and deliver the project and providesupport for the development workers.

Graham said: “This is a very exciting initiative tosupport mission partnerships across the Diocese.It will really help the capacity of our parishes tofurther develop mission, and we are extremelygrateful for the support offered by the ChurchCommissioners.”

If you would like more information about theproject and how your church could get involved,please contact Graham Millar at Church Housein Rotherham on 01709 309143 or email himat graham.millar@sheffield.anglican.org

Mission partnershipdevelopment workersThe future of Christian mission in South Yorkshire and the East Ridinghas received a major boost after securing a £1 million grant.

If you are a PCC trustee, you make a realdifference to your local church – takingresponsibility for making sure the PCC is runproperly and uses its charitable funds andassets wisely and ultimately, for making sure itdelivers on its charitable objectives.

PCCs are recognised as charities and as suchtheir members are acknowledged as trustees,but what if the trustees don’t meet some or allof those duties and responsibilities?

When might we need this cover?It could be anything from a breach of authorityon the trustees’ part, or an omission by anindividual trustee, even neglect, or maybe amisleading – perhaps libellous or slanderous –statement issued by the Board of Trustees.

What cover do we have?To help protect you, your Parishguard cover

automatically provides you with up to£100,000 Trustee Indemnity insurance. Thisprovides cover for liability claims arising froman innocent wrongful act by a trustee, includingthe cost of defending such claims – which canbe significant. It provides you with peace ofmind that as long as you have acted lawfullyand with a duty of care, you should be covered.

In summary, trustee indemnity insurancedirectly protects an individual trustee, ratherthan a charity or PCC itself, and protectstrustees from personally having to paylegal claimsmade against them for any breachof trust or duty of negligence/care (butexcluding reckless or wilful wrongdoing).

Being a trustee – your role andresponsibilitiesKevin Thomas, Ecclesiastical’s FieldOperations Manager, says that knowing

the insurance is in place can make it easierfor people to volunteer to join PCCs. “A lot ofpeople today, particularly those in employment,can be quite clued up about personal liabilitiesand will make a point of asking what kind ofprotection is in place. Being able to demonstratethat insurance cover is available can make thedifference between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ whenasking someone to join. As volunteers arebecoming harder to find, making it easy for themto say ‘yes’ is all the more important.”

The Church of England’s website providesinformation on the role of PCCs, includingdetails of the two rules or ‘measures’ thatgovern them at www.churchofengland.org/clergy-office-holders/pcc-information.Many dioceses also provide their ownguidance notes, while the Charity Commissionalso provides useful information online athttp://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/faqs/running_a_charity/governance/834.aspx

If you’d like more information onthe insurance protection thatEcclesiastical offers PCCmembers, visitwww.ecclesiastical.com/churchmatters/churchinsurance or call 0845 777 3322.

Trustee IndemnityInsurance: Protecting yourchurch’s PCCmembers

Whilst Ecclesiastical has used reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information in this newsletter is correct at the time of publication, please note:(a) the information is not intended to constitute a definitive or complete statement of the law on any subject, (b) the information may over the course oftime become incorrect or out of date; and (c) neither Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc. nor its subsidiaries can accept any responsibility or liability foraction taken or losses suffered as a result of reliance placed on the information provided in this newsletter.

© Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc 2015 4/15

For more informationcall 0845 777 3322

email information@ecclesiastical.comvisit www.ecclesiastical.com/churchmatters

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO) Reg. No. 24869. Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc (EIG) Reg. No. 1718196. Ecclesiastical Life Ltd (ELL) Reg. No. 243111. Ecclesiastical InvestmentManagement Ltd (EIM) Reg. No. 2519319. Ecclesiastical Financial Advisory Services Ltd (EFAS) Reg. No. 2046087. Ecclesiastical Services Ltd (ESL) Reg. No. 1811698. E.I.O. Trustees Ltd Reg.No. 941199. All companies are registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ, UK. EIO and ELL are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority andregulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. EFAS and EIM are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. ESL is an appointedrepresentative of EIO who is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Do you have an account on Twitter? Areyou updating your status on Facebook?Have you even gone so far as to post anamusing photo on Pinterest?

If the answer to all of these is ‘yes’, then you’vealready made real progress in getting to gripswith the rapidly expanding world of socialmedia. While some may mutter that theseonline communication channels are filledwith nothing but cute animal pictures andvainglorious selfies, you are clearly one of agrowing band of church people who haverecognised that social media and digitalcommunication have a power role to play inthe life of your church. The challenge nowis how to use it and what to say.

Think strategicallyHave a plan – that’s the advice from socialmedia experts at leading church insurerEcclesiastical. Before launching headlong intoyour online assault, take a moment to considerwhat it is you’re trying to achieve and whichare the best tools to assist you. For example,if many of your parishioners use Facebookregularly, then that may well prove moreeffective than trying to build an entirely newonline community using Twitter.

A website is a wonderful thingA good foundation for taking your churchforward in the digital age is to have anengaging website – something that’s morethan just an online brochure. It needs

information that will attract people who don’tcurrently attend church and should be writtenin an easy-to-read way, avoiding jargon. It alsoneeds to engage with your existingcongregation and be a focal point where theycan find out everything that is going on.

There are many low-cost tools you can use tobuild a website such as GoDaddy, Weebly orBuildyoursite.com; some like Wordpress arefree, if you’re prepared to spend a little timegetting to grips with them. If you’re lucky, youmay be able to find a friendly computer buffwith coding skills and who is prepared to pitchin. A domain name for your website andhosting will be needed, which will probablycost you in the order of £20–30 a year.

If you’re looking for some ideas, visitEcclesiastical’s Church Matters website atwww.ecclesiatical.com/churchmattersIt’s well designed, functional and has lots ofuseful information for the church community.

Going social“The Church has always used the culturearound it to share its message.” So noted onecommentator talking about the growth of socialmedia among the clergy. And there is no gettingaway from the fact that Facebook, Twitter et al.are most definitely part of today’s culture. Thegood news is that most social media tools arefree and require relatively little technicalknowledge. Actually, a good sense of humourand a nice way with words are more important.

TwitterTwitter is a micro-blogging service which hasgrown enormously over the last few years.A third of the UK population claims to useTwitter regularly. Once you’ve set up an accountat www.twitter.com, you’ll be able to post short140-character messages and ‘follow’ otherinteresting people and organisations to seewhat they are saying. As a starting point, seewhat Ecclesiastical’s Church Matters is sayingatwww.twitter.com/churchmatters If youclick the ‘follow’ button, you’ll receive everyChurch Matters update.

FacebookThe UK has the third highest usage ofFacebook in the world – nearly 30 million –and more than half of UK pensioners are users.At www.facebook.com, you must first createyour own personal account; after that, you cancreate a Facebook page for your church – thisis the type of presence organisations have onthe service. With Facebook you can postmessages, connect with people andorganisations, post photographs, advertiseevents... pretty much anything you want to.

Born to blogA blog is an online space in which you canwrite regularly about things that interest you, ordisplay pictures and videos. A blog can stand onits own two feet, or it can be integrated into yourchurch’s website – the choice is yours. The mostpopular blogging software is all free: Wordpress,Blogger and Tumblr.

Further informationThere is a wealth of online resources offeringfree advice and guidance about all aspectsof website design and the use of socialmedia. The Church of England offerstraining courses in the web and new mediawww.churchcommstraining.org while theChurch in Wales has produced comprehensiveguidelines on applying and understandingsocial media and offers a free parish websitescheme atwww.churchinwales.org.uk

For award-winning examples of how to usewebsites and social media, you can visit theNew Media Centre of Excellence website atwww.newmediacentreofexcellence.org.ukwhere you can see how other churches andgroups are using social media, blogs andwebsites to great effect.

Making the most ofsocial media...