“As an organization that has delivered thousands of breakthrough moments—those key sparks that frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ—we believe there is even more to be done.”

Download the Report:

• CFCC 2011 Annual Report (PDF, 3.1 MB, 16 pages)

More Than 60 Church Marketing Gurus Contribute to New Book, Outspoken

Sept. 15, 2011 (Los Angeles) – Center for Church Communication (CFCC) and its flagship blog, Church Marketing Sucks, release their first book, Outspoken: Conversations on Church Communication. Featuring more than 60 church marketing experts, Outspoken is a first of its kind resource for church leaders and communicators.

“The church has the greatest story ever told,” says CFCC founder Brad Abare, “And we need more help than ever to communicate it.”

Outspoken brings together some of the leading voices that are impacting and shaping the way churches communicate, including:

• Jon Acuff, author of Stuff Christians Like and CNN contributor
• Leonard Sweet, professor, author and one of the “50 Most Influential Christians in America”
• Kem Meyer, author and communications director at Granger Community Church
• Phil Cooke, Hollywood producer and author of Branding Faith
• Charles Lee, Idea Camp founder and compassionary

Published by the Center for Church Communication, the nonprofit parent organization of Church Marketing Sucks, Outspoken is comprised of over 70 short essays covering a variety of topics related to church communication, including branding, design, leadership, technology, creativity, outreach and more.

“When you can reach millions of people with the click of a mouse, you have a tremendous responsibility,” says Outspoken editor and CFCC co-director Tim Schraeder. “It’s time churches take the opportunity and resources God has given them and communicate his story in a way that connects.”

Outspoken will release on Sept. 15, 2011, at the STORY conference in Chicago, an event that draws 1,000 church creatives. Additionally, the book will be featured by the Willow Creek Association, Catalyst, Pastors.com, Hillsong, ChurchLeaders.com, Outreach and more during the initial launch.

Outspoken will be available in print and Kindle format on Amazon with a portion of sales benefiting Creative Missions, an annual ‘missions trip’ for church creatives. Learn more about Outspoken by visiting www.OutspokenBook.com.

Founded in 2004, the Center for Church Communication is a firebrand of church communicators, sparking churches to communicate the gospel clearly, effectively and without compromise. The organization’s most visible project is Church Marketing Sucks, the church communications blog with coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, How Magazine, The Boston Herald and more.

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Phil will continue his production and media work with Cooke Pictures and TWC Films. You can follow Phil’s latest exploits on his blog.

Cynthia is focusing on her new position at Pepperdine University. You can keep up with her on Twitter.

We want to thank Phil and Cynthia for their leadership, wisdom and many contributions to CFCC and the wider church marketing community over the years.

But seven years later we are thrilled to announce the release of our first book, Outspoken: Conversations on Church Communication. Over a year in the making, Outspoken is a collaborative book featuring more than 60 experts in church communication. The book covers a range of topics, including general marketing, leadership, creativity, design, web, writing and more.

In partnership with the STORY Conference in Chicago, Outspoken will release on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011. Learn more from the announcement on Church Marketing Sucks or by visiting OutspokenBook.com.

Michael is stepping down from his role as creative director here at the Center for Church Communication (CFCC) and specifically the leader of the Church Marketing Lab. Danielle Hartland will have some big shoes to fill as she steps up to lead the Church Marketing Lab. While this transition is bittersweet, the leadership team of CFCC could not be more thrilled to have Danielle on board.

Joshua Cody is moving on from his role as associate editor (a title that barely covers all the work Josh has done around here).

We’re sad to see both these guys go but we’re happy for them to be moving on to bigger and better things. The Center for Church Communication would not be where it is today without the contributions of both these guys. With the foundation of their selfless efforts, we hope CFCC can continue to make progress in our mission to help the church communicate better.

Both have their own thoughts to share…

The Experiment Continues: Michael Buckingham
Michael Buckingham penned his own goodbye and expresses fond wishes for the future below. When we first launched the Church Marketing Lab it wasn’t our efforts that made it work, but the tireless work of people like Michael that made it hum. We hope to keep Michael around doing guest posts, so this isn’t a forever goodbye. You can keep up with Michael on Twitter, follow his continuing work with Holy Cow Creative and read his blog, Jesus Hates Papyrus. Thanks Michael.

When we first launched the Church Marketing Lab, in 2006 it was an experiment. There was a need to connect, mentor and resource artists within the church and the lab has been our answer to that.

That experiment has grown from the moment we flipped the switch on. That community is now just shy of 5,000 members.

As the community has grown, so have the needs. While Flickr has taken care of us, we’ve known for awhile that it could not be our permanent home. When Tim and Justin came in as co-directors, one of the big pushes was to make the Church Marketing Lab a top priority for CFCC. So for the last three months all the moving parts have been pumping away, there have been some great conversations and I’m honored to make the announcement that our very own Danielle Hartland will be taking the helm as champion for what is ahead for the Church Marketing Lab.

Of course for those of you involved in the Church Marketing Lab, this probably isn’t big news as Danielle was instrumental in transitions last year in allowing the community to lead the community and has been a leading voice in the lab since then in her role as Church Marketing Lab project leader. But do please give her a very warm welcome, much love and much support.

I continue to be impressed by the community and the members progression in their art. While I’m not steering this boat anymore you’ll still see me around and I will always remain available to the artist as they continue to sharpen their craft. You are a beautiful gift to the bride of Christ, the church.

A Thanks and Fair Well: Joshua Cody
Joshua Cody posted his fair well over on Church Marketing Sucks. He’s been our get-it-done guy for many years now and we’re not sure how we’ll continue to get things done without him. We hope he’ll toss us the occasional guest post as well. You can follow the continuing adventures of Joshua Cody on Twitter and his blog. Thanks Josh.

Be sure to read Josh’s A Thanks and Fair Well on Church Marketing Sucks.

• 2010 Annual Report (PDF, 4.3 MB, 18 pages)

The 2010 annual report includes an overview of CFCC, the projects we offer, the leadership team and the current financial reports as well as a summary of financial reports since our beginning in 2006.

Creative Missions Tour is a unique “missions trip” of sorts that provides under-staffed churches with the opportunity to have a complete communications overhaul by experts in the field. More specifically, Cleve describes Creative Missions as, “similar to local missions trips, as we’ve all experienced them. However, instead of construction projects and Bible schools, Creative Missions seeks to aid these same churches in their communication and creative strategies for connecting to their communities.”

The tour begins May 22, 2011 and runs through the 28th. The team’s first trip will be to Albany, N.Y., to help five local churches build a creative communications strategy. Experts from various fields including web design, graphic design, social media, video production, marketing and worship design will be joining the tour. In the words of CFCC co-director, Tim Schraeder, “it’s like an Extreme Church Makeover!”

You can stay up-to-date on the progress of this project by visiting Creative Mission’s website. CFCC will be partnering with Creative Missions as a financial partner as well as to provide exposure, networking opportunities and overall support.

“Conversations matter,” Tim said in the announcement post on Church Marketing Sucks. “I know in my own life, I’ve been impacted by the conversations and relationships that were made in the hallways of conferences I’ve attended.”

The first meetup will be at Catalyst West in Irvine, Calif., on March 2. Other meetups are planned for Cultivate, Echo, Story and Catalyst East.

Cultivate is May 4-5, 2011, at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, California. Registration is $129 per person through April 4 and $159 thereafter.

“Cultivate is more of a conversation that a conference,” says Schraeder. “Oftentimes the conversations that happen in the hallways of conferences are more important than the content being shared from the stage. At Cultivate, we are bringing the hallway conversation to the stage.”

The Cultivate Conference first convened in October 2009 in Chicago where nearly 300 communication leaders gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities for churches and nonprofit organizations leveraging social media.

“We’re most excited about the opportunity to help those that are helping others,” says Baldwin, founder of the brand strategy firm, AspireOne. “These communication leaders are doing some amazing things—they just might not have a platform to share their stories. Everyone wins.”

Speakers for Cultivate 2011 include:

• Mark Horvath, founder of InvisiblePeople.tv and recipient of the 2010 SXSW Pepsi Refresh Challenge.
• Charles Lee, founder of Ideation and creator of the Idea Camp.
• Best-selling author and blogger, Jon Acuff, of StuffChristiansLike.net.
• Social media expert and author of the book Socialnomics, Erik Qualman.

In addition to the speakers, a featured panel made up of communications leaders from nonprofit, social justice and ministry organizations will help disseminate and  discuss content and ideas shared by the speakers.

More information and registration details can be found online at www.cultivateconference.com.

• Phil Cooke: “Worry less about preaching in jeans with your shirttails out, and more about changing people’s lives.”
• Brad Abare: “Churches that understand deep down how they create, transfer, embody and express value are churches that get it.”
• Kem Meyer: “We need to spend less time creating content and more time helping people connect with and make sense of content that already exists.”
• Scott McClellan: “It takes faith to tell a story before you’re sure there will be a happy ending. But it’s the conflict, the adversity, and the suspense that draw people into your story and invite them to walk it with you.”
• Dawn Nicole Baldwin: “Discover what God’s unique call is for your church and live that to the fullest.”
• Kent Shaffer: “Churches need to be measuring life change.”
• Drew Goodmanson: “More churches are starting to get that the web isn’t just a new method of communication but a radical paradigm shift that impacts the entire organization.”
• Lori Bailey: “What I hope to see is churches coming closer together in learning and sharing, as well as helping and rooting for each other.”
• Maurilio Amorim: “If churches understood the power of social media in creating conversations over a wide platform, they would spend more time trying in that space.”
• Chad Cannon: “At the end of the day, numbers represent people, and those people represent a story of potential life change. Churches should be about numbers.”

At the time we did the interviews, Tim Schraeder was on the board and Cynthia Ware served as executive director. Since then Tim and Cynthia have swapped roles, but we still have our interview with Tim and we can go back to an earlier interview we did with Cynthia:

• Tim Schraeder: “Our message is unchanging but the ways we communicate it are changing before our eyes.”
• Cynthia Ware: “If you are confused about who you are as a church–your story will always be confusing, possibly bland and likely impotent.”