The cardinal sin of church communications is our use of copy + paste. I’m not going to do the original vs recycled argument, but will say this much: STOP IT! Churches are notorious for copying. For some reason we feel we have permission and entitlement to copy, steal or imitate what’s not ours. Open source is great, learning from others is invaluable, but every church has a unique audience and importing what worked somewhere else might not translate in your context. You learn the most by doing things yourself. And, God is the author of creativity [Genesis 1:1], maybe if we spend some time with Him some if it can rub off on us.
But why is copying harmful? Again this quote is helpful:
The problem [with copying] is it skips understanding – and understanding is how you grow. You just repurpose the last layer instead of understanding the all the layers underneath. So much of the work an original creator puts into something is invisible. Be influenced, but don’t steal.
These last words are profound. I had to reread them several times. So much of my ministry is defined by the problem that people want to skip understanding in the vision process. As I like to say, people are addicted to product, but it's the process that provides meaning.
Here are some of the other bullets in this post:
- Stop Being a Communicator, Start Being a Curator
- Stop Sounding So Profeshional.
- Marketing isn’t a line in your budget
- Forget writing Press Releases.
- Say No by Default
- Good Enough is Fine
- Don’t Commit the Sin of Copy + Paste