By Matt Kuzma

Last week, I was at a conference of communications directors, hosted by UMR, the firm that publishes our print newspaper. Talking with my colleagues, it became clear that people in our local churches face the same issues we do when we try and communicate: shrinking budgets, new media we need to learn and an audience that is being swamped with messages.

My takeaways from the conference were:

1. Use at least one communications medium well. It doesn't matter if you have a bulletin, print newsletter, phone tree, website, eNews, Facebook page, and a Twitter feed. At the very least, make sure one form of communication is reliable, so people will be able to trust it.

2. Try new things, especially Facebook. Facebook is free and widely used. That alone makes it worth using, because it can help people in your church connect to each other.

3. Don't spend a lot of money on technology. One new digital camera and free accounts on Facebook and Wordpress could be all that you need to have an online presence.

4. Print is not dead. Targeted postcards can be an especially good great way to market a new worship service or Vacation Bible School. The decline of print marketing by everybody else means that postcards have less competition in our mailboxes (please contact me if you'd like to use UMR's data targeting or design services.)

5. Pick up the phone. Many of us receive hundreds of emails per day, and if we receive an impersonal email that was sent to 50 people, it is easy to delete. Follow this 3-step model if you want to increase turnout to an event, rather than relying on passive advertising.

By Bishop Gregory Palmer
President, United Methodist College of Bishops

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

I am writing to seek your assistance with an important effort on behalf of the Call to Action Steering Committee that was formed by actions of the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table in November 2009.

The Call to Action Steering Committee was formed in response to the global economic crisis and the need to build on the successes of aligning our mission and ministries across the church in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The effort is also addressing the Four Areas of Focus as expressions of how we live as the body of Christ.

We invite you to participate in the initial survey being performed by Towers Watson to gather data on congregational effectiveness.  You can read more about the Call to Action Project and take the survey at http://www.umc.org/calltoaction. 

We are looking forward to Annual Conference 2010, held June 13-16 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. Your Annual Conference Committee has been planning since the conclusion of our 2009 event, and we have much preparation in progress. This includes new additions to our program, as well as changes based on your feedback.

Like all other organizations, we are coming to grips with the difficult economic time that has affected our conference, our churches, as well as us personally.  We will be putting on Annual Conference with significantly fewer dollars from conference funds this year.  To that end, we have negotiated very hard with our hosts providers and received a reduction in costs for this year.  We are using an online registration company to take your conference registration.  We have committed to do more things in-house and are taking on many of the duties done by a registration company in the past.  We will be projecting all worship service information on screens thus eliminating worship booklets.  We will, however, produce a worship booklet for the ordination service, as this is a momentous time in the life of those being commissioned and ordained.

We are also asking for slightly higher registration fees.  Registration for Annual Conference 2010 will be $56, which includes all processing fees.  While we know this is an increase from last year, our conference charges lower fees than nearly any other conference in the North Central Jurisdiction.  We encourage members to reserve hotel rooms at Pheasant Run early so we can work effectively with the hotel making sure we meet the quota of rooms we have reserved for Annual Conference, and we urge local churches to budget for the expenses of their members.  

Thank you for your dedicated service to the NIC Annual Conference. 

Enjoy a night on us! Hang out and network with fellow youth retreat leaders from the Northern Illinois Conference. Exchange ideas with other youth leaders, see the unique camp atmosphere and explore ways you can use it to your advantage.

2010 Free Youth Leader Retreat
7pm March 26 - 3pm March 27
Lodging will be at Wesley Woods Conference Center

Register by e-mail orm@niccamp.org with the following information:
Name, Address, Church, Phone #, and E-mail Address
For more information contact Joshua Easton at 815-494-0444 or joshua@niccamp.org