The Juicys

Hopefully you’ve heard of the Church Juice project I work on for Back to God Ministries International.  It’s a free resource available to you to help improve your church communications. Right now, Church Juice is in the middle of accepting applications for The Juicys -- our annual way of rewarding churches who are doing great communications projects.

We’ll be awarding two $2000 grants, with the likelihood of some smaller $1000 runner-up grants as well, for churches that have great vision for effectively using communications tools to reach their congregations and surrounding communities.

The application process is pretty simple.  Just go to The Juicys website and answer some questions. We want to know what you’ve done and what you want to do in the future.  We’ll split the applications into larger congregations and smaller congregations.  Then we’ll have a panel of smart communication people look over the applications and pick their favorites.

Why do we do The Juicys?

Communications is central to a strong congregation.  That’s our belief.  When members are connected to the church and understand what’s going on, they become more engaged.  And if they’re more engaged, there’s a better chance they want to share their excitement about their church with their friends.  From big things like casting vision, to smaller details like announcing weekly events, a church that’s intentional about communication will be a healthier place.

Yet, communication is an area often glossed over by churches. It’s viewed as too complicated, too time consuming or just not necessary.  In essence it’s ignored.  Things like the weekly bulletin or in service announcements become a throw-away moment instead of something that can have a bigger impact. 

And that’s just a start.  External communication to your community is important, too.  In a world where churches are competing against slick advertisers for people’s attention, there are too many missed opportunities by churches that just aren’t thinking about how to present themselves.

That’s why we want to reward churches who are doing great things in communications by giving them $2000 for their next project.  We want to encourage them to keep moving forward.  And we hope to motivate other churches by showing them the success that can come from good communications.

We also hold education as a high value.  We’ll share the stories of the churches that get grants as a way to inspire and guide other churches who are looking to do similar kinds of projects.  We are all in this together.

The deadline for nominating your church communications project is just a couple of weeks away.  And as September 30 sneaks up, my hope is you’ll join the churches who’ve already applied in saying we believe communication matters.  Your project doesn’t have to be the biggest, budget busting thing.  We’re looking for churches of any size, anywhere in the world, that are using good strategies and best practices.  If you’re improving in any way, we want to share it with other churches.

We know communications come with conflicts.  We understand it can be a thankless job.  But we also understand the great importance and rewards that come when communications are done well.  It can have a major impact for God’s Kingdom.