Communications

The Communications and Outreach Team

The St. Luke's Communications and Outreeach Team is a group of volunteer members who have communications expertise and/or a genuine interest in helping St. Luke's achieve its communication goals. These goals include website support, internal and external events promotion and publicity, The Chronicle (our monthly newsletter) contributions, church directory coordination, and other related projects.  

The Evangelism Team and Communications Team merged in 2006 because both teams have similar missions, such as outreach and missions publicity.

Joining the Communications Team

The Communications Team is always looking for extra help! No formal education or training is required to participate on the team; all you need is a desire to help support St. Luke's in its communications needs and a willingness to to share your talents. During our monthly meetings the Team discusses strategies and plans for upcoming events and campaigns, and projects are assigned based on team members' abilities and time availability.

If you'd like to join the Team, please contact Jim Ramsey, Communitions Team staff liaison.

How to get information communicated at St. Luke's

If you are planning an event or need help in getting something communicated, feel free to contact any of the Communications Team members, or complete the contact form at this link (be sure to put a checkmark in the Comm Team box): http://stlukeshr.com/p_contact.asp 

Contact	Email	Phone	Specialty
James Ramsey	Email Jim	303-791-0659 x23	Comm Team Staff Liaison
Dean Conklin	Email Dean	303-663-3716	Annual Golf Outing, Evangelism Team
Dee Duncan	Email Dee	303-471-6685	Evangelism Team
Michelle Ellis	Email Michelle	303-324-6058	Publicity, promotions, article writing
Lynda Fickling	Email Lynda	303-791-0659 x20	Evangelism Team
Ken Fong	Email Ken	303-346-7057	Ministry Moments and other videos, website
Nelson Garcia			Broadcast Media
Lisa Hajek	Email Lisa	303-471-0705	Special events
Mike Hanson			Evangelism Team
Jennifer Jiang			Communications Team
Jack Kennedy			Communications Team
Michelle Mallory	Email Michelle		Publicity, promotions, article writing
Sharon Oliver	Email Sharon	303-791-7302	Brochures, graphic design, strategy
Brian Olson	Email Brian	303-726-4044	Public relations, video production
Jim Wolff			Evangelism Team
Jill Wright	Email Jill	303-927-6345	Publicity, promotions, website stuff, article writing

                                    

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When planning an event don't forget to plan your communication methods in advance. 

Here is a typical calendar of lead-times necessary to support your event:

Your Communications Team can help you decide the best ways to get the word out about an event or report on the successes your group has experienced. Choosing varied methods of communication helps insure the success of your event. 

Have an idea for something different? The possibilities are limited only by our imagination. Tell us your ideas and we will do our best to help you make it happen! The following are examples of what's currently available: 

Bulletin

Short announcements in the weekly Sunday bulletin should be submitted to the church secretary, Bonnie Funk. Deadline: 3 PM Tuesdays.  They may be faxed to 303-470-5615, emailed to the office, put in the file cabinet (in the Church Secretary folder) just outside the office, or dropped off in the church office Mondays through Fridays from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.  Text should be no longer than 40 words, with the topic, date, time, location, and contact information only (see a previous bulletin for examples). 

Bulletin Boards

If you would like help with content and guidelines, call your Comm. Team Contact. We're here to help!

The Chronicle

The Chronicle is published 10 times a year.  It's a great place for post-event coverage. This is a great place to boast of successes! By recapping great events, we create momentum toward next year's efforts. 

Upcoming major events and schedules are also published here, i.e. Advent, Easter, Stewardship. If your group has events that are integral to these, be sure to submit your event information by the deadlines. For example, Advent events will be published in the November edition. The deadline is October 20! Have you started your Advent planning yet?

Issue	Deadline for Submissions
February	January 20
March	February 20
April	March 20
May	April 20
June/July	June 1
August	July 20
September	August 20
October	September 20
November	October 20
December/January	December 1

Deadlines occasionally change due to special circumstances; if you have questions about the deadline date for the next issue, check page 2 of previous issue (available here) or email the Chronicle editor. Submissions should be sent to The Chronicle.

Direct Mail / Invitations

The direct approach, i.e., postcards for communicating with select subsets or personal invitations handed out between services can help get the word out to those you are trying to reach.  Examples include advertising the UMW Spring Fling and special SLY events. Targeted mailing lists and labels are available through the office staff.  All requests must comply with the St. Luke's UMC Confidentiality Policy.  If you would like to do a targeted mailing to a specific group from the church database, call the Office Secretary or your Ministry Team Advocate for assistance.  You may also qualify for bulk mailing rates to save money.  Allow 3 weeks lead time.

Email

Email may be sent to various St. Luke's members, to various groups of members, or to all St. Luke's members who have requested email as a form of contact.  The St. Luke's web site, http://www.stlukeshr.com "Members Connection" contains email addresses of some individual members.  The "Join an Email List" section of the web site allows mail to be sent to various groups at St. Luke's; new email lists may also be easily created.  Contact Lynda Fickling via email if you would like to be included in upcoming "Experiencing St. Luke's" emails to be sent to all members and constituents who have requested this type of communication.

Flyers / Posters / Brochures

Flyers and posters are a great way to get the word out. Be sure to include the "who, what, where, when and why" of your event. See a previous example of a flyer, or get help from a template.  Examples of existing weekly flyers are:

Little School Contact Kay Swanson at 303-791-1982 or via email

Prayer Concerns Updated weekly and available on the St. Luke's web site, or pick up a printed list in the Narthex. You may add or remove someone form the list through the web site or contact Bonnie Funk via email by Tuesday at 3 PM

Tips for a good Flyer or Poster:

• Include information about the event, date, time, place, and contact.
• Use no more than two fonts - one for headings and one for text.
• Include a graphic that reprints clearly when copied and communicates something about your theme or event.

The following colors are currently used for flyers: UMW = pink, Education = purple, Prayers/Concerns = yellow, weekly calendar = salmon.

Currently, any St. Luke's member is allowed to post flyers and posters on the doors and walls for church events. 

Please take care not to damage surfaces and remember to take them down once your event is finished!

Brochures are a good tool for introducing new members and constituents to your group. They give a brief overview of what you're about. Include your group's mission statement and information about how to get involved.  

If you need help writing text, editing or printing, please contact your Comm. Team Contact. 

PowerPoint (Big Screen)

To advertise your event on the video screen before Sunday services, send a brief announcement here. The deadline is 3 PM Thursday.  Text should be no longer than one or two sentences, with the topic, date, time and location. Announcements will be run no more than two Sundays before an event.

Press

For notice placement in the external press (e.g., the Highlands Ranch Herald, Denver Post), contact your Comm. Team Contact at least 4-6 weeks in advance.  This will give our PR team a chance to develop story ideas in addition to simple press releases. Types of press include advertisements of upcoming events or human interest stories (e.g., past mission trips).

Pulpit Announcement

Please let one of the office staff or Pastors know if you would like to make an announcement; they will let you know whether time is available at the beginning of the service.  Videos (see below) are preferred over personal announcements except in unusual situations, to better control the time and to insure that all services hear the same announcement.  If you do give an announcement, keep it to one minute or less.  If you would like to request one of the Pastors to make the announcement, put it in writing in the box outside of their office; there is no guarantee that the pastor will be able to make the announcement.

Video

To have a video prepared (e.g., a Ministry Moment), please contact Ken Fong at 303-346-7057 or via email at least three weeks in advance.  These videos can be a good way to provide exposure to a small group, to advertise upcoming events, or to highlight a special occasion.  The current schedule for videos is available here.

Web Site

Registrations and other forms of feedback are easily handled by creating a special event web page. Direct the St. Luke's Community to your event under the Upcoming Events section of the main web site. Include pictures of past events, and detailed information about your event that is accessible 24 hours a day from St. Luke's web site. Examples include the Family Camp, Nursery Reservation, and Youth Mission Trip.  Send submissions to the web site team. Three weeks of lead time are recommended.

Other Communication Tools 

Church Event Calendar  We have an events calendar and an Upcoming Events calendar to show what's going on at St. Luke's, such as small group meetings, rehearsals and classes. Contact Bonnie Funk 303-791-0659 x10 or email Bonnie to schedule these events.

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Additional information:

A large archive of photos of previous St. Luke's activities is available from Sharon Oliver and/or Ken Fong.  Unfortunately, they are not yet well organized.  Contact them if you would like a copy of a photo; please give the approximate date and description of the event.