Archive - February, 2011

The place of grace when responding to a business mistake

February 25, 2011 in Christian Living, Features, for Churches, Pastors

Yesterday, one of the printers my church uses made a big mistake.

You can read about it here.

Earlier this afternoon I spoke with the printer (who will remain unnamed) – he apologised, explained, and guaranteed it wouldn’t happen again.

Several people have asked about compensation. The printer didn’t offer a refund/future, discount, and I didn’t request it. To be honest, I’m not sure how to show grace in this situation.

Does a follower of Jesus just accept the apology? Or would it not be unreasonable to pursue some form of compensation?

A great example of the gospel intersecting with the business world – I’m just not sure how to respond.

What would you do? What would Jesus do?!

A printing disaster of the highest order

February 24, 2011 in for Churches

So we designed and printed some postcards to promote our upcoming kid’s sports morning.

Here’s how they look:

As they were being handed out to a child to invite his friends, he responded “that’s a bit rude”.

Why?

On the reverse of the postcard was printed the following:

Could the printer have made a bigger mistake?!

This artwork doesn’t appear on the back of all of the postcards, and thankfully, we’d only just started to distribute the postcards and have been able to pluck out the cards with this artwork on the back.

I would never have though to check each postcard for this kind of mistake – now I will.

It’s poor form, and I’m still trying to get in touch with the printer to let them know.

This reminds me of the ‘7 worst online ad placements of all time‘.

Eric’s Last Wishes – the story of a man who dreamed he died young

February 24, 2011 in Christian Living

Not thinking about death doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. In fact, staring death in the face seems to bring so much clarity.

I keep coming across videos and books of Christians who put pen to paper (or their face to video) to share a powerful testimony as they deal with the end of their lives. For example:

Eric had a dream that he died young. That night, stirred by the dream, Eric created a video for his family. Below is the video, and the story behind Eric’s last wishes. Read more here.

Not long after recording the video, Eric was killed in a plane crash.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Planning for Easter 2011

February 22, 2011 in Easter

What’s your church got planned for Easter this year? Have you even started planning?!

Church Marketing Sucks has started the conversation with four churches about how their plans are progressing.

The plans by Danielle from Grace Church sound particularly ambitious!

5 reasons to include a signature on your email

February 21, 2011 in for Churches, Pastors

It’s easy to butcher an email signature.

However, this isn’t a reason to not to have one. In fact, there are at least 5 good reasons to include an email signature at the bottom of your emails:

  1. To provide alternate contact information. Perhaps the recipient of your email would like to follow up by phone – I’ve been in this situation many a time, where I’ve wanted to call, but only had the email address.
  2. To strengthen branding. At Church by the Bridge, we want to constantly reinforce why we exist – to live for Jesus, and to love like Jesus. The email signature is another medium to promote our mission.
  3. To clarify working days/hours. Particularly in a church, working hours can differ from person to person, with different people taking different days off. Clarifying these details in an email signature can remind people when you’re not in the office (see example below).
  4. To help people who receive your email via someone else. If an email you send is forwarded, the original recipient might know who you are and your other contact details, but the other recipients might not. Including a signature allows these people to learn who you are, and how they can get in touch with you. Other information (e.g. the web address) also provides these people with an opportunity to learn more about the church or organisation.
  5. To legitimise the organisation, and your role in it. Anyone can create a domain name and start sending emails. An email signature says ‘yes, we’re real, and if you don’t believe me here’s a few different ways you can check for yourself’. When you’re sending emails to people unfamiliar with your church or organisation, this is an important inclusion.

Read more (and learn what not to do when creating an email signature):

I also recommend this interesting read on ‘Why emails include legal disclaimers‘. The reason isn’t what you might think.

This is the template we use at Church by the Bridge:

–
Steven Kryger
Media and Communications Pastor | Church by the Bridge
Office: +61 2 8920 9817 | Mobile: 0403 904 392
steven.kryger@cbtb.org.au | www.cbtb.org.au

Living for Jesus. Loving Like Jesus.

Please note: I am in the office on Mondays and Thursdays – thanks for your patience in receiving a response to your email.

Comic: Does Facebook ever look like this to you?

February 21, 2011 in Social Media

(Click to enlarge)

Thanks Kevin.

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