By: Kenn Dixon, M.A., CDMP, APR
Most churches genuinely believe they are communicating well. Bulletins are printed, announcements are made, the livestream goes up, and posts hit Facebook every week. Yet for all this activity, the same pattern repeats itself: outreach events attract mostly members, evangelistic initiatives fall flat, and the community remains disengaged or unaware that the church even exists.
This isn’t a theology problem.
It’s a communication problem.
The Invisibility Crisis
Monte Sahlin said it best: the greatest communication challenge for many churches is invisibility, not hostility. People aren’t rejecting the church—they simply don’t know it’s there.
The story you uncovered in your dissertation research across 25 Seventh-day Adventist churches in Texas is not unique to Adventism. It’s a reflection of a national trend:
Churches are faithfully talking, posting, announcing, and promoting—but largely to themselves.
Your analysis of 24 months of communication data shows the same cycle playing out across region after region:
- Posts are mostly internal.
- Content is about events, not people.
- Messages reflect the church’s interests, not the community’s needs.
- Channels are underutilized or siloed.
- Communication frequency is inconsistent.
- And ultimately, the community is not engaged.
This is not failure.
It is misalignment.
Why Churches Default to Internal Communication
There are four primary reasons most churches talk to themselves:
1. Familiarity is easier than strategy.
Churches know their members. They know their language, their preferences, their rhythms. Communicating internally feels natural. Speaking to outsiders feels risky.
2. Events—not people—drive the communication calendar.
Most communication in the local church exists to promote events, not nurture relationships. This is the opposite of what healthy organizations do.
3. Churches assume relevance instead of assessing it.
Because a program matters to the congregation, leaders assume it matters to the community. Your data shows this assumption is incorrect.
4. Churches measure activity, not outcomes.
Bulletins printed? Check.
Posts published? Check.
Video uploaded? Check.
But those are inputs, not impact.
The Result: The Church Becomes an Echo Chamber
Inside the building, communication feels active, even busy.
Outside the building, communication feels silent.
The church becomes an echo chamber—broadcasting announcements to a closed, internal loop. People outside the church never hear the message, and people inside the church steadily disengage because communication feels disconnected from real life.
Your research revealed an important insight:
The more a church focuses on internal messaging, the less it grows.
Churches with the highest baptisms and professions of faith used broader and more diverse communication channels. Churches with stagnant or declining growth used fewer, internally-focused communication methods.
This aligns directly with Media Multiplexity Theory:
Strong ties require multiple channels. Weak ties never grow without them.
Why This Matters Now More Than Ever
Three cultural shifts make internal-facing communication especially ineffective today:
- Communities are more digital than physical.
People look online before looking around. - Attention is more fragmented.
If you are not part of the digital stream, you do not exist. - Trust is earned through connection, not content.
People respond to authenticity, not announcements.
Many churches continue behaving as though the community will simply walk in because the doors are open. But the world has changed.
And the church must change how it communicates.
Breaking the Cycle: From Inward to Outward Focus
If a church wants to grow, wants to reach new people, and wants to fulfill the Great Commission in a digital age, it must intentionally break free from internal communication patterns.
Here are the three first steps:
1. Go from “What do we want to say?” to “What does our community need to hear?”
Not every message is for every audience.
Your research shows that posts about community service or spiritual encouragement build stronger ties than event promotion.
2. Stop announcing and start engaging.
Announcements impart information.
Engagement creates connection.
Ask questions. Tell stories. Share testimonies. Highlight community needs. Celebrate people, not programs.
3. Use more than one channel.
This is the heart of Media Multiplexity Theory.
People become connected when the church shows up across channels, consistently and relationally.
Facebook alone isn’t enough.
A bulletin alone isn’t enough.
One livestream a week isn’t enough.
Multiple channels → stronger relational ties → higher engagement → increased attendance → more disciples.
Your data quantifies what ministry leaders have long felt intuitively.
A Roadmap Forward
This entire 16-week series is built to help churches stop talking to themselves and start engaging the people they’re called to reach.
Today’s post is your starting point.
The next 16 posts will walk your readers—church communication volunteers, pastors, and ministry leaders—through a full transformation of how they communicate.
If the church wants to reach its community, it must start by changing who it is talking to.
