Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (NIV, Mat 5:14-16)

The Communications Team is responsible for getting the word out about Faith's ministries, events, and activities---essentially the life of the church.  This involves reaching out to members, visitors, and the community through various communication platforms, e.g. e-newsletter, website, social media, signage, church bulletins, and community media. Faith communications is a coordinated effort working tightly with the pastor and Faith ministry teams that typically provide initial content describing their upcoming events and activities. That content is then used to create Faith's outgoing communication streams. There are a variety of ways to participate in this important ministry, including writing, editing, graphic arts, photography, team coordination, ministry collaboration, platform administration, and more. Perhaps something here aligns with your SHAPE!

Won't you help us keep God's light shining brightly for all to see?

If you have questions about Faith's Communications Ministry, please contact Jeff Cowan at (630) 862-3500 or jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com.

Click on an opportunity below to explore details.

Click below if you know what you're interested in and want to take the next step in your ministry journey at Faith.

The Publicity Coordinator coordinates the activities of the Communications Team.  They are essentially the team project manager.  Here is some of their primary responsibilities.

• Ensure new publicity needs/requests (events/activities) are identified and adequately defined.  This often involves sorting out and confirming initial content and schedule information.
• Determine communication stream(s) to be used to publicize each event/activity.
• Engage appropriate team members responsible for each communication stream to create and schedule publicity for each event/activity, including setting effective and expiration dates for content.
• Help coordinate collaboration and leverage of resources within the team.  E.g. Graphics Designer may develop graphic images based on photos taken and edited by Photographer, and then leveraged by Web Editor, e-Newsletter Editor, and Social Media Editor.

Creates an organized and efficient means of managing and developing publicity for Faith events and activities.

Varies based on complexity, quantity, and schedule of events and activities being planned in any given timeframe.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

A Ministry Liaison represents the capabilities and services of the Communication Team to Faith ministry teams, and vice versa.  They consult with the ministry teams to jointly develop publicity plans, appropriately identify and define publicity opportunities, and vet initial content and requests.  With detailed knowledge of each ministry they are assigned to assist, they work with the Publicity Coordinator to schedule efforts to create, update, and/or remove publicity for the ministry.  They also help stream editors (e.g. web, social media, e-newsletter) gather pertinent details about events and activities they are publicizing and act as a reviewer for published works the editors have created to confirm it meets ministry needs.  They review ministry content in the streams throughout the year to confirm it remains current and fresh, engaging with ministry and communication teams as needed to update or remove obsolete content.  Training and coaching provided.

Provides publicity focused resource to assist ministry teams in creating and working a "living" communications plan throughout the year.  Maintains an accurate and current reflection of the life at Faith to our congregation and visitors.

If you love the idea of telling folks about the ministries and life at Faith, but don't feel like your writing or creative skills are up to the task, Ministry Liaison could be a fit for your SHAPE.  If you enjoy working and communicating with others, and enjoy learning what others are doing and sharing that knowledge with others that can help, we'd really like to have you on the team.  We will provide training and coaching as needed.

Varies based on ministry assignments and their activity.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Help write, edit, and publish the Faith e-Newsletter. A valuable support to the church staff as they strive to communicate with the congregation. People who have a desire to let people know what is going on during the month and are good at spelling and grammar, or know how to run spell/grammar check.  Training and assistance provided.

To make information available to the people of Faith through the e-newsletter.

4-8 hours per month.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Web Editor creates and maintains content on the church website.  They typically work within the existing website design previously established by the Technology Team.  The Technology Team is engaged for assistance when a need is found to exceed the capabilities of the current website design.  Web Editor generally publishes content leveraged from other Communications Team members or from a ministry team.  They may do their own content editing to better fit a web format or web platform constraint.  Content is added, changed, or removed typically by request from Publicity Coordinator or Ministry Liaison.  Web Editor works with other Communication Team members to leverage content between different communication streams.  This is particularly efficient with graphic images.

To publish and maintain Faith content in the web communication stream.

Varies dependent on ministry event and activity schedule in any particular timeframe.  Work requiring website design work with Technology team is generally project based.  Effort in that case is dependent on project scope and complexity.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Social Media Editor leverages content from other Communication Team members to create and publish notifications and announcements in the world of social media.  Currently, Facebook is the only platform Faith is maintaining a presence on.  The Communication Team would like to consider other platforms as resources become available to manage those accounts.

To publish and maintain Faith content in the social media communication stream.  Currently, only Facebook.

1-2 hours per month.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Graphic Designer uses software tools to create relevant and eye catching imagery typically used in Faith communication streams that generally provides clarity of or enhances interest in associated textual content.  These images typically begin with a contributed photo or graphic that is then modified or resized for a new purpose.  Some folks are creative enough to create graphic designs from scratch.  All abilities are useful for God's work at Faith.  Tool training provided for those with an interest in learning something new.

Enhance published Faith content to increase viewer interest and clarity.

Varies dependent on skill level.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Maintains digital signage (wall mounted TV monitors) content in our Café and Welcome Center.  Keeps up-to-date with current and upcoming events information. Responsible for creating the digital signage presentation (MS PowerPoint) each week using information gathered by the Communications Team from Faith ministry teams, loading presentations onto digital signage computers, and working with others to ensure digital signage is running Sunday mornings and during major indoor events.  Training and assistance provided.

To make information available to the people of Faith physically in the Café and Welcome Center.

2-4 hours per month.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Those gifted with the ability to capture events in still picture document events.

To help foster community and build up the body of Christ by communicating through the visual arts all that God is doing at Faith.

Varies based on event schedule.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com

Those gifted with the ability to capture events in motion picture document events.

To help foster community and build up the body of Christ by communicating through the visual arts all that God is doing at Faith.

Varies based on event schedule.

Jeff Cowan
Phone:  (630) 862-3500
Email:  jeff.cowan@discoveringfaith.com