Kem has decided to stop by restored to grace on her blog book tour.

In celebration of her new book, I will be giving away a copy to one lucky reader next Thursday, June 4. Here’s the catch: in order to get a chance to win the free book, you have to comment on this entry (how can I send you a book if I don’t know who you are?) before Thursday.

Okay, without further ado, here’s the next question on Kem’s blog tour.

r2g: What effect does church marketing and communication have on a church’s children’s program, and do you think a communications team should collaborate with a children’s ministry team on developing the program?

Kem: All-church marketing and communication affects children’s ministry like the others. No team should be left to fend for themselves, operating in a vacuum. That being said, we don’t collaborate with many ministry teams about developing their individual programs. While we’re happy to help when asked, we generally leave that part to them. They develop, define and run the programs. And, they do a world class job. There’s little value we could bring to that part of the equation. They know their audience the best. But, outside the “programming” there are several areas where we consistently collaborate and work together. Specific to children’s ministry, we work together on:

• What information is helpful to the parents (e.g., dates, times, safety, benefits, etc.).

• The best place to put that information to make it easy for parents to find on a regular basis.

• What vehicles we can use to make it easy for children and parents to invite their friends.

• How to communicate sensitive information in a way that opens doors and builds trust.

• Special events outside the weekend that require childcare and how to communicate if childcare isn’t available.

• Data integrity, reports and mailing lists.

• Unique ways to showcase the age-appropriate experience happening in children’s church while the grown-ups are in adult church (e.g., video, pictures, art, etc.)

• Systems that protect safety and security.

• Special series that might warrant a shared curriculum and the logistics required to make it happen.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Want to elaborate? I’d love to hear your thoughts! And if you share them, you might get a free book!