Surviving A Church PR Crisis with Justin Dean

What's in this session?

• Navigating the PR nightmare of Mars Hill Church through 2014 (9:42)
• Why PR is a pre-emptive measure (12:17)
• The importance of selecting a point-person (15:25)
• Brainstorming potential PR scenarios (17:42)
• Tips for writing pre-written statements on controversial topics (23:11)
• The most overlooked key to church public relations (26:34)
• Big mistakes churches make with PR (35:27)

Show notes and resources

• A Survival Guide For Church Communicators
• Justin’s Facebook page
• Justin on Twitter
• Justin on Instagram
• That Church Conference
• That Church Conference’s Facebook page
• That Church Conference on Twitter
• That Church Conference on Instagram
• So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed – by Jon Ronson
• NuSupply.co

3 Instant Takeaways

• 1. Build your strategy before the crisis. Have a spokesperson in place — someone who will reply to the local media, if it gets to that point. Know your church’s stance on five hot topics in case you are challenged on them, and have some pre-written responses for specific situations. A possible scenario might include being challenged on how church funds are being spent.
  2. Build up equity before the crisis. Form relationships with your community. Build rapport and connections on social media by answering comments and engaging with people. Reach out to local media before they reach out to you.
  3. Don’t run from a crisis. Pretending nothing happened isn’t a strategy. Deleting every negative review on your social media isn’t as helpful as responding positively to them. Your church doesn’t get stronger by hiding from conflict.