School is out. It’s hot outside. People are heading out on their vacations. Yes…
Summer is here!
It may not be official on the calendar, but for many of us life looks different for many of the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
I love seasons!
I often joke that here in Florida we only have two seasons… the warm season and the hot season.
I’m sure there are some people who like that (not the joke, the consistent Florida heat), but I enjoyed the seasons during the years I lived in New York, Indiana and Maryland. Each season has its own activities, its own food, its own mood, its own pace, its own rhythm.
When we transition out of one season and into a new season, that transition has a way of shaking up our routines and helping us to focus on what’s important during the new season.
As Ecclesiastes 3 says, “There is a time for everything… a time to plant and a time to uproot… a time to tear down and a time to build…”
I’ll add a few of my own… there is a time to work and a time to rest… a time to plan and a time to work the plan and a time to celebrate the work that’s been accomplished.”
Summer Rhythms Month
This month our theme at OurChurch.Com and here on the Christian Web Trends blog is Summer Rhythms.
Our God created a universe that operates on cycles… the rotation of the Earth creates a daily cycle, the creation story exemplifies a weekly cycle… the orbit of the moon gives us a monthly cycle… the orbit of the Earth around the sun gives us seasonal and annual cycles.
Most of us have some things in our lives we do following these rhythms. For example, maybe you take a vitamin once a day, gather for worship once a week, participate in a ministry team meeting once a month, or take a family vacation once a year.
These rhythms make managing life much easier because we don’t have to re-think and re-plan every instance. Instead we plan once, and execute the plan repeatedly until it’s time to reevaluate the plan.
Applying this same principle to all your communications tasks can make communications much easier and more consistent too. This month we’ll share insight on creating a rhythm for website updates, SEO tasks, email and social media communications.
But like we were discussing earlier, some seasons – especially summer – have a different rhythm to them. So, we’ll also discuss how to adjust those rhythms during seasons of busyness and seasons of rest.
Before we go any further, would you do me a favor and help us understand how we can best help you this month? Just post a comment and answer this one question…
- When it comes to communications (website, SEO, email, newsletters), what’s your greatest challenge or frustration during the summer?
You can share more of your insight and feedback in this month’s Listening Post survey.
More Summer Rhythms Articles:
- Worst Concert Ever!!!
- Is your church website in rhythm?
- How to Develop a Weekly Communications Rhythm
- Church SEO Rhythms
Finally, if this is a season where you’re ready to build a website, are interested in having us design a new website for you, or improve your search rankings so you can reach more people, click the links to take your next step.
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
4 Comments
My one frustration about running a website is understanding SEO. I don’t understand it, and I am probably not being as effective a webmaster because of it. I am looking forward to looking more indepth at your series on SEO.
Hi Jill, thanks for sharing your biggest challenge/frustration. The previous 11 posts we published before this one were about church SEO. The last one, The Ultimate Guide to Church SEO – https://www.ourchurch.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-church-seo/ – is a compilation of the first 10. I encourage you to give it a read.
It includes everything we think you need to know about SEO, but we are always trying to better understand people’s challenges and frustrations, so after you read the Ultimate Guide, please post a comment and let us know if anything is unclear or you have any follow-up questions
Same comment as Jill Lounsbury.
Hi Doug, thanks for commenting. Same reply as to Jill’s. 🙂