Your Old Playbook Is Dead. Here’s How to Find Your Church’s Voice Right Now.
You know that communication strategy you spent months building? The editorial calendar, the sermon series rollout, the Easter campaign? Trash it. All of it. Not because you did something wrong — because the world just changed overnight, and the church that insists on running last season’s plays is going to lose people it was called to reach.
That’s not pessimism. That’s reality. And it’s exactly where this conversation with Ben Stapley begins.
Who Is Ben Stapley and Why Should You Listen?
Ben Stapley is the Weekend Experience Director at Christ Fellowship Miami and one of the sharpest church communication minds in the country. When COVID-19 hit and every church leader was staring at their screen wondering what to say and how to say it, Ben was already thinking three moves ahead.
In Episode 059 of The Church Digital Podcast, Jeff Reed and Rey DeArmas sit down with Ben to talk through the great pivot — not just the logistics of going online, but the deeper question of how the church finds its voice in a season nobody planned for.
The Pivot Is Not Optional
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: a crisis doesn’t create communication problems. It exposes the ones you already had.
If your church only knew how to talk at people — announcements, service times, giving links — then a pandemic that strips away the building just stripped away your entire communication strategy. Because all of it assumed people would show up.
Ben’s framework flips that assumption. The church doesn’t communicate to people who come to it. The church goes to people where they are. That was always the mission. COVID just made it undeniable.
The pivot Ben talks about isn’t a temporary workaround. It’s the recalibration the church needed anyway.
Three Audiences You Cannot Ignore Right Now
One of the most practical things Ben addresses is how churches need to think in concentric circles when it comes to communication during a crisis. You’re not talking to one audience — you’re talking to at least three.
1. Your Staff They’re scared too. They don’t know if they still have jobs. They don’t know what the next six weeks look like. If your staff is confused, anxious, or operating on rumors, your congregation will feel that chaos downstream. Communicate early, communicate clearly, and communicate more than you think you need to. Over-communication to your team is not a problem right now.
2. Your Congregation These are people who trusted your church with their spiritual formation. They’re isolated, anxious, and looking for a shepherd. This is not the moment for polished content — it’s the moment for presence. Short, consistent touchpoints beat one epic production. Text them. Call them. Send voice memos from your pastor. Show up in their feed like a friend, not a broadcast.
3. Your Community This is the audience most churches forget, and it might be the most important one right now. Your neighbors, your city, the people who have never set foot in your building — they are watching to see if the church actually believes what it preaches. Does your communication during a crisis sound like a brand protecting itself, or a body of believers serving their city? The answer to that question will determine whether your digital front door opens wider or closes permanently.
Practical Steps to Find Your Voice in the Chaos
So how do you actually do this? A few concrete starting points:
- Kill the noise. Audit every scheduled post, email, and announcement. If it’s not directly serving someone’s felt need right now, pull it.
- Build a crisis communication rhythm. Daily touchpoints for staff. Weekly pastoral presence for your congregation. Consistent, generous content for your community.
- Lead with empathy before information. People don’t need your FAQ page. They need to know someone sees them. Lead every communication with acknowledgment before instruction.
- Use your digital channels like a pastor, not a marketer. Stories, live prayer, honest updates — this is the moment social media becomes what it was always supposed to be: community.
As Jesus said in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” That mutual knowing doesn’t happen through a newsletter. It happens through consistent, personal, caring presence — which is exactly what your digital channels can provide right now if you use them intentionally.
When the Dust Settles
Ben makes a point that deserves to sit with you: when this season ends, we won’t recognize the world we’re stepping back into. The churches that will thrive on the other side are the ones that used this moment to build something real — real relationships, real digital presence, real community that exists beyond a Sunday service.
The chaos is clarifying. Let it.
Listen to Episode 059 now, and then take 20 minutes this week to audit your church’s communication across all three audiences. Staff. Congregation. Community. Ask yourself honestly: are we shepherding, or are we just broadcasting? The answer will tell you everything about where to start.
