Compass Church Communication

Our church recently published a survey on how we communicate with our church family. If you haven't filled it out & you want to, here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16i7la7Bgp8G8cLcq-ybcuM4VdQJI-H0eOp9cHWjYGpQ/viewform?usp=send_form

Based on feedback we have received so far (47 responses), I wanted to try to give some clarification on communication processes at Compass.

The Navigator
The Navigator is Compass' weekly newsletter. We communicate church-wide level upcoming events & activities through the Navigator. We keep a running list of upcoming events & try to highlight the 4 to 5 most important events in the main sections. These are limited to church wide happenings to avoid clutter & an overwhelming amount of information.

You can access the Navigator in several ways. Every week the Navigator is posted on the City, the Compass website, & on the bulletin board in the welcome center. If you want to receive an email about the Navigator, you need to turn on your notifications for the City to send any new information to your email. Here is a link on how to do that:

http://wiki.acstechnologies.com/display/TheCity/Change+Your+Email+Settings

An email will be sent to you when the Navigator is posted & you can click the link to have access to the Navigator.

Here is a link to the Navigator on the website (it is updated weekly):
http://thecompasschurch.net/#/media/navigator

The Compass Minute
The Compass Minute is an announcement video that plays during our weekly gatherings. The minute is approximately one minute long. It contains the 4 to 5 most important announcements or events happening that involve Compass Church as a whole. These correspond to the Navigator's top 4-5 announcements as well. If you have seen the Compass Minute, you have seen the most urgent & quickly approaching events at Compass.

The CITY
The City is Compass' one stop for several things at our church. We needed a church management system at the church & the City offers this to us. It has a backend that operates as a way for us to keep church member contact & family information. It also has a children's check in module that helps us keep things all in one location. It also offers a way for the church to communicate with one another in multiple ways. We can post events, prayer requests, our newsletter, needs, & even personal messages all in one location! You have the option to post items via your missional community group or church wide. It combines so many features in one service.

Instead of sending emails, social media posts, text messages, phone calls, or any other type of media, the City allows us to send information to one location that can be accessible to everyone. Every Missional Community at Compass has their own group on the City for ease of communication, for example. All MC group sponsored events will be posted via the city. Those events can be posted on The Compass Church main group page if you would like to include other groups and individuals or can be posted to your group exclusively. This works two fold to keep the minute/navigator focused solely on Compass sponsored events while still allowing a forum to keep people informed about group sponsored activities.

We are trying to get everyone associated with Compass on the City because of how multifaceted it is. Instead of sending the same information 5 times to 5 different places, we can just send it one place. Instead of your MC using texting, your ministry team using Facebook, & the church using email, all of those groups can post & exchange information in one place. This greatly reduces the need for admin help, which we have little of at Compass. We don't have administrative assistants. Every minister is responsible for their own administration & the City helps us maximize ministry & minimize maintenance. We want to save money on admin costs so that we can use those resources for missions & ministry. The City greatly aids us in this.

In order to help everyone stay connected, we have opted to use the City exclusively. If you can't get all the info you need via email, why do you need the City? If you can get it via text, why do you need the City? If you can get it via Facebook, why do you need the City? So it may be convenient to receive information how & when you want it, but it doesn't streamline the process on the church's side of things. So in order to establish one place we can all go for the information we need, we turned to the City.

If you want to receive information from Compass like a text, you can set your City app to receive notifications just like a text. Just go to the settings on your City app & make sure your notifications are on. If you want to receive Compass info from email, go to the City & make sure that your notifications for email are set to receive everything. This will send you an email every time something new is posted. The City can deliver the information to you however you prefer without even having to log in!

If you haven't signed up for the City, join today! We already have 300 and counting on The City. Simply copy & paste this link into your browser to get connected!

thecompasschurch.onthecity.org/kiosk

Other Matters
If you are a covenant member & you want info on church budget matters, you can access them anytime through the website at this link:

thecompasschurch.net/#/membership/financial-statements

It is password protected so you will need to email a staff member for the password at ask@thecompasschurch.net. They are regularly updated & accessible for you.

If you want any other church information, the Elders & Staff are always available to you if you are a covenant member. If you have questions about the building project, we are available. Because we don't have business meetings, we don't have an open forum for discussing church matters but we do have an open door policy. We will meet with you to discuss anything you want related to Compass Church.

I hope this has been helpful to you in understanding our heart to communicate as best as we can. Thanks so much for your feedback in helping us discern how best to do that. Let us know of anything else you need.