Join the national Digital Labs team for a series of interactive sessions at Hatherley Manor, Gloucester, taking participants from the basics of setting up internal and external communication channels for worshipping communities, through to a seminar-style session to discuss current issues facing church communications.
Booking closes on 10am Monday 2 October. After this point, please email ku.gr1733548238o.coi1733548238dsolg1733548238@pmal1733548238ck1733548238 for more information.
Delegates may attend for the full day, but may also choose only to come to the level that is right for their current knowledge and ability. Open to all who communicate on behalf of their church within the Diocese of Gloucester.
This session is great for new or hesitant church communicators. It will introduce us to two basic communication channels – A Church Near You as a way to communicate with your community online and MailChimp as an efficient way to communicate with your worshipping community.
Bring along your laptop and get set up on A Church Near You. Explore how you can use it as a free mini website for your parish or benefice and develop your confidence in updating your news, events and pictures. The site receives around 10 million page views a year and it is the first point of contact for many new visitors to church, so keeping it up to date and reflecting your worshipping community accurately is very beneficial.
Learn how to set up a MailChimp mailing to send to your worshipping community. Learn about the benefits for GDPR compliance. Consider how we can save time and create a warm and professional communication by using simple tools and templates.
This session aims to build confidence in your existing skills, offering a quick run through of A Church Near You, to ensure you’re making the most of all the tools, as well as exploring a few more of the functions of MailChimp for sending messages.
We will also explore communicating with different audiences, choosing the best channels for your audience and making the most of the time you might be able to give to digital communications. A whistlestop tour to help you understand the main social media channels available to you and how to direct your time in the most effective way.
This evening session is aimed at confident church communicators who are looking to develop more meaningful engagement with their communities online. We invite you to send in topics and themes for discussion and questions, for a seminar style session where we can explore more deeply and learn from others’ experiences.
Ruvimbo Makumbe: Digital Labs Manager, Church of England
Responsible for developing and delivering training programmes for Digital Labs. These are presented in various ways such as workshops with dioceses and ordinands. In addition, Ruvimbo manages the content development across our different Digital Labs touch-points which include webinars, on-demand training via YouTube, newsletter and more.
Interesting fact: Ruvimbo is currently doing a part-time MA in ecumenical studies.
Naomi Ensor: Digital Labs Officer, Church of England
Naomi delivers regular digital training webinars for clergy and diocesan colleagues to build the confidence of and upskill the local churches of the Church of England to use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Canva and A Church Near You to reach new people and encourage members of their worshipping communities in their faith.
She also creates and sends the Digital Labs monthly newsletter, and co-ordinates, edits and writes content for the Digital Labs blogs and guides, including creating short training videos for people to access digital skills on-demand.
