How to Communicate? Winter Weather and Church

This is the third in a three-part series on weather cancellations and the church.  You can read part 1, "When to Cancel." here.  You can read part 2, "Who Makes the Call?" here.

There are many ways to communicate about weather cancellations and the church.  Some TV and radio stations are willing to broadcast the news.  There are ways to share over the Internet through email and social media.  Or you can use the phone, either with an old-fashioned telephone tree or with newer mass texting or robocalling applications.

The challenge is two-fold.  First, decide which means of communication are best for your congregation.  Second, prepare people to expect how you will communicate long before the harsh weather arrives.

Some means of communication need to be set-up some time before the need to use them will arise.  Most media outlets will create access accounts for people to use their weather notification systems during the fall.  An automated list (of emails or telephone numbers for mass texts) will need to be created so that it can be easily accessed.  A telephone tree call list will need to be created and shared so the number of phone calls can be spread across many people.

It also can be useful to create a list of when and how to share the information, when the need arises, so that access codes, phone numbers, etc. are easily available.  This also helps to ensure that all of the selected means of communication are used when bad winter weather arises.  (Should I mention that it is important for this list to be kept not only in the church office, but at a couple of people's homes so it can be used during bad weather?  Or am I the only person who had to make a trip to the church in dicey travel conditions to cancel church?)

Here are some basic rules of thumb to remember when preparing your winter weather communications strategy:

1. Do not rely on only one method of sharing the news.  There might be power outages keeping people from watching TV, for example.  It is better if people receive the closing information multiple times than not at all.
2. Keep an eye on the clock.  You need to announce a cancellation well before people would be traveling to your church activity or worship service.  And there are time considerations for each way you'll share the news of a closure.  People won't want telephone calls outside of specific hours.  The media outlets have time guidelines for their systems too.
3. Make sure you have confirmation from key leaders that they know the church is closed.  Make sure that those who have important responsibilities (music, worship leadership, child care, teaching, etc.) know that the event/service has been cancelled.  This is especially true if people from outside of the congregation have been invited to participate (guest musicians or preachers, for example).  
4. Clearly and repeatedly tell people before the bad weather arises (and perhaps remind them on social media or in person when it is imminent) how you'll communicate a cancellation.  Like all church communication, it can take a few tries -- and various approaches -- to get the message across to most people in the congregation.
5. Keep improving the system.  Ask for feedback for how and when people would like to receive this information.  Be flexible when people share how they don't want to receive the information.  Be on the lookout for ways that they system breaks down and work to improve it in the future.

Like weather forecasting itself, deciding when to cancel a church activity or worship service is not a perfect science.  Neither is communicating whether something is cancelled or not.  These simple rules of thumb can help your congregation be prepared for the challenge of winter weather.