Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

We all know it’s coming. Soon and very soon we’ll be asked to refresh the parish homepage, craft a new ministries brochure, or create a parish calendar as the fundraiser for the youth mission trip. As you may recall, this proved difficult last year in part because of the lack of recent, good photos. But this year is going to be so different! 2011 will be the year of countless, beautifully-rendered digital photos, online and on-hand for a full year’s worth of parish communication projects.

Thankfully, this is actually a fairly easy project (which is another reason, I suppose, why this makes for such an excellent resolution). Here are few things to consider:

• Don’t Do It All Yourself: Take the time to encourage a budding photographer in your parish. A good parish photographer is an invaluable resource to a congregation. Therefore, don’t take them for granted! Make sure you have specific uses in mind for the photography and give thanks for the time and effort that goes into good photography.
• Build a Cache: Create a free Flickr or Picasa web account and give access (ID and password) to those who will be taking photographs of parish events. This will help you avoid having to send emails with photos as large attachments. Organize by topic and/or event. Both of these services also offer easy ways to create slideshows for your websites based on the galleries that you create. 
• Share: Photographs can be a powerful process of seeing your parish through a different lens (literally), so share your photos. One worshipping community that has done this amazingly well is St. Mary Magdalene in Manor, TX, a church plant that ECF Vital Practices highlighted in our Fieldwork section. This Facebook gallery tells the story of how this worshipping community has grown.
• Ask: I’d be willing to bet that at least one member of your parish has just received a digital camera for Christmas. What’s more, they’re now probably wondering what to do with their previous model. Provided it's in good condition and still compatible with current software, ask them to donate it to you! As we all know, perfectly good cameras are collecting dust in many a closet. Ask, receive, and hand off to an interested volunteer.
• Use the Photos: One photographer I know was encouraged by his UCC minister to take photos on behalf of the parish. It was a wonderful experience at first, a way for him to use his talents for the community. Yet the newly installed minister had failed to consult the parish communicators and, unfortunately, the cache of photos has yet to be used. The last I checked, the same photo from a 1985 luncheon was still gracing the new parish brochure.