Case Study: Navigating Church in a Pandemic

Living the word church (LTWC)

LTWC is the largest church in Collinsville, IL, and serves one of the largest congregations in the metro-east St. Louis area with 750 members. In March 2020, due to COVID, LTWC quickly needed to take their worship services and all ministries virtual. While they already offered a limited streaming option mostly viewed by military members and college students away from home, they were unsure how to convert their entire organization to a virtual model.

Leslie’s Approach:

Rebrand as “Living The Word Virtual”

Leslie immediately knew updating the church’s logo to reflect the change in our society communicated that LTWC was prepared and equipped to keep operating during the pandemic. Leslie recognized the church had great brand recognition and a good reputation in the community. With the understanding online church would be a new experience for many, Leslie knew keeping the main points of the brand would give needed reassurance and familiarity in an uncertain time.

Gain Stakeholder Buy-in

Leslie understands any initiative is only successful if the organization’s stakeholders are on board. With the new branding, Leslie’s team created profile frames for Facebook. Changes to profile pics populate heavily in Facebook newsfeeds. This provided an opportunity to raise awareness of the church’s change to virtual and allow members to easily show their support for the transition. 243 of the church’s members used the profile frame within the first week of availability.

Pastor David Hawkins asked Leslie to develop a hashtag that would deliver a unifying message during a time of many transitions. Leslie made two lists, one of virtual terms and one about community. The brightest lightbulb went off when she landed on #TechnicallyTogether. This hashtag showed that while the church would be meeting over technology, they were still a unified congregation. #TechnicallyTogether not only spread like wildfire among LTWC parishioners, but other churches also began using it (the earliest posts on social using the tag are those on LTWC's social accounts)! LTWC still uses this hashtag for its growing online community of parishioners worldwide.

Create Supporting Graphics

Graphics are always important, but when they became the primary way congregants would receive information, Leslie knew they needed to be engaging and informative.

The graphic designs from Leslie’s team stayed true to the church’s modern branding and allowed viewers to recognize the images as those about LTWC quickly.

Public Relations Strategy

Pre-pandemic, LTWC's Easter services were held at the Gateway Convention Center and drew 1,300 people for a single holiday service and local media spotlights. KMOV reached out to understand what a quarantined Easter would look like at LTWC. Leslie prepped Pastor Hawkins with talking points, provided b-roll to the station, and helped the reporter with post-edit clarifications on this story.

RESULTS:

Unfortunately, many churches closed permanently during the pandemic. However, with a carefully crafted strategic plan from Leslie and her team, LTWC was able to thrive! Online services saw as many as 1,400 viewers on various Sundays. In addition, donations to the church remained consistent. Pastor Hawkins partly attributes this to Leslie's communication and messaging strategy. Hawkins says, "Leslie is an absolute runner, critical thinker, and content creator. She helps to elevate our brand and our community impact."

Not only was LTWC able to sustain their congregation during the pandemic, they expanded! In 2021, LTWC moved into a new building for their growing congregation. Leslie and her team were thrilled to help with a complete brand refresh, including a new logo, graphic design, messaging, and PR.