Why Your Church Communications Calendar Might Be Holding You Back
(And Why I Finally Built My Own)
For years, my church communications calendar lived in a spreadsheet.
It wasn’t fancy. Just rows, columns, color codes, and an ever-growing list of announcements, events, and deadlines. I tried to make it work—really tried. But every few months, the chaos would catch up.
So I’d go hunting for a new solution. A planning tool. A project management app. A content calendar template. I’d commit to it for a few months—sometimes even a year—before the cracks started to show. Then I’d bail. And where would I end up?
Back in the spreadsheet.
As frustrating as it was, the spreadsheet was still the best option… or so I thought.
The Spreadsheet Problem (You Know the One)
If you’re managing church communications with a spreadsheet, this probably sounds familiar:
- It gets out of date faster than you can update it
- It only “works” for the person who built it
- No one else on the team actually checks it
- You’re still relying on Slack threads, side conversations, and last-minute slide edits to fill in the gaps
And the worst part? Every time you think you’re finally on top of everything, a new request comes in that throws the whole system off.
Spreadsheets weren’t built for ministry. They’re static. Churches are not.
Why Most Tools Don’t Work Either
Here’s what I discovered after trying (and ditching) almost every tool out there:
Most project management or content planning tools are designed for corporate marketing teams. They’re feature-packed—but they assume a team of full-time staffers, clear roles, and set-in-stone launch dates. That’s not ministry life.
In church communications, you’re juggling:
- Ever-changing announcements
- Volunteers who need reminders, not dashboards
- Sunday-centric rhythms that don’t map to Monday–Friday workflows
- A team that might include pastors, admins, creatives—and that one person who only checks email once a week
Trying to rig a corporate tool for a church context is like trying to run a potluck with a restaurant POS system. It might technically “work,” but it’s not going to be fun—or effective.
The Hidden Cost of Scattered Systems
Spreadsheets, Google Docs, Slack messages, whiteboards, sticky notes, emails… it all adds up. Not just in tools, but in tension.
When your communication calendar is fragmented, you end up with:
- Missed announcements and scheduling conflicts
- Burnout from constantly reminding people what’s going on
- Disengaged ministries who feel like no one’s listening
- A comms lead who’s more firefighter than strategist
Sound dramatic? Maybe. But I’ve lived it. And I know I’m not alone.
So I Built What I Needed
After years of hopping from tool to tool and always crawling back to the spreadsheet, I finally decided: what if I built a communications calendar specifically for churches?
Not a generic task manager. Not another content board template. But a living calendar that actually matches the rhythm and chaos of ministry life.
Something that would:
- Let us see everything coming up at a glance
- Track announcements across all channels (Sunday, social, email, print, etc.)
- Make it easy to prioritize, schedule, and delegate without a million follow-ups
- Reduce the swirl of last-minute changes and scattered feedback
That’s how Communicate was born.
What a Church Communications Calendar Should Do
A real church comms calendar should do more than show dates. It should help you:
- Plan across teams: so your worship pastor and student ministry aren’t competing for stage time
- Centralize your workflow: so you don’t need a separate doc, email thread, or Trello board for every event
- Prioritize clearly: so you know what actually gets shared on Sunday—and what moves to email or social
- Save time and reduce stress: because you’ve got a rhythm, not just a system
Because church isn’t just another organization. And your communications calendar shouldn’t be just another spreadsheet.
You Don’t Need More Tools—You Need the Right One
If you’re where I was—tired of spreadsheet chaos but burned out on tools that don’t stick—I get it. That cycle is real. But it doesn’t have to be the norm.
Communicate was built to finally break that cycle.
It’s simple. Purpose-built. And made for ministry teams just like yours.
Want to put this into action? Start planning your church communications with Communicate — the only church communications calendar built just for ministry teams.
