Communications Ministries

Communications in the Baltimore-Washington Conference is more than just Facebook, Twitter, and a website. For us, it's a ministry.

Sharing the story of United Methodists around the conference and around the world shows how God intersects with the lives of people, people who are doing great and wonderful things -- and small and very important things -- to further God's kingdom on earth.

Our narrative defines our reality and is essential to our faith (John 1:1). Christian communicators, who bring the best of sound journalistic practice, language, art and technology to the church, use narrative to illuminate the presence of a living God among us. This incarnational story engages people and encourages them to live out their faith in their churches and in their lives.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference Communications Department utilizes several tools to tell our/your story. These include:

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Tools:

United Methodist Communications offers a vast array of web services.
An overview of resources from United Methodist Communications. Download the resource sheet (PDF).

Launching a Church Website in Word Press

(an online class with 8-weeks free hosting)Launching Your Church Website focuses on going beyond just having a church website to effectively implementing a broader online presence. We will cover the tools to plan, build, and launch a successful online strategy that helps people connect with your church in a new way. With people living a big part of their lives online, what does this transition to an online world mean for the church? This course will cover the basics of creating your church website. However, this course also looks at going beyond just having a church website focusing on how to effectively implement a broader online presence. By engaging your audience online first, you extend your reach beyond Sunday services and expose your audience to your message before they visit your church.
Cost: $19.99

Free Stock Image Sites

Photo editing programs

Making Infographics

Camera Lens

UM Social Media Graphic Library – a Topical index that includes graphics for Back to school, Advent, Lent, Embrace Love, the Lectionary, God’s Creation and more

Bulk e-mail

  • VerticalResponse – free for up to 10,000 emails per month. If you do a weekly newsletter, your contact list should not exceed 2,500. This option provides free templates, social media integration, subscription services and more to nonprofits! Going beyond this limit involves a large price tag.
  • MailChimp  free for your church up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails a month. Above this limit., the cost is $25 a month for nonprofits for 2,500 subscribers and unlimited emails per month. The maximum upgrade is $200 a month for 50,000 subscribers.

Web Sites 

Website design

Writing for the Web

Learn to write for the web

Website Development Grants

Website Development Grants are for local United Methodist churches and church entities who do not currently have a website. 
Through this new grant, United Methodist Communications will offer the following:

  • One year of webhosting
  • One year of domain name registration
  • Free WordPress online training through UMCOM
  • Free online support throughout your training and during your year of web hosting
  • Free pre-designed templates for easy development of your new website

Other resources