When to Say No to a New Communications Channel
by Ashley Graham-Wilcox
It usually starts the same way: Someone — a vestry member, a pastor, an enthusiastic volunteer who just discovered podcasts — pulls you aside after a meeting and says some version of: "Have you thought about starting a YouTube channel?" Or a second Instagram. Or a weekly video devotional. Or a Substack. Or, of course, a church TikTok account that would be run by the youth group.
(The youth group idea was actually fine. The long-term execution…another story.)
The point is: new channel requests come with the territory, and sometimes they're genuinely good ideas. The problem is that every new channel is a commitment — of time, of attention, of someone's energy — and it's easy to say yes in a meeting and then live with the consequences for years.
So, here's a framework for thinking through whether a new communications channel is actually worth it. Use it before you commit.
Five Questions
Who, specifically, are we trying to reach? Not "our congregation" or "the community." Get specific. Are we trying to reach young families who aren't currently attending? Lapsed members? People who are spiritually curious but not ready to walk in the door? The answer to this question should drive every other answer. If no one can name who the new channel is for, that's your first sign to pause.
Is that audience actually on this channel? This sounds obvious, but it gets skipped constantly. Before starting a TikTok account, ask whether the people you described in question one are actually on TikTok. Before launching a podcast, ask whether your target listener actually listens to podcasts — and how they'd find yours. Good intentions don't overcome the wrong distribution channel.
Do we have the capacity to do this consistently? Consistently is the operative word. A channel launched and then abandoned is often worse than no channel at all: it signals to visitors that you're not active, and adds to the digital clutter that someone (probably you) will eventually have to clean up. Ask specifically: Who is going to do this? How often? What happens when that person is sick, on vacation, or leaves?
What does success look like, and how will we know? You don't need elaborate metrics. But you should be able to say: In six months, we'll consider this working if _____. If you can't finish that sentence, you don't have enough clarity to launch yet. And if you can finish it, you've just given yourself an off-ramp: if the channel isn't meeting the goal in six months, you have permission to stop.
What are we willing to stop doing, or do less of, to make room for this? This is the question nobody wants to answer. New channels don't appear in a vacuum; they take time and energy from somewhere. If you're already stretched, adding something new without removing something else is how you end up with eleven channels, none of them done well, and one very tired communications person.
What If the Answer Is Still Yes?
Sometimes you go through all five questions and a new channel still makes sense. Great! In that case, a few suggestions:
Start smaller than you think you need to. A monthly video is more sustainable than a weekly one. A simple, consistent presence is better than an ambitious, inconsistent one.
Pilot it. Give it a defined window — three months, six months — with defined goals, and evaluate honestly at the end. This also makes it easier to stop if it's not working, because you set that expectation from the beginning.
Get the commitment in writing. Just an email or a document that says who's responsible, how often, and what the plan is if that person moves on.
What If the Answer Is No?
Then say “no.” Kindly, clearly, and with a brief explanation of why.
I know that can feel hard, especially when the person asking is excited, or is a pastor, or is a vestry member with strong opinions about the church's digital presence. But saying no to the wrong channel is how you protect the capacity to do the right things well.
You can say it like this: "I love that you're thinking about this. Here's my concern: I want to make sure that if we launch this, we can do it well and keep it going. Can we talk through what that would actually take before we commit?"
That question — what would this actually take? — can change the conversation entirely, turning a new channel request into a conversation about priorities and capacity that was overdue anyway.
☕ A Final Thought
You are not obligated to be everywhere. No church is. The churches doing communications well are almost never the ones doing the most — they're the ones who are clear about who they're talking to, consistent in how they show up, and honest about what they can sustain.
