Knox is using digital media to promote our Next 1100 Days vision in the church and in the community. This newsletter is part of a new strategic communications platform focused on the four initiatives that comprise our vision:
Creating a relational leadership structure at Knox
Decolonizing behavioursand attitudes at Knox and becoming a post-colonial church
Developing mission-driven community partnerships in the annex that generate revenue and promote community development
Launching community ministries in our historic building
This newsletter will bring you biweekly updates on the progress we're making on these initiatives.
If you don't want to receive this newsletter, please unsubscribe below. Alternatively, if you find this newsletter helpful, please share it with others!
THERE'S A NEW FACE AT KNOX
Meet our new strategic communications coordinator
My name is Jenn Herring, and I would like to introduce myself as the new strategic communications person for Knox United Church. You can find me weekdays in my office in the upstairs portion of the historic church (future coworking space), or near the café eating as many chocolate cookies as Greg will let me while updating the church’s social media accounts.
What do I do around here?
My objective to communicate milestones, accomplishments, events, and anything related to the four initiatives of The Next 1100 Days. I'll be doing that by publishing this newsletter and by posting on the church's social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). I will also be curating a page on our website that collates social media interaction with the Knox community.
One of my first tasks was creating and managing a strategic calendar comprised of who, where, when, how, and in what way to communicate info re: The Next 1100 Days. My goal is to schedule Next 1100 Days communication to build community interest in the weeks and days leading up to Knox events and programs related to the four initiatives of our vision.
In the future, we're looking forward to the recruitment of volunteers to aid in the “buzz” on our social media channels. Stay tuned for our next newsletter for more details!
Jenn Herring is a "millennial" who enjoys avocado toast. More than avo toast, she enjoys drawing, cycling, making music, civic politics, active transportation design, and collecting stationery. Jenn recently graduated from Alberta College of Art + Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing, and left the institution as a sitting member of the Student’s Association’s Executive Committee as the Director of Community and Culture. Through her experiences at ACAD as a student and student representative, she learned the effectiveness of visual communication and community building through new media. She's excited to be a part of this church community and eager to promote Knox as a place to encourage social innovation and connection.
NEWS FROM GREG
Sanctuary Coffee opened in July
Sanctuary Coffee has been open Mondays to Fridays, 10AM to 2PM, since Wednesday, July 18. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Andrew Chrystal, from St. Paul’s (Hammersmith) and St. George’s (Holborn) who spent 11 days on site through a generous Strategic Opportunities Grant from the Calgary Foundation. In addition to his role with church cafes in London, Andrew has been a senior executive manager for Costa (the second largest coffee company in the world), with whom he oversaw the opening of more than 1000 stores. Andrew’s primary function during his visit in July was getting the cafe operational. This Fall, he'll be advising us on increasing cafe capacity, expanding our hours, and marketing the cafe to the community.
The cafe is currently building a core team of volunteer baristas from the community. (So far, we have four community volunteers in the mix.) We've been advertising on Propellus and will be reaching out to students at the University of Calgary, MRU, SAIT, ACAD, Bow Valley College, and St. Ambrose U for additional volunteer baristas. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement for volunteers from Knox.
New energy at Knox
Ashleigh Metcs is an info-design student from MRU working at Knox this summer via the Canada Summer Jobs program. She'll be providing maps and digital screen materials that help people see where Next 1100 Days initiatives are located in the historic building and how to get to them. Her work will also help people locate and navigate to long-standing features of the building (e.g., the organ).
And, as you see from the article above, we’ve also hired Jenn Herring to outline and execute a strategic communications plan. Jenn has been producing social media posts, creating this MailChimp newsletter, and will be overseeing a webpage that provides a montage of social media posts about our Next 1100 Days initiatives.
Fall sneak peek
With great place-making initiatives underway or being planned in the historic church building we also need to create new programming to welcome the community into these places. This Fall, we're launching Transition at Sanctuary Coffee. Transition will begin as a connect group for innovators––people from the church and community who are passionate about shaping new, emerging ministries at Knox over the next two years, We'll meet on Sundays at noon at Sanctuary Coffee, which will also be open to the public. Transition will be a group where people can connect, share their ideas, and support each other as we imagine a new and different future for the church. After completing the Fall 2018 sessions of Transition, we'll ask participants to consider becoming connect group leaders and dinner party hosts. As our connect groups and dinner parties grow in 2018/2019, we'll launch a new, emerging worship service at Knox.
Are you interested in shaping new, emerging ministries at Knox? Contact Greg. And stay tuned for our first Transition session dates, featuring the Alpha series.
Jenn Herring is a "millennial" who enjoys avocado toast. More than avo toast, she enjoys drawing, cycling, making music, civic politics, active transportation design, and collecting stationery. Jenn recently graduated from Alberta College of Art + Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing, and left the institution as a sitting member of the Student’s Association’s Executive Committee as the Director of Community and Culture. Through her experiences at ACAD as a student and student representative, she learned the effectiveness of visual communication and community building through new media. She's excited to be a part of this church community and eager to promote Knox as a place to encourage social innovation and connection.
Sanctuary Coffee has been open Mondays to Fridays, 10AM to 2PM, since Wednesday, July 18. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Andrew Chrystal, from St. Paul’s (Hammersmith) and St. George’s (Holborn) who spent 11 days on site through a generous Strategic Opportunities Grant from the Calgary Foundation. In addition to his role with church cafes in London, Andrew has been a senior executive manager for Costa (the second largest coffee company in the world), with whom he oversaw the opening of more than 1000 stores. Andrew’s primary function during his visit in July was getting the cafe operational. This Fall, he'll be advising us on increasing cafe capacity, expanding our hours, and marketing the cafe to the community.
Ashleigh Metcs is an info-design student from MRU working at Knox this summer via the Canada Summer Jobs program. She'll be providing maps and digital screen materials that help people see where Next 1100 Days initiatives are located in the historic building and how to get to them. Her work will also help people locate and navigate to long-standing features of the building (e.g., the organ).
Are you interested in shaping new, emerging ministries at Knox? Contact 
