Staff Communications Specialist (One Church Team)

Pinelake Church; Flowood (MS); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Pinelake Church is seeking a Staff Communications Specialist to join the Creative Team. The role plans, writes, and delivers clear, timely internal communications to staff across campuses, ensuring alignment with the church’s mission and vision.

You will partner with executive leadership and ministry teams to translate priorities into engaging, actionable messages. Candidates should excel in writing, editing, and project management, shaping culture and trust through consistent internal

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, English, or related field preferred.
• Three or more years of professional communication, marketing, journalism, public relations, or related experience preferred.
• Experience supporting organizational leaders through communication is highly valued.
• Experience in ministry or nonprofit communication is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop communication strategies that support organizational initiatives, ministry launches, and leadership priorities.
• Build communication plans that ensure staff receive the right information at the right time.
• Help leaders communicate organizational change with clarity and confidence.
• Maintain a strategic editorial calendar for internal communications.
• Plan, write, edit, and distribute staff communications through email, newsletters, text messaging, the intranet, and other internal channels.
• Establish consistent communication rhythms that keep staff informed without overload.
• Ensure all communication reflects Pinelake’s voice, values, and commitment to excellence.
• Partner with executive leadership, pastors, and ministry leaders to communicate vision, priorities, initiatives, and updates.
• Draft emails, presentations, talking points, FAQs, scripts, announcements, and other leadership communications.
• Serve as a trusted communication advisor by helping leaders communicate with clarity, consistency, and purpose.
• Manage and continually improve Pinelake’s internal communication platforms, including the staff intranet and other digital tools.
• Keep staff resources organized, current, and easily accessible.
• Evaluate communication effectiveness and recommend improvements to systems, processes, and rhythms.
• Capture and share stories that celebrate ministry impact, staff wins, and God’s work across Pinelake.
• Highlight organizational milestones and initiatives that reinforce mission, vision, and culture.
• Help staff remain connected to the bigger story of what God is doing through the church.
• Collaborate with designers, videographers, photographers, web developers, social media specialists, and others to create engaging internal communication.
• Ensure internal communication reflects the same level of excellence, consistency, and creativity as Pinelake’s external communication.
• Contribute to communication planning for major churchwide initiatives and campaigns.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Writing

Editing

Project management

Interpersonal skills

Confidentiality

Communication strategy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Communications or related field

Three+ years professional communication experience

Tools

Microsoft 365

Google Workspace

CMS

Project management software

Adobe Creative Cloud

Canva

Job description

SUMMARY

The Staff Communications Specialist serves on the Creative Team and is responsible for planning, creating, and delivering clear, timely, and effective communication to Pinelake staff. This role helps ensure staff across every campus and ministry remain informed, aligned, and connected to the mission and vision of the church.

Working closely with executive leadership, ministry teams, and fellow creatives, the Staff Communications Specialist translates organizational priorities into communication that is clear, engaging, and actionable. This role serves as a bridge between leadership and staff by helping communicate not only what is happening, but why it matters.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional writer, thoughtful editor, skilled project manager, and collaborative teammate who believes great communication builds trust, reduces confusion, strengthens culture, and advances ministry.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Learn
  • Pursue a growing relationship with Jesus through consistent time in God’s Word and prayer
  • Continually grow in your understanding of the Jesus-Centered Life (salvation, identity, life, and authority in Christ).
  • Remain teachable and hungry, seeking feedback, learning from others, and developing both spiritually and professionally.
  • Cultivate awareness of God’s presence in everyday life, listening to the Holy Spirit and responding in obedience.
• Live
  • Practice and model the rhythms of Be the Church (Grow, Pray, Connect, and Share).
  • Pursue emotional health by engaging in self-awareness, addressing past wounds, and cultivating honest, healthy relationships.
  • Practice healthy rhythms, prioritizing your relationship with Jesus and your family
  • Embody a life of integrity and surrender, allowing your private life with God to shape your work.
• Lead
  • Take ownership of disciple‑making by supporting and strengthening environments where people can take their next step toward a Jesus‑Centered Life.
  • Leverage your role, systems, and responsibilities to remove barriers and create clarity, helping both staff and the church move forward in the Discipleship Pathway (Essentials → JCL → Be the Church).
  • Contribute to life‑change by bringing your skills, organization, and follow‑through to your work, knowing that what you build and manage helps others lead and shepherd more effectively.
  • Build people through your influence—encouraging, supporting, and serving teammates and Servant Leaders in ways that help them grow and thrive.
  • Measure success not only by task completion, but by how your work contributes to disciples being formed and multiplied across the church.
• Embrace the Culture
  • Value and embody the staff values, which we call the 7 H’s: Humility, Honor, Honesty, Hunger, Holy Spirit, Health, and Harmony
  • Communicate clearly, honestly, and proactively in a way that builds trust, unity, and momentum.
  • Work in alignment with the church vision and leadership
  • Participate fully in the life of your campus or team, contributing to the unity, health, and shepherding of the faith family.

SPECIFIC LIST OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Communication Strategy

• Develop communication strategies that support organizational initiatives, ministry launches, and leadership priorities.
• Build communication plans that ensure staff receive the right information at the right time.
• Help leaders communicate organizational change with clarity and confidence.
• Maintain a strategic editorial calendar for internal communications.

Staff Communications

• Plan, write, edit, and distribute staff communications through email, newsletters, text messaging, the intranet, and other internal communication channels.
• Establish consistent communication rhythms that keep staff informed without creating communication overload.
• Ensure all communication reflects Pinelake’s voice, values, and commitment to excellence.

Leadership Communications

• Partner with executive leadership, pastors, and ministry leaders to communicate vision, strategic priorities, ministry initiatives, and organizational updates.
• Draft emails, presentations, talking points, FAQs, scripts, announcements, and other leadership communication.
• Serve as a trusted communication advisor by helping leaders communicate with clarity, consistency, and purpose.

Internal Communication Channels

• Manage and continually improve Pinelake’s internal communication platforms, including the staff intranet and other digital communication tools.
• Keep staff resources organized, current, and easily accessible.
• Evaluate communication effectiveness and recommend improvements to systems, processes, and communication rhythms.

Organizational Storytelling

• Capture and share stories that celebrate ministry impact, staff wins, and God’s work across Pinelake.
• Highlight organizational milestones and initiatives that reinforce mission, vision, and culture.
• Help staff remain connected to the bigger story of what God is doing through the church.

Creative Team Collaboration

• Collaborate with designers, videographers, photographers, web developers, social media specialists, and other members of the Creative Team to create engaging internal communication.
• Ensure internal communication reflects the same level of excellence, consistency, and creativity as Pinelake’s external communication.
• Contribute to communication planning for major churchwide initiatives and campaigns.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, English, or a related field preferred.
• Three or more years of professional communication, marketing, journalism, public relations, or related experience preferred.
• Experience supporting organizational leaders through communication is highly valued.
• Experience in ministry or nonprofit communication is a plus.

Communication Skills

• Outstanding writing, editing, and proofreading abilities.
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and simplicity.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust across teams and leadership levels.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment with sensitive information.

Organizational Skills

• Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects while meeting deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment with changing priorities.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
• Familiarity with email communication platforms, content management systems, and project management software.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, or similar creative tools is beneficial but not required.
• The Creative Team is viewed as a trusted strategic communication partner across the organization.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

The individual must have excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work with a diverse group of people, communicate clearly and effectively on the telephone, e‑mail and in person, demonstrating tact and diplomacy. Exceptional interpersonal skills are required to develop and maintain strong working relationships with volunteers, co‑workers, the public and church members and regular attendees. The individual must have the ability to understand written or oral instructions; read, analyze and interpret complex documents, instructions manuals, policies and procedures is essential.

COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

The individual must have demonstrated skill in the use of Windows/MacOS to complete tasks, including word processing and spreadsheets and the ability to use the internet for information retrieval. The individual must have basic mathematical skills, knowledge of bookkeeping and basic accounting, and budget and expense monitoring. The individual must have the ability to read financial information and spreadsheets.

REASONING ABILITY

The individual must be able to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; respond effectively to the most sensitive inquiries; simultaneous conceptualization and planning of multiple tasks, ability to project outcomes using different implementation strategies and ability to apply creative and innovative thinking to problem situations; and solve practical problems. The ability to work effectively and efficiently under stressful conditions to ensure deadlines are met is essential.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level of the work environment is usually moderate.