May 13, 2008

Community Organizing vs. Community Building

I mentioned last week about the conversation me and my wife are a part of with a handful of churches in Northeast Los Angeles discussing issues of poverty, homelessness, education, etc. One of the models we were looking at for engaging our community is developed by an organization called Pico. The model is built around "one-to-one's" which is exactly what it sounds like--one person conversing with another person. (It's a little more complex than this so you can watch an overview on their site). Pico points to significant social movements in history (i.e., Civil Rights) and traces their roots not to dynamic personalities but to grassroots community building.

This got me thinking about "community building" vs. "community organizing" and how often church leaders--myself included--tend to go for organizing groups before figuring out what to organize around. It seems so much easier to do a big splash in the community around a trendy cause and hope everybody notices. But what would happen if we let causes surface on their own and let our focus instead be on making sure every voice is heard?

In the Pico model, individuals go to other individuals (neighbors, shopkeepers, government workers, you name it) and do interviews. One-on-one interviews to get to know what's going on in their world. What are their concerns? What do they want to see change? Would they consider being a part of that change?

I'll admit, this approach is much slower and it lacks the stimulating immediacy of our give-it-to-me-now mindset, but I think it has some merit.

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:48 AM
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May 12, 2008

Fun With Links

Amidst end-of-the-semester craziness, a wealth of links have come my way. And now, they're coming your way. So if you want to delay the start of your Monday, check out these links.

• Is marketing evil? Paul Steinbrueck takes a look at this question.
• Four myths about reaching the unchurched. Outreach magazine looks at how to bust these myths and reach the unreached.
• Bright green marketing practices. Worldchanging discusses creating a positive world for consumers to enjoy the products we market.
• When guerilla marketing goes bad. WebUrbanist looks at five times guerrilla marketing tactics have gone terribly wrong.
• Things they tell church planters that are wrong. A reflection considering God and (some) marketing regarding church plants.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 7:15 AM
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Church Marketing Lab: Because You Love Your Mother

Don't you owe it to moms all over the world to give them the best designs ever? Head to the Church Marketing Lab and give some feedback for these Mother's Day designs, because it's never too late for feedback. There's always next year.

Here's a poster to promote a "Celebrate Mom" service.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab: Because You Love Your Mother"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:20 AM
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May 9, 2008

Our Don't Suck List Still Sucks

For those counting--you know who you are--it's been 31 months since our last update about the infamous Don't Suck list. Lots of people have made suggestions publicly on this site, through e-mail and countless conversations offline. I think we've finally blurred the lines enough so that people can't tell the difference between the despicableness of the list itself or of our inaction to actually do something about it. There is no excuse.

I have decided to pull a Ty Pennington (no, I don't plan a drunken arrest) and make this my special project. The bulk of the work will begin in June with a goal to have something launched later this year. Although I will personally take the lead on this project, it will definitely be in the same collaborative spirit we've all been a part of here in the CFCC community.

Here's the plan:

1. There are two layers to this project. The first is a directory of sorts that is more comprehensive. It will be a pre-screened list of go-to people and companies for helping churches communicate. The second layer will be a regularly published "Don't Suck" list that is chosen entirely based on the opinion of the panel behind it. It will be more editorialized which means many will like it and many will hate it. Consider this your warning.

2. There is a post on the CFCC Freelance Lab looking for a web designer/programmer to help build this stuff. If you fit the description, please respond el pronto.

3. If you want to volunteer and be a part of planning/steering this, you can email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put "Don't Suck Volunteer" in the subject line including a brief description for why you want to be a part. If you email me to volunteer it means you will make time to respond to a survey or two and possibly make yourself available for some conference calls, among other related tasks.

4. If you have specific comments that you want to put out there and make sure we're considering, you can also email me: brad [at] cfcclabs dot org. Please put "Don't Suck Comments" in the subject line.

Thanks for your patience and for helping us build this thing right. The Don't Suck list is nearly always in our top ten most most frequented links, and it's one of the most practical things we as the CFCC community can do to help churches beyond what we're already doing through this blog and the labs.

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:54 AM
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May 8, 2008

Small Churches Should Embrace Cheap Technology

Last week's poll/quiz revealed the encouraging stat that 62% of churches have a web site, up from 57% in 2005 and 34% in 2000. The results come from a recent Barna survey (nicely summarized with pretty graphics by Kent Shaffer).

One of the interesting, though hardly surprising, things about the survey is that no matter the technology--web sites, projection systems, e-mail newsletters, podcasting--large churches are adapting these new technologies much faster than small churches.

Continue reading "Small Churches Should Embrace Cheap Technology"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:02 AM
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May 7, 2008

Quiz Time Poll Results

The most recent Barna poll asked about church technology usage, comparing the results across the years 2000, 2005 and 2007. We decided to quiz you and see how well you would be in tune with what other churches are doing. We asked you what percent of churches you thought currently have a web site.

44% of you guessed guessed that 0-50% of churches have a web site. Maybe that number is so high because 0-50 is the biggest range. Or maybe you just don't think many churches have sites.

The numbers go down from there. 21% of you thought that half to 65% of churches have sites. Another 21% of you thought 66%-80% have sites. That's the group I was in, as an optimist.

The really optimistic bunch of you thought either 81%-100% of churches have web sites. That'd be pretty sweet, but unfortunately, only in DreamLand.

Well, if you didn't cheat, the results are in...

62% of churches have a web site. That's up from 57% in 2005 and 34% in 2000. Check out Kent Shaffer's wrap-up for more complete results, including stats regarding e-mail blasts, social networking, projectors and more.

This week, we want to know, did your church do anything to celebrate Earth Day, either corporately or around the office?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:27 AM
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May 6, 2008

People Gotta Know

Earlier this week my wife and I were part of a conversation with a handful of churches brought together in Northeast Los Angeles. Those present were about as eclectic as you could get: inter-denominational, multi-generational, multi-ethnic and people from every part of the socioeconomic spectrum. We had come to discuss how our individual churches could unite together and be one church community within our city, particularly as it relates to addressing issues of poverty, homelessness, education and other hot topics confronting us. Unfortunately, this was an historic moment for churches in Northeast Los Angeles.

In response to how we could broaden the conversations we were having on this night to the rest of the people in our church communities, an elder in the room stood up. Tony was from one of the nearby Catholic parishes responsible for the only 7-day-a-week feeding program in the area. They've gone from feeding a handful of people to nearly 150 every day for lunch, and dinner on Friday nights.

You can imagine my surprise when Tony said the majority of people in their parish did not know their own feeding ministry exists. "In spite of printing something in the bulletin every week," said Tony, "our own people have no idea what's going on." Many others in the room nodded in sympathetic frustration. The collective sigh sounded like this: "How could we get others in our church on board with social justice topics when it seems like very few others even care?"

Continue reading "People Gotta Know"

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:10 AM
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May 5, 2008

Job Lab and Freelance Lab Roundup

We've seen some good action in our Freelance Lab and Job Lab since our announcement that they're free forever. If you haven't been checking them out, here are some opportunities for you.

Design a worship folder and banner for Concordia Lutheran Church.

Create a wedding booklet for First Baptist Fort Lauderdale.

Or, if you're looking for more full-time work...
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina is looking for a webmaster and a graphic designer.

Remember, if you're looking to fill a communication-related project or job opening, our Freelance Lab and Job Lab are now completely free.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 2:05 PM
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May 2, 2008

Church Marketing Lab: Stages, Shirts and Summer Fun

Let's talk numbers here for a minute. We're only 52 members away from the 2,000 mark in the Church Marketing Lab, and the conversations just get better and better. Last June we hit member 1,000, and now we're already at 2,000! In October, we were looking at the 3,000th posting. Now, we're almost at 5,000! So if you aren't in the conversation, head over and join in. Here's some of what we've been seeing lately:

Here's a smorgasbord of ideas for a vision-casting print.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab: Stages, Shirts and Summer Fun"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 9:43 AM
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April 30, 2008

Flickr Goes Video, So Does the Church Marketing Lab

If you haven't heard, Flickr added video capabilities to their photo-sharing site. And if you didn't know, the Church Marketing Lab runs on Flickr. What does that mean to you?

Well it means that while you could always submit graphics and photos to the Church Marketing Lab for review and discussion, now you can submit your church's videos as well. Got a series bumper? A skit? Something else?

hsojeel, a Church Marketing Lab member, explains it a little more deeply.

Keep in mind that video is only for pro users, which is a $25/year upgrade from the free Flickr service.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 11:08 AM
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