Comments on: Is Marketing In the Bible?

By: onefree1

onefree1 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 06:22:10 +0000

Yorba Linda Dude…have you looked at your website lately?

There are more bells and whistles, podcasts, and advertisements of upcoming events then most professional sports teams have. I could find no services for the needy, help for the homeless, or a church that…” represents selfless service for the needy with funds contributed by true believers of the faith.”

Come on, please don’t make a comment like that above and put a url to a site that has a link in its main navigation header so that I can click-n-give, with a catchy message included:

“Thank you for choosing to support XXXXXXXXX. We appreciate your commitment to our cause and look forward to your involvement with our church. Your generosity will enable us to continue to bring awareness to our ministries and make a difference in the lives of those we impact through our efforts.” (Church name deleted to protect YOU!)

Wow…”our cause”…”our church”…”our ministries”…”our efforts”!

Please walk the talk—don’t just write it and run—and let people see the truth, found only in Jesus, radiating from your life AND from your words. :-)

It has been a year since you wrote this post and you may never read this, but I feel as if the universe is better balanced tonight, just by writing it.

PS. I did see that your church could be rented out for weddings and the prices “advertised” are very reasonable…but it is only for use by members who seem to have extra “funds” not “contributed by true believers of the faith.” :-)

By: Sophie

Sophie — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:21:49 +0000

I was going to say the same thing! Marketing is effective communicating to people and that’s exactly what the parables did!! Telling a story!

By: Church Minister, Yorba Linda

Church Minister, Yorba Linda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:24:15 +0000

The word marketing essentially connotes profiteering whether in the past or present. Provide value and charge something for it.
The church represents selfless service for the needy with funds contributed by true believers of the faith. The larger good as against individual desire. As they say “never the twain shall meet”.

By: Student

Student — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:26:24 +0000

You may want to revisit this scripture because this is a clear misuse!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:26:59 +0000

This is ridiculous. Marketing is used to make money, sell a product, and manipulate groups of people. A “church” is not a business nor is its purpose to grow or recruit people. If anyone thinks otherwise they do not know their bible. The title of this site is very accurate, “church marketing sucks”, it does, not because it is usually cheesy, stupid, lame, and ineffective but because no church should be doing it! The entire motivation for using any marketing tactics demonstrates that it is not of God, the desire to simply grow and make more money. Sad.

By: Martin L.

Martin L. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:02:30 +0000

Wow you really think it is your right to go to peoples homes and preach to them? “There are people right now in your community that don’t know God. There are children without fathers, families without hope. How are you reaching them? How do they know your church exists, and what it exists for?”
Look by now in America…people know what a Church is for…they don’t come because there are no answers for them there. It’s great that you believe it solves everything bowing and cowering and trying to “convert”. I am sorry that you do not see the truth of what is in front of you…that you rely on what others say is in the bible and how to interpret it. Do you not question anything? or do you blindly just follow and grovel out of fear of being spanked? Peace be with each of you and good luck on your path. I don’t need to read the bible to know that it is a good thing to help those in need. By the way…marketing is a business tool since the Church is the largest cash crop and gets the most Tax advantages…it does fit.

By: ab

ab — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:01:10 +0000

Um….hello…The Great Commission? “Marketing” was not a word used in Hebrew as it is today. But Go Forth and Preach to All Nations that they may know….equals, get the word out. If you’re going to be in marketing and make your life about making sure ppls attn is on x y or z subject, what subject is more eternally of import than the Gospel and Jesus Himself by name available to each and every life today? Got Milk? Got Jesus? Both Marketing. Only one can be found in Mark…and Matthew and Luke and John…and is one of the Greatest Commandments our Lord ever gave humankind. Go…tell them.

By: Rick A

Rick A — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:53:31 +0000

The Bible certainly does cover marketing. It teaches us that we have a message and that we should not hid it under a bushel. This is advertising as it was explained in the day of Jesus Christ.
If we travel this earth inur daily lives , not hiding under a bushel, our light will shine and we are positive examples of what it means to be a Christian

By: Joel J.

Joel J. — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:53:48 +0000

The links here do not work anymore… any chance of updating those?

By: D. Wendal Attig

D. Wendal Attig — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:37:21 +0000

This thread struck a chord with me. As a lifetime Christian and professional marketing coach, author and keynote speaker, I see so many congregations that have become the “Church Club” for their members, instead of reaching out continually to reach the unchurched. arguing over whether we should or should not “market” the church is a moot point. if we don’t embrace it and use it effectively we cannot expect to see significant growth in our congregations and more importantly expand our opportunities to serve.
Something Christians often forget is this: The lost — until they come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ–are merely religious consumers!
We must never compromise our message–in fact the unchurched hope we will stand for something worth following–but must change the way we communicate.
In the parable of the wedding feast, in Luke 14:3, ” the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
These instructions were clearly to motivate these strangers by communicating strong or convincing reasons why they should come to the house so that they could be served and enjoy the master’s best. They were essentially instructed to counter all of the complaints and excuses that the earlier invited guest were making as reasons they could not comply. In essence,”Adjust your target market and tell a more compelling story!”
This is one of the most classic examples in the bible of marketing. (Now, if you’re about to go bibleo-technical on me, remember that “Marketing” was not a word the King James’ translators were familiar with.)
In today’s world, communication clutter in everything from your snail-mail box to your email screen finds the church at-large scrambling to get attention for what we know is the most incredible gift we’ve been given. And we want to share it. Many of us have an opportunity to witness personally, but we can reach so many more people by also using the marketing tools available to us, today.
Marketing in the true sense of the word starts with a full understanding of your ministry’s strengths. (Forget the tendency to believe that your church is or should be all things to all people –God can do that– but not you or your church.)
Like any organization, your church has strengths that have caused people to congregate. Learn what they were from members of your congregation who have been there consistently for more than 6 months, but not more than 2 years–they will tell you.
Those strengths contribute to the “compelling” or marketing messages that make sense for your congregation. (And those your people will be able to confirm when new people arrive.) In the secular world, we would call that a value proposition–If you come, here’s something special you can expect from us.
In my book on brand positioning, I point out how powerful it is to reduce the main differentiator about your organization into a one-line statement that embodies a single power point of distinction. This doesn’t mean your church has to stop doing anything you currently do, but it means your promotional initiatives must be focused enough to cut through the clutter and deliver an important position.
The challenge in this exercise is to create this “brand positioning statement” so that it registers from the perspective of the “religious consumer” to compel them to come in, and yet simultaneously works to reinforce the strength it represents within your existing congregation.
Once this is clear, prayed over and tested, this becomes your lead brand position and the focal point around which you create additional messaging. Put it out everywhere you can, through traditional and non-traditional methods.
BBBBBBut wait…..just because you develop a clever slogan doesn’t mean they will come ……..and stay, long enough to get it.
The next initiative in your church marketing is to reinforce the advertised strength through everything your church operationally does to manage the path of least resistance from the parking lot to the pew–don’t just make a promise-deliver consistently–by design.
They came because you created an expectation. Now, make them feel welcome, make them feel like they have been missing something special and make them want to come back again and again –maybe even get involved with this bunch of people. Make it easy for them to say yes to you, and you’ll make it much easier for them to say, “yes,” to God.
So far, we’ve done everything but convert them to a personal relationship with Jesus, which is something only God can do. We have to create the opportunity, by sending a compelling message into the marketplace of unbelievers who are religious consumers at best. This is our 21st century method of going out into the highways and hedges and compelling them to come in –then our personal efforts, our talents and our christian witness will influence a mindset He can use to introduce and deliver the power of His saving grace.
Go forth and Market!
D. Wendal Attig