Comments on: You Can’t Advertise Problems Away: Ad Campaigns of the Mainline Denominations

By: Church Advertising

Church Advertising — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:10:14 +0000

This reminds me of another blog here about the amount of people who would be willing to come to church. While 82% said they would come only 2% of the people in church said they would ask. Maybe it is because we don’t believe in what we offer. Maybe it isn’t Jesus we are ashamed of it is His followers.
I do agree though that church advertising will not solve this problem. It will only be solved in the hearts of those who claim Christ.

By: church outreach

church outreach — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:32:43 +0000

Ouch, that quote about the church not being different is really harsh! I think it hits us that hard because it is true. I am finding more and more that outreach is not always about the advertising… it is allways about the people.
You could have a thousand ads in every media about your church but no one is going to show up if the first thing they see is someone fighting in front of the church with the elders chanting “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!”

By: Andy Wittwer

Andy Wittwer — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:56:19 +0000

It’s really a shame to see this kind of advertising going on. Our church is part of the Foursquare denomination – I hadn’t heard “our” new slogan yet. Marketing a denomination reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1. Everyone comes to Christ in a denomination (or theological outline), hopefully, that doesn’t make them anything different than a tried and true Christ-follower.

By: Brian Klassen

Brian Klassen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:30:34 +0000

I am neither a moderate or a liberal. I am a Jesus follower who is struggling and working towards developing a better relationship with Him (within the community of a mainline denomination). We are so scared to let everyone know that it is a struggle and that we are not perfect. This is where the brand disconnect occurs. Either we are unwilling to be honest or we don’t really know. Either way, we are not communicating the “real” truth about who we are and from my experience, that’s what people really responding to these days, especially seasoned with Gods radical love.
Our brands are not held by us but by the audiences it interacts with (a very important distinction when developing any kind of brand communication). We are but caretakers, and I must be honest and say, we could be doing a much better job in both development and then communications of these sacred brands.

By: Emilio Silvas

Emilio Silvas — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:38:24 +0000

My point is there should not be moderate or liberal Christianity. It should simply be Christianity. I’m a conservative and, after reading your blog, you are liberal. So what? I don’t recall Jesus saying there are different wings in God’s house for us to reside. The terms you propose mean more in the secular world. When we evangelize to people we can’t ask them what brand of Christianity they prefer.

By: jesse

jesse — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:32:57 +0000

Snark does not an argument make. The problem is that many people are unaware of the options that DO exist. If they turn away from Episcopalianism because the services are too boring, fine. But what of the people who don’t even realize there’s such thing as moderate or liberal Christianity?

By: Emilio Silvas

Emilio Silvas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:08:52 +0000

I should probably state two additional things:

I love my church would not consider leaving despite the turmoil at the national level. You have to love people even if you don't agree with them.
The reason I talked about evangelical churches was the discussion on the US News page. I think many of the people leaving mainline churches are going to those churches. We have certainly lost several members to evangelical churches in our area.

By: Emilio Silvas

Emilio Silvas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:59:53 +0000

I worship in an Episcopal church and came to this tradition because of my wife. I have worshiped in Catholic (born and bred), non-demoninational, Southern Baptist and Assemblies of God churches. 17th Century English thought has little to do with the weekly discussions at my church. They are often about homosexuality and permissive behavior and rebranding has nothing to do with the number of people attending our Sunday service.

The particular tradition we follow each week is desirable by some and tolerated by others. What really matters is what we believe and that it be consistent with those stated beliefs. People will get past the order of service if the message is real and honest, even if it condemns their own behavior.

The other reason evangelical churches do well is because they evangelize. Mainline churches may have a soup kitchen in one church, but the rest of the diocese should not be able to point from their pews as an example for them as well.

No matter what kind of marketing campaign you have, it will never eclipse the kind of relationship you will build when someone from your church invites someone they know. Mainline churches have been built upon the premise of someone, somewhere dropping by the church. Evangelical churches are built on the premise that YOU bring in someone as Jesus commanded.

By: C. Holland

C. Holland — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:18:00 +0000

@ Kevin: Thanks for the clarification; I see what you mean now.

By: Kevin D. Hendricks

Kevin D. Hendricks — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:54:07 +0000

@ C. Holland: I meant it hurts because we’re “not different enough from mainstream America.” As counter-cultural as we may think we are, apparently we’re not living it out as we should be.