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July 31, 2006

CFCC and CMS History

We're in the midst of a 'heart and soul' series over at the Center for Church Communication, exploring where we've been and where we're going. This week Brad goes back to beginning, giving the history of both Church Marketing Sucks and the Center for Church Communication and how they came to be.

Check out our history >>

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:54 AM
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Church Bulletins Poll

Last week we asked about the ubiquitous church bulletin, the communication staple of churches everywhere. Well, apparently not everywhere, as 6% said they don't use a bulletin. The standard Xerox bulletin took the lead with 44%, followed by the fancy-schmancy types with 33%.

If you want to know more about church bulletins, check out the discussions in the Church Marketing Lab, including thoughts on bulletins, color bulletins and 11x17 bulletins.

Since we just celebrated our two-year anniversary, we thought it'd be fun to get a sense for how long people have been checking out CMS for this week's poll. With 50 votes in we have a ton of first-timers out front with 38%. Welcome to the madness. Those of you who are new might want to start with our new heart and soul series at our non-profit parent, the Center for Church Communication, on Why We Do What We Do.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:58 AM
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July 29, 2006

Lessons from a Chuch Plant

Looks like we're not the only ones celebrating two years. Ridge Stone Church in Canton, Ga. just celebrated its two-year anniversary and Pastor Gary Lamb shared his 21 Lessons from Two Years of Church Planting.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:58 AM
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Church Advertised with Republican Party

I know I've complained about being busy before, but you know it's bad when Christianity Today is clamoring for more CMS. Their weblog reported on a pastor donating to the Republican party and calling it advertising and wondered outloud where our coverage was. Wow. It's nice to be missed. And such a call out can't go unanswered, so here's our better-late-than-never post:

Calvary Temple Church in Texas is making headlines for accidentally donating to the Republican Party of Texas. Pastor Del Way explains that the church sponsored golf tournaments for "advertising purposes," and is regularly involved in community outreach efforts.

The church has asked for their money back from the Republican party "This is just an innocent thing," Way said. "It wasn't for a candidate."

"I'd be an idiot to directly support a party," Way said. "I want to be above reproach."

Yes, you would be an idiot to directly support a political party with church funds, but you'd also be an idiot to indirectly support a political party with church funds. It seems obvious that the golf tournaments were Republican Party of Texas events (how would you not know?), which seems like an obvious violation of IRS rules. Advertising at such an event may seem murkier than a straight-up donation, but it's still supporting a political party.

The lesson here is know where your advertising dollars are going. Or maybe it's don't advertise a sport that involves silly pants. You decide.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:18 AM
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July 24, 2006

Why We Do What We Do

I tend to get nostalgic around important dates and since Church Marketing Sucks just turned two we thought it would be a good time to share what's on our hearts. Over on the Center for Church Communication blog we're starting a heart and soul series. It's going to cover where we've been and where we're going, what our dreams are and how we hope to get there. We hope you'll join us on that journey and help us get there.

This week I start things off by talking about why we do what we do.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:06 AM
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Happy Birthday CMS!

This past weekend Church Marketing Sucks turned two years old. To celebrate we've given the site a little sprucing (sorry, no T-shirts... yet). You'll notice the design has some minor tweaks (which we're still tweaking--let us know if things look broken), though nothing drastic. If you're a die-hard RSS reader you might want to pop in for an actual visit and see what you think.

Among the changes, we've put our mission and tagline front and center. And you've got to love seeing the vacuum people right up top (you can also see them on your site). We're also giving props to our non-profit parent, the Center for Church Communication (CFCC), and ways you can support CFCC and Church Marketing Sucks.

It's hard to believe we've been doing this for two years. Thanks for making CMS what it is.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:22 AM
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Church Symbols Poll

Last week we asked about overdone symbolism in church logos. The cross won by an overwhelming majority, taking 57% of the vote. The dove came in a distant second with 29%.

What other overdone symbols are we forgetting? Fish, fire and the ever-popular swoosh come to mind, though it does seem like our poll is spot on. The cross is the standard symbol for church logos. Seems a little too easy, doesn't it?

This week we ask what kind of bulletin your church uses. If you're especially interested in the bulletin question, you can check out some discussions in the Church Marketing Lab, including thoughts on bulletins, color bulletins and 11x17 bulletins.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:08 AM
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July 18, 2006

Jesus Beer Billboard Prank

OK, this isn't strictly church marketing, but it made me laugh. Someone covered up a billboard in downtown Houston with their own billboard featuring a picture of Jesus holding a can of Budweiser and the phrases "King of Jews" and "King of Beers". It appears to be vandalism--professional looking vandalism--and has been up for a week or more.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions on this one.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:17 AM
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July 17, 2006

How Not to do Public Relations

Public relations can be quite the minefield. It's easy to say something that when quoted on the front page of the newspaper doesn't look so good.

Like when the chief operating officer of Airbus, John Leahy, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, "The wheels are not coming off," in respond to another delay in building more planes. The poor choice of words earned Leahy the Bimbo Award.

Every month Spaeth Communications offers a new list of bimbos. But more than a good laugh, it's an opportunity to learn a few PR lessons:

• Choose your words wisely.
• Don't bring up the worst possible fears (like bringing up Chernobyl when talking about a new nuclear plant)
• Don't be callous about death.
• Don't state the truth in a way that can be misleading.
• Don't spin bad news. Bad news is bad news.
• Don't insult people (they could be your customers, or in the case of churches, potential visitors)
• Make a positive statement when you have the opportunity.

From the few interviews I've given I will say it's pretty easy to slip up. The best defense is practice, practice, practice. (link via bloggedy blog)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:07 AM
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VBS Poll Results

Last week we asked how many churches were doing some sort of Vacation Bible School program for kids this summer. The majority of churches are, with 72% saying yes.

It's kind of amazing so many churches do some sort of program, though I suppose it makes sense with kids being free from school and running amuck through the lazy hazy days of summer. Though I can't help but agree with the oddity of pairing vacation and school.

This week we ask about the most overused symbol in church logos.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:58 AM
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July 12, 2006

50 Most Influential Churches for 2006

The Church Report has released their list of the 50 Most Influential Churches for 2006 (1.9 MB PDF, 9 pages). The list is compiled by recommendations from leaders of 2,000 of the largest churches, so "influential" is a bit fuzzy (yes, we did recently have that debate when we belatedly linked to last year's list).

Here's more on the list:

• Church Relevance offers a list of the 50 churches and their web sites, which makes it a little more accessible to check out each one.
• Monday Morning Insight raises some questions about the list and has some good discussion going.
• Community Christian Church's pastor Dave Ferguson blogs his reaction to being ranked #13 on the list.
• Bob Franquiz offers ways he's been influenced by churches on the list

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 2:21 PM
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July 11, 2006

5 Lists for Graphic Designers

Everybody loves lists! So we present our own list of lists to help graphic designers.

1. 50 Ways to Become a Better Designer - Loads of ideas, best practices and general creative stuff straight from the mouths of fellow designers. (via)

2. 10 Things They Never Taught Me in Design School - Start with what you know, then tackle the unknowns. Don't over-think the problem. Learn to give some hierarchy to the details and the big picture. (FYI, the list includes a few profanities)

3. 10 Strangest Desks and Tables - OK, this one has little to do with design, but sometimes you need some funky inspiration, especially when you're thinking about decorating the usually boring church space.

4. 4 Principles that Make for Great Logo Design - Simple and basic stuff, but sometimes that's exactly what you need. Complete with thumbs up and thumbs down examples.

5. 7 Ways to Improve Your Logo - OK, so they don't pitch it in a numbered list format, but we'll make it work. Good thoughts on how to polish an existing logo, including examples from Microsoft and Apple.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:55 AM
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July 10, 2006

Washington Post on Church Bloggers

The Washington Post dove into church blogging this weekend and offers a few good quotse:

"John Wesley [a prominent 18th-century evangelist] had to travel 250,000 miles on horseback to reach people, and I can do it with one click of the mouse," said Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

"I used to think that the blog supplemented my weekend message," said Batterson, who draws upward of 25,000 visitors a month to http://www.evotional.com. "Now I wonder if it isn't the other way around. It's hard for me to imagine why a church that has younger members wouldn't have a blog component."

"It's no longer enough for a lot of people to get the church's mailing, read the Web site, and sit in the pew for an hour on Sunday," said Brian Bailey, co-author of the upcoming book, Blogging Church. "They might know there was a mission trip last week, but with a blog, they can read about the day-to-day details, see pictures and feel like they're part of something."

"The most common temptation is when you don't know what to write about, and you see that bulletin sitting on your desk," said Bailey. "People are not interested in blogs that are PR announcements. It needs to be the personal voice of an individual."

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:46 AM
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4th of July Poll

Last week we asked about Independence Day and whether or not churches overdo patriotism. Resoundingly, the results are... that it depends on the church (48%). Combined, the yes and no camps took just over half the vote, with those who think churches overdo it taking a slight lead, 28% to 24%. But it comes down to individual churches, and you probably could have guessed that.

This week we ask about the old summer standby, the VBS.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:40 AM
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July 8, 2006

On Earth As It Is In Advertising

Sam Van Eman reminds us why so many people agree that church marketing sucks in his book On Earth As It Is In Advertising: Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope. Namely that advertising specifically and marketing in general have so often been used to twist and distort reality and pull us farther away from the Gospel. Of course on this site we make the claim that what sucks is bad marketing, which is what Van Eman describes, but that there is room and much need for authentic marketing. Van Eman is a little more ambiguous on that point.

Most of the book is spent convincing the reader that advertising is all about promoting what the author calls the Sim Gospel. It's essentially a cheap, watered down, distorted version of the true Gospel. It's the feeling that we need a new car and new clothes and whatever else they're hocking to make us complete. It's the consumer mindset gone overboard.

And to a point Van Eman is right. We are assaulted with so many messages and sales pitches that we need to step back and filter out the messages. But he doesn't take the application far enough or deep enough.

Continue reading "On Earth As It Is In Advertising"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:23 AM
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July 7, 2006

Church Marketing Lab Round Up #14

It's that time again. Get in there and help the church matter.

Creative Arts - poster design.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab Round Up #14"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:52 PM
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July 6, 2006

The Statue of Liberation Through Christ

You just can't make this stuff up.

72 feet tall. Cross instead of a torch. 10 Commandments in her arm. Total cost: $260,000. It's not quite Lady Liberty; it's the Statue of Liberation Through Christ, a monument erected by World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church in Memphis, Tenn.

"[It's] a creative means of just really letting people know that God is the foundation of our nation," said the church's pastor, Alton R. Williams. According to the New York Times, Williams has also bought full page ads in a Memphis paper condemning homosexuality, lists "legalized abortion, a lack of prayer in schools and the country's 'promotion of expressions of New Age, Wicca, secularism and humanism,'" among the nation's ills, and claimed Hurricane Katrina was punishment for the sins of New Orleans.

Just add it to the other religious monuments, including 'touchdown' Jesus and the 99-foot eyesore.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:39 AM
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July 5, 2006

The Paradox of Copywriting

Church Relevance looks at the paradox of copywriting and explores the difficulty of writing good copy for churches. It should be short and sweet, but don't be afraid to write long--if it's good.

I can never overemphasize the importance of short, scannable copy.

• Keep it short.
• Make it scannable.
• Use headers and bulleted lists.
• Short and to the point is better than cute and long.
• Be consistent. If all your announcement have dates, times and costs, format them the same way so people know where to look for the important info.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:04 AM
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Support CMS with Squidoo

You can now support our non-profit parent, the Center for Church Communication (and by extension Church Marketing Sucks) through the web 2.0 site Squidoo.

The site lets you earn income on products sold and ads and either pocket the cash or donate it to your favorite non-profit. We're now on that list of charities, so if you have a Squidoo lens or are thinking of starting one, consider donating some or all of your earnings to help churches matter.

You can also check out our lens and our earlier post on how your church can use Squidoo.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:58 AM
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July 3, 2006

What Do You Do Poll Results

Last week we asked what kind of work everybody does, and the results are a nice spread.

Graphic designers are out front with 19% (any of you interested in volunteering for our PDF template project?). Then comes multimedia at 16%, followed closely by writing/editing (15%) and big picture stuff (15%), followed by production/printing (14%) and techie stuff (13%, any techies want to help out?).

Of course a lot of people wear different hats and these results don't reflect that, but it is cool to see a spread of different talents at work.

This week we ask about the 4th of July and the church.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:32 AM
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