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December 28, 2006

Happy Christmas Poll

We know you wanted an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200 shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time for Christmas, but we all know you'll shoot your eye out. How about a nice football? Or maybe something mentioned in recent Church Marketing Sucks blog entries?

Overwhelming, you wanted a fancy CMS T-shirt. If you ordered one you should have received it by now and you should be making all your friends jealous. Next up was a new name for your church, followed closely by a MySpace profile for your pastor. Then your very own rappin' pastor, a 'church protest called off for free' card and getting your church's domain name back.

We hope all your wildest Christmas dreams came true. This week we're asking about your church marketing hopes and dreams for 2007.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:18 AM
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December 23, 2006

Free Miracle Cloth

Here at Church Marketing Sucks, we are often criticized for feeding the capitalistic free-market economy mindset that says if you advertise, promote, or market something well, people will come and churches will grow. This criticism is usually from people who have not read far enough into what we're actually doing, and instead see the words "church" and "marketing" in the same sentence and start swinging.

It grieves me when I see churches follow the lead from mainstream marketers and attempt to package themselves in a way that feeds this consumer mindset. It's as if some churches have resolved to think that the only way to connect with people is to do so in the context of a "buy/sell" relationship with the community they are seeking to reach. Bunk!

Allow me to illustrate this point with the following ad I saw today in one of our local downtown LA newspapers.

Continue reading "Free Miracle Cloth"

Posted by Brad Abare at 9:56 AM
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December 22, 2006

Church Marketing Lab Lightning Round

By Brandon Meek, Guest Blogger

A lot has happened in the lab since the last update. We have nearly 600 members and more than 1100 images that people have been critiquing and learning from. If you haven't been there, take a minute and checkout the Church Marketing Lab.

The following are some images that could use some feedback so while you are waiting for Santa to stop by, take a few minutes and help church marketing not suck.

– Christmas Eve Ad

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab Lightning Round"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 7:46 AM
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December 20, 2006

Top 10 Most Commented Entries of 2006

It's the end of the year and time for lists galore. So we present the top 10 most commented entries of 2006.

Of course we're ignoring the old Peer Review entries before we launched the Church Marketing Lab. We're also only looking at entries composed in 2006, even though some of our older entries remain popular and still rack up the comments. It's also worth pointing out that landing on this list has nothing to do with the quality of the entry or the topic, it has more to do with the comment fury the entry prompted, for whatever reason. And of course all comment numbers were current at press time.

So with no further disclaimers, let's get this list started...

1) The Church & Money: Plasma TV or Feed the Poor? - 39 comments

Continue reading "Top 10 Most Commented Entries of 2006"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 2:29 PM
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December 19, 2006

CMS T-shirt Poll

Last week we asked about our Church Marketing Sucks T-shirt sale. We managed to sell over 100 shirts and for everyone who ordered one, they should be well on their way. Enjoy.

So we asked what everyone thought of the sale. 45% liked the idea and want to know when we can do more. That's the magic question. 33% said it wasn't a bad idea, but they want better designs. We'll see what we can do. 9% want more blogging and less swag. Ah, come on--can't we have both? 8% thought the shirts were too pricey. Meh to you too. And 5% thought we were sellouts. Well, you can't win them all.

Thanks to everyone who bought a shirt and helped support CFCC and CMS.

This week it's our Christmas poll: What do you want for Christmas assuming you could pick from stuff we recently blogged about?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:59 AM
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December 15, 2006

Rappin' Pastors, Renamin' Churches, Sharin' Graphics

• Rapping Pastors - When we did our Christmas marketing poll we forgot all about full-on rap videos. I bet that would have beaten out extra services. Who wants extra church when you can have rapping pastors? The creative promotion has landed the church in the newspaper, TV and Hannity & Colmes. Pastor Gary Lamb also offers some encouragement to his church in the face of some criticism. That's right--forget the haters and shake it, Santa!
• Shared Worship Background Graphics - Inspired by the Church Marketing Lab, this group is all about, well, sharing worship background graphics. Rather than critique, this is about sharing and using.
• Hog Church No More - Hog Mountain Baptist Church is voting to change its name (they're dropping the hog, not the Baptist), mainly because much of the area has dropped the name, but also because "in the Bible, hogs are associated with sin." Huh? In other church name change news (somebody should start a blog dedicated to church name changes), History Church in Reston, Va. is considering a name change. Pastor Ben Arment is blogging about the process, and keeping us updated. So far he's learned that people want "Reston" in the name, as well as words like "hope" and "new". I think it's settled then--Reston New Hope Not-a-Baptist Church. Or maybe they could take Brad's much-maligned recent post in an ugly new direction and sell off naming rights: Crest White Strips Church of Reston has a nice ring to it, just like your smile when you use Crest White Strips™.
• Lighted Cross Sparks Controversy - "It's right smack dab in the middle of my view. It looks like a beer sign." Wow, apparently the Jesus in a pint and King of Jews/King of Beers ads are working.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:11 AM
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December 14, 2006

Christmas Marketing Poll

Last week we asked about Christmas marketing. The most popular approach is extra services or special programs for Christmas, with 27% of respondents. Then it's a practical dead-heat between advertising, extra announcements, word of mouth and a special Christmas sermon series.

The witty slogan on the church sign didn't fair so well with only 2%. In the 'other' category, several people said their church was doing nothing. And one person said their church was canceling services since it went over so well last year (it's a joke!).

We asked a similar question last year and it looks like the results are pretty much the same. If anything, a few more people are doing some of the basics like advertising, extra announcements and word of mouth, but the most common approach then as now was to do extra or special services for Christmas.

This week we're asking what you thought of our T-shirt sale.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:43 AM
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December 13, 2006

Advertise on CMS

You may have noticed the big new graphic on the right. That's right, we're now accepting advertising on Church Marketing Sucks and the Center for Church Communication. It's part of the CFCC Advertising Network. Check out the announcement over at the CFCC blog and consider advertising on CMS.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:46 AM
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December 12, 2006

First Baptist Church Becomes CenterPoint Church

Over at the Out of Ur blog Gordon MacDonald writes about the recent name change his 180-year-old church went through. It took two votes to change the name and an 80% or higher 'yes' vote from the congregation. But now they're CenterPoint Church, established in 1818. MacDonald's biblical perspective on name changes is especially helpful. It's not just marketing, it's bibilical!

You can also check out a successful name change story and my favorite, the church that dropped church from their name.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:51 AM
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Dear Pastor College Student Essay Contest

Hey college students, Outreach magazine and Kyros Entertainment are teaming up to offer a essay contest. It's a chance to tell pastors why churches are missing the boat when it comes to your age group. Prizes include publication in Outreach magazine and "cash prizes". Check out the details and submit your essay (deadline January 15, 2007).

College students who can write should also know that you can be a guest blogger for us. We don't offer "cash prizes," but we do have the word 'sucks' in our title. That counts for something, right?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 10:33 AM
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December 11, 2006

Your Church, sponsored by Crest White Strips

Wharton's online business journal, Knowledge@Wharton did an article last month about the increasing amount of products and services being marketed in partnership with churches. From test driving SUVs during a Gospel concert to the church's involvement with so many big screen movies (Passion, Narnia and Nativity to name a few), mainstream marketers are realizing the potential that exists with bringing products to the pews, as opposed to waiting for the pews to come to their products.

The concept of taking a message to the people is nothing new. I don't remember Jesus ever inviting people to church/Temple, yet it appears churches are still learning this lesson. I digress.

The realization to mainstream marketers that congregations are a worthy market is long overdue. I also think churches are long overdue to harness this powerful partnership potential and consider the synergies. I am not suggesting we start re-naming our churches to include a sponsor's name, but there is certainly room for strategic and meaningful partnerships.

Continue reading "Your Church, sponsored by Crest White Strips"

Posted by Brad Abare at 7:34 AM
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December 8, 2006

Manliness, Names & Parody

• Manliness is Next to Godliness - "It's the wuss-ification of America that's getting us!"
• Churches Drop 'Baptist' Tag - "People tend to think of Baptists as very narrow-minded, sometimes mean-spirited and self-righteous. That's not who we are at all."
• Congregations Know More Than Their Pastors - On average, churchgoers feel 8% more informed than their pastors on cultural issues.
• Christian vs. Christ-Follower - A parody of the PC vs. Mac commercials.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:54 AM
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December 6, 2006

Church Vandals Score Xbox

Here's an odd little story: Three teenagers break into South Hills Evangelical Church in Missoula, Mont., steal money and smash windows and computers causing several thousand dollars in damage. In response, the following Sunday's sermon used the incident as an example to talk about mercy and forgiveness and the church gave the teens several hundred dollars worth of gifts, including an Xbox and a DVD player.

Church pastor Jason Reimer said the congregation wanted "to reach out and extend love and mercy to them".

"A lot of us, whether we're churchgoers or not, have been in their shoes before and have made some bad choices," Mr Reimer said. "But God forgives us."

Ah, love and mercy in the form of an Xbox. I love the idea and I love the gesture, but the practical side of me wonders what this accomplishes. Maybe this is one of those things where Christians are just supposed to act and let God sort it out, but I can't help but wonder if teens across the country will see this as a good way to score an Xbox. I can see it now: "Stupid Christians, let's trash their church and see if they turn the other cheek."

Continue reading "Church Vandals Score Xbox"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:40 PM
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December 5, 2006

CMS Store is Closed / Shirts Poll

We hope you got your CMS T-shirts if you wanted them because the Church Marketing Sucks store is now officially closed. Thanks to everyone who ordered a shirt or two (or three) and helped support this blog and the wider effort of the Center for Church Communication. We sold just over 100 T-shirts, which isn't too shabby for only having them available for two weeks.

Now that we've taken the orders we'll print a limited run of the shirts and ship them out by December 13 at the latest, arriving in time for Christmas.

It's been a good learning process for us, and hopefully we'll be able to offer shirts and other products again in the future. Thanks for your support!

And now for the results. Last week we asked which shirt design was your favorite. 'That's How We've Always Done It!' won by a landslide, taking 42% of the vote. Definitely your favorite, based on the poll and because it was the most popular shirt ordered. Our motto shirt was next bearing the 'Frustrate. Educate. Motivate.' slogan with 17%. The three remaining shirts tied with 11% each, which is interesting considering the 'Christianese' outsold both the other two shirts by a wide margin. And 7% just weren't impressed with our designs. Sorry, maybe next time.

This week we're asking what kind of special marketing you're doing for Christmas.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:45 AM
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December 4, 2006

Last Day to Order CMS T-Shirts

This is it. Today is your last day to order Church Marketing Sucks T-shirts. After today the store will close and you'll be out of luck.

So scrape your pennies together, call your pastor, bug your friends and order a shirt. Or two. Remember you can get two shirts for $32 and save some cash. Wouldn't your grandma look fetching in her very own Church Marketing Sucks T-shirt?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:15 AM
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Church Protest Called Off: Lessons in Public Relations

So Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, narrowly avoided a protest yesterday from the People Against Fundamentalism. I won't get into all the gory details (sorry, poor Monday morning journalism at work), but they basically considered Driscoll's comments in reaction to the Ted Haggard scandal to be misogynistic and planned to protest Mars Hill Church yesterday. Driscoll tried to clarify what he said the first time around, but his critics considered it a non-apology.

After some soul searching and looking to others for wisdom, Driscoll met face to face with some of the organizers of the protest and hashed out some of their issues. Some changes were made and the protest was called off. The organizers even showed up at Mars Hill on Sunday anyway, just to make sure everyone heard that the protest had been called off (20-25 people did show up to protest, so it's a good thing they came to turn people away).

Continue reading "Church Protest Called Off: Lessons in Public Relations"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:46 AM
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December 1, 2006

Church Restaurant, Multi-Site, Entertainment

• Church: Restaurant or Cooking Show? - Someone who hasn't been to church in months went and then compared it to a cooking show where you don't get to participate or eat the food. (link via Jonathan Blundell)
• Multi-Site Mispercpetions - Shawn from Seacoast responds to people who don't like or don't get the idea of multi-site church. Be sure to check out part 2. And for more on multi-site churches, check out our review of The Multi-Site Church Revolution.
• Creating an Experience - Perry Noble talks about the importance of creating an experience in church and defends the notion of church being entertaining.
• Reaching Students Through College Newspapers - Church Relevance pitches the idea of advertising in college newspapers as a viable way to reach students.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:55 AM
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