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February 28, 2007

Battling Frumpiness in the Pulpit

(Filed under: First Impressions & Beyond)

She could have called the site Church Fashion Sucks. But Beauty Tips for Ministers works, too. Victoria Weinstein, a Unitarian Universalist minister who goes by the handle PeaceBang, launched the fashion blog to encourage the "defrumpification of the American clergy."

Weinstein makes it clear in a recent Boston Globe story that fashion isn't the greatest concern for clergy, but it still matters:

"Anyone who is in a position of leadership has to consider what image they're projecting, and that goes for clergy too," she said. "The problem with frumpiness isn't so much aesthetic as it is a problem of looking as though you are not paying attention to the world and that you are not part of today's world ... They will not be willing to hear us in the same way if we look like we walked out of 1972."

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:50 AM
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Stand-Up Comic Helps UK Clergy

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

Comedian Andy Kind is offering help to British clergy with a workshop that focuses on performance skills in an effort to help them better communicate with their congregations.

"Christianity is not seen as accessible by the majority of people," said Mr Kind.

"If we want the Gospel message to engage with people's spirituality, then we must first learn to better engage with them in human terms."

Anything we can do to banish the Rev. Lovejoy-esque intonations so common on Sunday morning is a worth a shot.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:40 AM
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Megachurches are Desegregating Sunday Mornings

(Filed under: Demographics/Research)

You can deride megachurches all you want, but new research shows that they're more racially diverse, finally beginning to overturn the assertion that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week. In one-third of megachurches minorities make up 20% or more of the congregation. It's a small start, but a welcome one.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:34 AM
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February 27, 2007

They Didn't Teach Marketing In Seminary

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

Rev. Matthew Moretz laments that they didn't teach him marketing in seminary, despite the fact that he does more print jobs than sermons.

But considering the success of his Father Matthew Presents series on YouTube, I don't think he has anything to worry about.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:40 PM
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Innovative Churches: Does Size Matter?

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Part 9 in a series on Innovative Churches. Be sure to contribute to the Most Innovative Churches list.

Does size matter? What about smaller churches and those with limited financial resources? Or, is innovation more difficult for larger, more established churches?

Innovation is difficult for every church because it is not natural for groups to be innovative. By nature we're drawn to the lowest common denominator of a group, so innovation can sometimes be squelched for the sake of unity. History is riddled with individuals who are known for innovation. It’s been only recently that companies have started to provide outlets for innovation, realizing that some people need to be alone and others want to be in groups. Either way, innovation is always a challenge because it takes time, commitment, resources and failure.

Yep, failure is typically a huge part of the innovation process. And what churches are OK with failing? I am encouraged by the increasing amount of church cultures that do foster innovation, but the size of these churches has run the gamut.

Posted by Brad Abare at 7:23 AM
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Unnecessary Church Ministries Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week our poll asked about unnecessary church ministries, an admittedly tongue-in-cheek follow up to a pro and con discussion about cutting back on what churches do. The giant Jesus/cross ministry took the most votes with 52%. Next came the church sign ministry with an unimpressive 29%--but then again nobody can really beat a giant Jesus. A "security" ministry took 10%, narrowly beating out a church marketing ministry with 9%.

This week we return to serious and legitimate poll questions that have eternal weight--how many awards has your church won for church marketing?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:15 AM
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February 26, 2007

10 [Cheap] Ad Ideas from Roy H. Williams

(Filed under: Advertising)

If you're not already getting the Monday Morning Memo from adman Roy H. Williams, you're missing out. Not only is Williams a brilliant pithy writer, he's got one of the sharpest minds that just oozes wisdom. I know several within the CMS community have attended his workshops at the Wizard Academy.

Today's memo is very applicable to churches, especially church planters! By the way, did you know I am tag-teaming a couple workshops at the National New Church Conference? I'll be doing a pre-conference track with Mark Batterson and a workshop with Drew Goodmanson.

Today's Memo from Roy is full of cheap ways to advertise. Some won't surprise you (door-hangers anyone?). Others will get your juices flowing (ever heard of nighttime silhouettes?). If you have cheap ideas that have worked for you, leave a comment and let the world know!

Posted by Brad Abare at 10:25 AM
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Amarillo Church Wins Addy Award

(Filed under: Graphic Design)

An Amarillo, Texas church snagged a best in show (registration requried) at the Addy Awards for the second year in a row. Trinity Fellowship Church won the local division of the highly respected awards competition for creative marketing and advertising, beating out mainstream corporations and organizations in Amarillo.

"Usually what you see is that churches are behind the mark of what the world and other businesses in town are doing. We are doing our best to reach people just as much as Coca-Cola is. Marketing and advertising is the modern language we all speak. It's our outlet to speak the hope of Jesus Christ through a language that everyone understands." -Patrick Kemp, associate pastor of creative ministries

Nice. Keep this up and we'll have to change our name.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:34 AM
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February 22, 2007

Innovative Churches: Community

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Part 8 in a series on Innovative Churches. Be sure to contribute to the Most Innovative Churches list.

How are innovative churches trying to engage and impact their communities outside the walls of the church building? Does innovation look differently in communities with diverse cultures and races?

Innovative churches are impacting their communities outside of the walls of their church buildings by being intentional about how to connect their message with their audience. Innovation does not always equal high tech! Concerts in the park, street clean-ups, partnerships with the mayor’s office, school assemblies, coffee shops and the hundreds of other ways churches are connecting with their communities can be very innovative! Innovation always looks different because communities are different. Latin American culture is big on family holidays. Urban (city) churches are big on community impact. Suburban churches have the challenge of fostering relationships because three-car garages separate them during the week.

Posted by Brad Abare at 5:58 AM
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February 21, 2007

Marketing to Agnostics and Not Atheists

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

by Joe Suh, Guest Blogger

I was giving a demo about online church communities at the Community Next Conference recently. I opened with a comparison of churches and schools--namely, that there are more Christian churches in the US than K-12 schools, colleges, and universities combined. As I finished that thought, someone in the audience yelled out "That's sad!"

His comment disrupted me. But I realized two important things.

Continue reading "Marketing to Agnostics and Not Atheists"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 6:08 PM
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February 20, 2007

Church Critics Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked how your church deals with criticism. An amazing 45% said their church tackles criticism head on with honesty and openness. 27% said criticism was met with obfuscation and vagueness, which was more of what I expected. 14% went with denial, 9% with oblivious and 6% said it's a rarity.

Assuming our extremely scientific polling methods can be trusted, this is probably encouraging news that churches are getting better at dealing with criticism.

This week we ask what "ministries" churches should consider dropping.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:29 AM
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February 19, 2007

Churches Should Not Just Do What Works

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Last week Kevin wrote an entry about something Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv said regarding sticking to what works. While I appreciate the intentionality of getting rid of unnecessary activity, there is a slippery slope here if we're not careful. Your comments are already indicating so.

I trust Groeschel's heart in what they're doing. My worry is that some people will take this concept and run the wrong way with it. We can't be eliminating the very things churches should be doing! The very Message we're all communicating is always going to be at odds with our selfish, lazy, indulgent, and passive human nature.

Getting rid of church-sponsored softball teams (let's continue clearing out the Christian ghetto people!) is one thing. Getting rid of biblically-condoned ministry contexts is quite another.

The church is not always going to be doing things that people naturally want to respond to. From discipleship and caring for the poor, to teaching the fundamentals of faith and being a hospital for sinners, not everything we do as a church is going to appear like it's working, or even that it always matters. This doesn't mean we should stop doing it.

The measure for success is not just about how many people respond or attend. It's also about how well we're being Christ's hands and feet so that we can truly be called beautiful for communicating the Good News!

Posted by Brad Abare at 8:34 AM
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February 15, 2007

Churches Should Do What Works

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

LifeChurch.tv's Craig Groeschel talks about cutting back church ministries. What?! No VBS? No choir? No women's ministry? (gasp)

I love his simple and calm reasoning that churches should do what works to spread the gospel, not just what other churches do and not just what keeps Christians entertained:

• "We stopped doing church sponsored sports. Why take believers out of corporate leagues to put them together in Christian leagues?
• We stopped VBS because we reached more kids for Christ each weekend than we did during VBS (and with a lot less money and effort).
• We stopped doing concerts because we were basicly providing entertainment for Christians."

And it's not that these things are wrong, it's that they weren't working for LifeChurch.tv. Are they working for your church?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:31 AM
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Testimony Billboards

(Filed under: Advertising)

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports on a church billboard campaign that's personal. Love this quote:

"Marketing and evangelism are the same thing," says Mara Einstein, associate professor of media studies at the City University of New York and author of the forthcoming book Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. "A product becomes a part of a user's personality, and the users of the product become evangelizers of the product."

(link via CT's Weblog)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:16 AM
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February 14, 2007

Stopping the Comment Spam

(Filed under: News & Updates)

We've instituted a new measure to fight comment spam. When you post a comment you'll be asked to type a word to verify that you're a real person commenting and not some spambot. We know it's a hassle, but we needed to find a better solution to cut down on our maintenance and keep junk off the site.

We're still perfecting the system, so currently the comment preview feature isn't working. Hopefully we'll have it firing on all cylinders soon.

Thanks for your patience.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:48 AM
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February 13, 2007

Church Marketing Lessons from PETA

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

So today I stumbled across this little pornographic video from PETA and blogged about it on my personal site. Don't worry, I'm linking to my blog post and not the video, both to deny PETA the link love and to keep us one step removed from the controversy (if that means anything).

The video features a woman proclaiming the great things PETA has done this year in a 'state of the union' style, while she strips. Yes strips. By the end of it she's sportin' the Eve look, sans cleverly placed leaves.

As I pondered the whole thing and wrote about it for my personal blog, lessons for church marketing came to mind. It's a stretch, I know, but bear with me.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lessons from PETA"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:26 PM
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NFL vs. God Poll Results

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Last week we asked what churches can learn from the church Super Bowl controversy. We received a nice range of responses, with making sure your bases are covered receiving the most votes at 40%. Other lessons all came in pretty close, from knowing about copyright laws (18%) to the advantages of flying under the radar (16%) to the need to be flexible (14%) and even the anti-culture folks (11%).

Pretty reflective of the fact that there are a lot of lessons to be learned. Or the NFL could just make it simpler and make church Super Bowl parties official.

This week we're asking how your church deals with criticism.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 4:57 PM
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February 12, 2007

Innovative Churches: Technology

(Filed under: Technology)

Part 7 in a series on Innovative Churches. Be sure to contribute to the Most Innovative Churches list.

How will technology, including the use of media and the web, influence churches in the future?

Technology is one of innovation's best friends. Technology can be such a creative conduit for innovation. At the same time, technology can also be one of those friends that get in the way of innovation. I am weary of anybody that comes to me with a great idea for how to use technology to tell a story. It seems a little backwards. First, let's figure out the story and who needs to hear it, and then lets find a way to do it. This makes room for technology or methods that may not even exist yet! Imagine 100 years ago if we would have approached transportation through the filter that we must use cars to get everywhere. How foolish! We would have missed out on the train, the airplane and the spaceship.

Posted by Brad Abare at 7:46 AM
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February 9, 2007

Don't Cause Unnecessary Offense

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Yesterday I tried to talk about some ways to avoid and address criticism and in the end I was debating with myself about whether or not we should care about image. My answer didn't fully satisfy even myself, but then I came across this article from Books and Culture, On Slippery Slopes, the Blogosphere, and (oh, yes) Women.

The article is basically author Susan Wise Bauer's defense for her support of John Stackhouse's Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender. That support caused her quite a bit of grief from folks who consider things like the ordination of women starting a direct slide to homosexual marriage which we all know is what triggers the apocalypse. But we're not here to argue about gender roles or homosexuality, so let's not.

What I am here to do is talk about how her exploration of Stackhouse's arguments seem to apply to things like marketing and image and give me a slightly more satisfactory answer to my question.

Continue reading "Don't Cause Unnecessary Offense"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:26 AM
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February 8, 2007

Avoiding & Addressing Criticism

(Filed under: Public Relations)

Poor Phil. I can't help but feel for his predicament (an anti-semitic church ad), and it made me wonder what can be learned from it (i.e., I feel somewhat guilty for giving his ad 'worst blunder of the year' status and want to offer something a little more positive).

Get Feedback
One reason bad marketing happens is the ol' "it seemed like a good idea at the time" excuse. In the heat of the moment it seemed smart and you run with it, only to see that it wasn't the best plan.

One way to overcome that problem is with the wisdom of others. When it comes to marketing one free and easy way to tap into the wisdom of others is the Church Marketing Lab. Post your marketing efforts and get feedback.

Something tells me the fine folks in the Lab would have caught this one.

Continue reading "Avoiding & Addressing Criticism"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:53 AM
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February 7, 2007

The Anti-Anti-Semitic Church Ad that was Anti-Semitic

(Filed under: Examples)

Despite our title, it's not often that we rag on specific churches for their marketing efforts. We've yet to offer a 'worst church marketing blunders of the year' list, but if we did this might make the cut:

The First Baptist Church placed an ad promoting the sermon “The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race” in Saturday’s Portland Press Herald.

Whoops. Apparently Pastor Phil Andrukaitis' goal was to target those who harbor some small resentment towards Israel and Jews and get them to come to church to hear a different viewpoint. Ah, the ol' bait and switch. It's not an authentic marketing method in the first place, but using something as bait that will offend any normal person is probably a bad idea.

Continue reading "The Anti-Anti-Semitic Church Ad that was Anti-Semitic"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:24 AM
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Church Web Site Design Checklist

(Filed under: Technology)

With Internet Evangelism Day fast approaching (April 29, 2007) you might want to check out the Church Site Design Checklist. It's an automated 51-question survey that will help you figure out how your church web site stacks up.

If your site needs some help you could always check out the Improving Your Church Web Site series. (link via Mike Atkinson)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:11 AM
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Innovative Churches: Leadership & the Next Generation

(Filed under: Philosophy)

Part 6 in a series on Innovative Churches. Be sure to contribute to the Most Innovative Churches list.

How can leaders help create a culture of innovation?

Leadership can help create a culture of innovation by stepping aside. Unless you have been hired or appointed chief innovation officer, chances are pretty good you were hired or appointed to be doing something else. This doesn’t mean you are not needed or wanted in the process, it simply means you need to step aside and let others champion this cause.

Continue reading "Innovative Churches: Leadership & the Next Generation"

Posted by Brad Abare at 9:22 AM
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February 6, 2007

Come Be Hosed, Healed

(Filed under: Off the Wall)

This past Sunday, the Los Angeles United House of Prayer held a mass water baptism (registration required) as part of its 80th annual Holy Convocation. They unleashed the power--literally--by turning on fire hoses and letting the water "heal" the city.

Pastor Wilbert Swaringer harkened the moment to the civil rights era when hoses were used to fight people. But now, he said, "we are using the hose for healing." Everyone who attended the church--even those who didn't--were encouraged to take part, even if they had already been baptized.

Hosing people has been done in other cities such as New York and Philadelphia, but this is the first time it has been done in California said organizing officials.

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:57 AM
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Multisite Churches Spreading Across D.C.

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

"We as a congregation made a decision that if we are going to embrace people, we must leave the four walls of the church." - Rev. Deron Cloud, founder of the Soul Factory in a Washington Post article exploring multisite churches in the Washington, D.C., area. (via Ben Arment)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:49 AM
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Church Blogs II Poll

(Filed under: Poll Results)

A little more than a year ago we asked about church blogging. Since the book The Blogging Church: Sharing the Story of Your Church Through Blogs by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch came out last month we thought we'd revisit that poll and see how the numbers have changed.

The result? Blogging is definitely increasing in usage. 31% of your churches are blogging, up from 21% last year. There are still 52% who haven't jumped on the blog-wagon yet, but that's down from 66% last year. More folks have also tried it with mixed results: 10% have a blog that hasn't been received well (double last year's 5%) and 5% have given up a blog (up from 4% last year). And this time around only 3% didn't know what a blog was, down from 5% in the previous poll. So the blogging is definitely spreading and hopefully doing some good.

This week we're asking what lessons can be learned from the church Super Bowl controversy. Sorry, Super Bowl™.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:34 AM
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February 5, 2007

Visitors, Beer and Sex--Oh My!

(Filed under: Link Round Up)

Yet again the links have piled up around me faster than I can blog them, so it's time to blow the dam and just let you have them. Here we go...

• The Visitor's Card - The most potentially interesting of the new Outreach Magazine blogs, it's written by a non-Christian describing her experiences visiting church (via Dan Ohlerking)
• Beer and the Bible - Interesting news article about a church outreach that unfortunately draws too much attention to the alcohol. The pastor of the church in question offers some explanation in a comment on this blog post (via Brenton Balvin).
• Does Size Matter? - Swerve, the new blog from lifechurch.tv, has an interesting series on church size.
• My Dad Went to Church. Yay! - A video of a son taking his dad to church for the first time in 20 years--this is what it's all about. It's also so raw and quirky that it almost seems made up, but that's just the Internet hoaxist in me. (via Tony Morgan)

Don't worry, there's much, much more after the jump ...

Continue reading "Visitors, Beer and Sex--Oh My!"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 4:29 PM
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February 4, 2007

Official NFL Church Super Bowl Parties

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

Or maybe the solution to the NFL sacking church Super Bowl ™ parties is to get organized. What if church Super Bowl ™ parties were officially sanctioned events?

A church registers with the NFL and reports all the needed details--screen size, capacity, accurate attendance numbers after the event, etc.--and follows whatever guidelines the NFL has (no charging admission, following copyright rules, etc.). Perhaps there's a small broadcast fee the church pays (but c'mon, NFL, the church is simply boosting your numbers, don't make them pay for that priviledge), perhaps to cover administration costs or to keep this on par with what sports bars have to do.

In the end everybody wins. The NFL can have its power. The TV network partner and advertisers get more viewers--and (perhaps more importantly) a count of those viewers. And the local church can go ahead and have its Super Bowl ™ party and use the communal event to connect with people.

Continue reading "Official NFL Church Super Bowl Parties"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 2:00 PM
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February 3, 2007

NFL Bans Church Super Bowl Parties

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, in case you didn't know (I had to look it to be sure, so don't feel bad), and amid all the stories about commercials and the halftime show and, oh yeah, the game itself, is a little story about the National Football League shutting down local church Super Bowl parties (best headline? "Wrath of NFL Smites Parties at Churches").

It seems churches are running afoul of the NFL's broadcast copyrights, including the following limitations:

• No unauthorized use of the copyrighted terms (i.e., "Super Bowl") in promotions.
• No charging admission to watch the Super Bowl™.
• No public showings of the big game on TVs larger than 55 inches.

An exception is made for sports bars and other places that regularly show sporting events.

So what's a church to do?

Continue reading "NFL Bans Church Super Bowl Parties"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:15 PM
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February 2, 2007

Christians Lie with Data

(Filed under: Demographics/Research)

"You can make up statistics for anything. 14% of all people know that."

Those are some of my favorite words from the philosopher Homer J. Simpson, and they're painfully true. Christianity Today posted the story "Evangelicals Behaving Badly with Statistics" that explores the shock-enducing stat that only 4% of today's youth will be evangelicals as adults. Compared to 34% of evangelical adults today this number would mean the American church virtually collapsing in a generation.

Continue reading "Christians Lie with Data"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:19 AM
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February 1, 2007

Q Conference

(Filed under: Events)

Immediately following my time at the National New Church Conference in Orlando this April, I'll be heading up to Atlanta for the Q Conference. If you haven't heard, Q is being organized by some of the brains behind the Catalyst conference. The event is a private gathering for thought leaders in the church to become informed and exposed to future-culture. "It's a space where select leaders can create, dialogue, collaborate, innovate, serve and ideate around the important topics shaping the church's future role in culture."

This is year one for Q so I am interested to see how it goes. Registration isn't open to everyone; I had to fill out a request form and wait for an invitation before they allowed me to register. The event is somewhat modeled after TED, a high-end event that fosters the same future thinking for mainstream technology, entertainment and design innovators.

I love this kind of think-tank stuff, especially when ideas turn into action that result in an expanding kingdom of God.

Posted by Brad Abare at 5:46 AM
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