I have a question… Let's say I'm a not-yet-Christian looking at all these churches and ministries figuring out what their identity is - who they "are"…

Using branding lingo, I would think that all of these variations would diminish the core brand value/service/product proposition.

God forgive me for making this comparison… but it might be akin to each BMW or Starbucks franchise developing their own identity based on their surroundings instead of offering a strong, viable brand promise that is consistent no matter where it is experience or encountered. There are some brands that are simply authentic no matter the surrounding.

I guess I'm wondering if dilution is the product of each church thinking there is a mandate to figure out who they "are."

After going through these exercises for so many years, I've come to think that maybe the Church is called to attract by being light instead of by promotion.

Still processing it all, but the one thing I notice is that when I start to talk with my mega-church salaried employee friends about this, they get a wee bit nervous :)

@dan I like the way you think. Even if the church is called to "attract by being light" that is still a part of who they are, their identity.

True and connecting promotion comes out of knowing who you are. Otherwise, anything that is promoted is based merely on what someone thinks is the identity. Depending on the size of the church that could make for a multiple personality disorder real fast.

I particularly liked what Abare said about community. I think we go out of our way sometimes to ignore our neighbors or quickly shut the garage door because we don't feel like talking to anyone. I wonder how many God moments are we missing by doing that?