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March 31, 2009

We Hate Church Too ... As Usual

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

There's a story that caught my attention, raises some questions and points to a trend in some church circles.

A church has launched a campaign that includes billboards that read "We hate church ... as usual." Of course the message is that this church has something different and for those that are disenfranchised by the church they are doing it in a way that will prove you wrong.

I wonder if this indeed reaches those who have left the church, or if it just reinforces some of the reasons they left, maybe even letting them know it's OK.

Continue reading "We Hate Church Too ... As Usual"

Posted by Michael Buckingham at 7:11 AM
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March 30, 2009

10 Things to Fix on Your Church Web Site

(Filed under: Technology)

Kem Meyer recently linked to the WebDrivenChurch.com's entry on why church web sites can suck. As they looked through thousands of church web sites while updating a database, they came up with 10 things churches need to fix. Here's a quick sampling:

Bad pages/links/content: Website maintenance is really what I'm getting at here. Having a website is like having a new responsibility. You can't just put it out there and forget about it. Check it regularly for broken links, missing pages and out of date content.

Promotional banners/graphics: Don't fall into the trap of creating a new logo and banner ad for every event and placing these on your home page. I seriously doubt each of these events is that important.

Head over and check out the full list.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:00 AM
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March 28, 2009

Would You Put Your Pastor in a Box?

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

One church would, and they're even aiming too. In a David Blaine-esque stunt, they've promised to suspend their pastor in a box for three days if 4,000 people show up on Easter.

You can visit the site, but there's not much more to say about it other than that.

This type of marketing doesn't sit exceptionally well with me. It communicates that you should go to whichever church will pull the biggest stunt, and it creates a pressure for one-upping other antics. One youth pastor will drink a cheeseburger that has been run through the juicer, but the other will shave his head.

I realize we should be willing to go as far as necessary to make disciples, I just don't think I'm convinced that these sorts of stunts are a good way to do that.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 8:07 AM
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March 27, 2009

Sustainable Farming Lessons From Churches

(Filed under: Social Justice)

Your church doesn't have to lead the entire country of Cambodia to Christ. I'd like to go ahead and extend you that permission. Perhaps your church doesn't have the money to make it to Cambodia, or maybe you just have a strong aversion to the jungle. There is some good news, though. You can stay near your church and be who you are, and God can use it in huge ways.

At least that's what happened with one church in Texas. They had some people who wanted to make a difference and were good farmers, so they put two and two together. They used the old give a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish anecdote, and they decided to teach a town to farm.

Some farmers looking to help left Brownsville for Castilla Brito, and they taught them to raise sheep in addition to their subsistence farming. The Brownsville farmers had this to say, "Now the goal is to help them be good, profitable raisers of sheep...We pass our knowledge to them, and they can teach others in their village. They then have a ministry to help others."

The lesson here? You don't have to have a giant marketing budget or plans to save the entire world. Great marketing starts with doing what you do for the good of God and those around you.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 8:47 AM
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Worthy is the...Labrador?

(Filed under: First Impressions & Beyond)

Here's another one for the "And We Wonder Why We're Hated" conversation...

Matthew Paul Turner, the recovering churched boy, wrote a post earlier this week about an imaginary conversation between mother and child as they both gaze upon this picture.

"Mommy, what is that?"

"Oh, Sweetie, that's a picture of how much God loves the world! He loved the world so much that he took a cross made of 4X4s and penetrated the vital organs of a sheep-looking creature just for you, Baby. Doesn't seeing it make you feel loved and hope-filled?"

"Mommy, is that the same sheep that Jesus left the other 99 to go find?"

"No, Baby, I'm sure that's a different sheep."

If we're going to continue making banners like this and communicating rich theology and deep doctrine through mediums that contort the meaningful message of the Gospel, we're going to keep having books written like this.

What say you?

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:10 AM
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March 26, 2009

Church Marketing Lab: Easter, Moving and More

(Filed under: Peer Review)

Coming up in two weeks, we have one of the biggest holidays for churches and church marketers. More people are willing to come to church on Easter than any other day of the year, so why not go all out, right? Head over to the Church Marketing Lab to see all of the great Easter graphics and chatter. Here's a little taste (both Easter and non) of what we've been seeing:

The Mission is moving, and they're sending out this mailer.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab: Easter, Moving and More"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 5:48 AM
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March 24, 2009

Passing the Plate Poll Results

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Treasurers love it, and visitors dread it. There are tons of problems with passing the plate: what the heck do you do to fill that time from the stage? What if people feel unnecessary pressure? Who gets to pass the plate? How do we protect that money sitting in the plate free for the stealing?! But there's also one huge problem with not taking an offering: what if we can't afford to keep the lights on?

So, like we love to do, we turned it over to you and asked if your church passes the plate.

A whopping 61% of you are still passing plates! Looks like this is the clear winner in terms of quantity, but is it the winner in terms of quality? I'm a skeptic here.

There are 32% of you who pass the something or another. I've seen plastic buckets, paint cans and felt baggies, but nothing else readily comes to mind. The comments are a great place to answer the question, "What are you passing around during church?"

Lastly, 6% of you have abandoned the "giving time" approach altogether. Your giving is done online, by mailing it in, going to a kiosk or dropping it in on your way out. Have you seen a huge drop in giving doing this? Have people given you a good response?

There's no right answer to this question, but you should dare to ask the question: For 94% of us, is a Sunday morning giving time really the best option? And how are we defining the "best option"? In my opinion, I wouldn't define best as the most short-term week-over-week giving. Best is what will get you the most returning visitors, best long-term givers and more sacrificial, joyful givers. I'm sure for your church, best is something very specific as well.

This week, we've got a simple one for you. What do you do for your church?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 3:10 PM
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March 20, 2009

Reacting When the Recession Hits Hardest

(Filed under: Examples)

NPR has the story of one church's reaction to the recession.

Despite being themselves affected by layoffs and cutbacks, one church decided what really mattered was making a difference in the lives of others affected by the economic downturn. The pastor decided to take the parable of the talents very seriously.

He offered up a wad of $100 bills, one to whoever wanted it, with one condition: they needed to multiply it. Some held dog washes or sold jewelry. One person even used their $100 to hold a game night that raised $12,000 for a 6-year-old with brain cancer.

The article ends with a sort of off-hand comment that is actually pretty profound: "Fair Haven expects to give more money to the poor during this recession than it's ever given before."

Sound like a great way to recession-proof your church. Luckily, we have a God who is not participating in the recession, and we should make that very clear in the way we market during difficult times.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:02 AM
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March 19, 2009

Church Marketing Lab: Aliens, Hong Kong Graphics and More

(Filed under: Peer Review)

We've heard from church marketers in South Africa, England, Belgium and Australia before. In the Church Marketing Lab, we see British art and discussion pass through from time-to-time. But this week, a member from Hong Kong got involved in the discussion. And, aliens came up for the first time (to my knowledge). If you aren't involved there, you're really missing out. Here's some of what we saw:

This church is putting on a Christian symposium on aliens.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab: Aliens, Hong Kong Graphics and More"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 5:30 AM
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March 18, 2009

Church Marketing Fears Poll Results

(Filed under: Poll Results)

Many of you who are reading this are involved in churches where marketing isn't ever approached. And when it is approached, it's with about as much caution as is humanly possible to muster. But why are folks so scared of marketing? We asked you to help us get to the heart of the issue, and here's what you said:

A quarter of you are afraid that you'll end up depending on cool sermon graphics, tricky ideas and other fancy whirlygigs instead of God. Along the same lines, 22% of you are worried that you'll nail the marketing end but come up a bit short on the ministry end, leaving people disappointed. These are certainly valid fear, as churches have fallen into these traps before.

A big chunk of you also worry about convincing people to come to church instead of experiencing God. You're worried that the end goal marketing communicates isn't the end goal you have in mind. And there are 17% of you who are just plain horrified by the thought of Comic Sans. Very funny guys.

The final handfuls of you are worried about two things: falling into the trap of people pleasing and communicating that you're the "right church" for everyone. I've seen churches end up in both of these situations frequently, so I'm surprised they didn't turn up more frequently.

Now it's your turn, you 9% of "Something else"-ers let us know in the comments what scares you. And everyone else weight in on this week's poll: Does your church follow the tradition of passing the plate?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 11:10 AM
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March 16, 2009

The Message of Giving

(Filed under: Church Business)

Christian History has an interesting little article exploring the recent history of the offering in church services. The article covers government-supported churches (that's right, here in the U.S. of A. until 1833) and explains how the weekly passing of the collection plate during worship services didn't become common practice until 1900.

It's a little bewildering to me that a staple of the modern church service is such a recent addition. But it's also freeing, considering how that staple so often trips people up and prompts finger-wagging over churches only wanting your money.

Money and the church have always caused problems--think lightning strikes, indulgences and selling pews, but maybe there's a way we could rethink this practice, still fund the church and do our giving. Without turning people off.

How do you go about doing your offering? And what message is it sending? Could you communicate more effectively by making giving less visible (online giving, pledge drives, etc.)? Or should giving be an active and visible part of our worship, and if so, how do we deal with the naysayers?

Churches have varied on this from the book of Acts and up through the centuries. There's no right answer. But maybe it's time to reconsider how your church conducts its fund raising and whether or not your conventions are communicating your convictions.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 11:06 AM
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March 13, 2009

Why Criticism Is A Good Thing

(Filed under: Graphic Design)

One of the challenges to working with the church is some of the very opinionated feedback you receive from the pastor, committee, etc. When you get criticism what do you do? Do you get defensive, put up walls? Or do you embrace it in a way that results in great design?

Sitepoint has a great post that every designer working with the church should read. Excellent post. In fact, go read it and come back. I'll wait ...

See? Good stuff.

What did you think of the question posed at the end of the post? Is there ever a time when you don’t readily take feedback from a client and try to incorporate it into the project?

Continue reading "Why Criticism Is A Good Thing"

Posted by Michael Buckingham at 10:09 AM
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March 12, 2009

Lose Your Job, Get Your Offering Back

(Filed under: Examples)

Generous News has the story of one church who is making a guarantee: If you lose your job, we'll give your offering back. It's reminiscent of the Hyundai Assurance, if you've seen those commercials. They say, "Buy a car, lose your job, return your car for a full refund."

Car buying and giving to your church are two totally different things, and there's certainly an element of, "You gave that money to God, shouldn't you be trusting he'll take care of you?" But nonetheless, it's a very interesting way for one church to show that it cares about the financial future of its members.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 5:45 AM
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March 11, 2009

To Text or Not to Text?

(Filed under: Technology)

By Tim Schraeder, guest blogger

Text messaging has changed the way we communicate. I text message people more than I actually talk with them. In fact, my cell phone plan has the lowest amount of talking minutes you can have, plus unlimited text messages.

As texting transforms the relational landscape of our culture, we’re beginning to see how it’s influencing the way the church communicates.

While many churches have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, others are taking it to the next level, incorporating texting polls and Q&A sessions into their weekly services as well as using text messages as a vehicle to communicate announcements and church news throughout the week.

But before you’re quick to start texting, here are some lessons learned that may help you figure out where, when and why you should and shouldn’t use text messaging.

Continue reading "To Text or Not to Text?"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 6:12 AM
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Worldy Words Poll Results

(Filed under: Poll Results)

From time to time, we hear arguments that church marketing is bad, evil or sinful. Most of these folks posit that marketing is inherently a bad thing as it supports structures of greed and consumerism. When we get into referring to our faith as a product, the cost of life change as the price and Christians as consumers, the bag of worms fully opens. But what do you think? Can we use these worldly, business terms without short-changing the gospel?

48% of you think we can, but we need to be careful. It's not the most descriptive answer--careful in what way? How could you see this going wrong? Have you ever seen it going wrong?

Next up, 20% of you think we should have free reign to use these words. It's just providing context and a common language, which is actually pretty doggone useful.

Just a few less of you, 19%, aren't so sure, and the idea of using these words makes you rather uncomfortable. Lump in the 7% of folks who are still deciding for themselves, and that's a quarter of our respondents who aren't quite sure how they feel about all this marketing talk. The good news is, you're certainly at the right place to be having these conversations and wrestling with this.

Finally, 7% of you offer a stern "no," arguing that using such words is near-blasphemous. We can respect that, and some people are certain to be there. We're glad you're here to provide a voice to that group and keep the conversation alive.

So there you have it: a whole bunch of you are a-OK with this, a handful are still deciding and a vocal minority are in staunch opposition. Next up? What is your number one church marketing fear?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 5:06 AM
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March 10, 2009

Mark Batterson: Church is a Tag-Team Sport

(Filed under: The Christian Walk)

I love wild-goose-chaser and National Community Church pastor Mark Batterson's blog entry this morning: Church is a Tag-Team Sport. It's a good reminder of the powerful word of mouth, person to person spread of Christianity that has been so effective over 2,000 years.

The best form of advertising always has been and always will be word of mouth. ... We believe that church is a tag-team sport. When NCCers walk in they tag our worship team and creative team and teaching team and say, "Go for it." When NCCers walk out we tag them and say, "Go for it."

Tag. You're in.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:03 AM
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March 9, 2009

Next-Gen Church Sites

(Filed under: Technology)

Alright church communicators, what do you think the future of church web sites looks like? The Chapel is asking that very question in a quick-hitting, single-serving site. It will take you about five minutes to plug in what you think the next generation of church site looks like, and it could help the church move forward on the web.

Pitch your thoughts to the question: What is the future of church web sites?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:48 AM
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March 6, 2009

Church Marketing Lab: 1000 Followers & Easter Fun

(Filed under: Peer Review)

About a month and a half ago, we let you know that the Church Marketing Lab was on Twitter. Well, momentum has come quickly, and the Twitter feed already has over a thousand followers!

Those followers would mean nothing without the strong community that is the Church Marketing Lab. Still, every week, we see people who say, "This is my first time visiting the lab, thanks for your help" or "I couldn't have done this without you guys." If you aren't involved in the Church Marketing Lab yet, check out and get involved in both the discussion board and the photo pool.

At Calvary Community Church, they'll be using this Holy Week piece.

Continue reading "Church Marketing Lab: 1000 Followers & Easter Fun"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:46 AM
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March 5, 2009

Christianity Not a Default

(Filed under: Demographics/Research)

Christianity is no longer the default faith for Americans, according to half the population. And apparently Christians are leading the charge in that belief.

A Barna survey released back in January revealed that 50% of Americans agreed that "Christianity is no longer the faith that Americans automatically accept as their personal faith." While that doesn't really surprise me, what is surprising is that 64% of evangelical Christians agreed with that statement, more than any other group.

So Christianity is no longer a default. I don't think that has to be a bad thing. What's encouraging about this survey is the 74% of people who say their faith is becoming a more important source of moral guidance. Fewer people are defaulting to Christianity, but people are taking their faith more seriously. That's a good thing.

This should serve as another reminder to the church that we can't assume a cultural advantage and relax our efforts to spread the gospel.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:53 AM
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March 4, 2009

Save Cash, Get a Freelancer

(Filed under: News & Updates)

Like many churches, you're probably feeling the economic crunch. My own church has certainly contracted some, and I know lots of yours have as well. Our Job Lab has certainly seen a vacating of new positions. But there is a silver lining: there's never been a better time to freelance.

As an employer, you might turn to a freelancer for individual attention that doesn't carry the hefty price tag of benefits and salaries. Don't have room on your staff for a graphic designer, web developer, copywriter, marketing manager, social media director, programmer or something else? Then hire a freelancer.

A great place to start is our Freelance Lab. Post a project, and talk with some freelancers; we think you'll be happy with what you see. And if you are looking to hire full time, our Job Lab is the perfect place to be. There are tons of designers, developers and everyone else with their eye on those boards, and we think you'll find the right one for your job.

Both of these are 100% free offerings from us to you. Times are tough, and there's no need for your wallet to take a hit because you'd like to hire someone.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 12:19 PM
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Sunday Blunders Poll Results

(Filed under: Poll Results)

You guys are passionate about screwing up on Sunday. Well, not screwing up on Sunday that is. Nearly 400 of you let us know what irks you most when churches drop the ball on Sunday morning (or whenever your services are). And here's what you had to say:

Not a single one of you fears cold coffee, stale muffins or leftover donuts. Whether you haven't experienced it or just don't mind, I can't answer. Only a hair more of you, 2%, are aggravated by the nightmare known as the parking lot.

The next most aggravating blunders are long services, no words for the music and not having an altar call. Each one is just a handful of you, and each has its place. I've heard people go so far to argue that long services indicate a character issue with the staff, bad parking lots have been the subject of entire sermons, and Craig Groeschel gives a great defense of the "no altar call" group.

After that, we get into the big groups. 18% of you are most troubled by unfriendly greeters. A great example of your vote is in the What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church video. Bad greeters can seriously dampen a church visit.

Another way to irritate 18% of you is to keep those "Were glad your hear" and "I know that my Redeemer lies" in your bulletin or on your screens. If it looks like the Chick-fil-A cows wrote your Sunday materials, you've got a good one in five people irritated.

But the clear winner? An irrelevant, rambling sermon. Even after all these year and Sunday inventions, folks are still coming back for the sermon. And if you're lasting an hour and a half on your sermon about the biblical evidence against dancing, you're losing your crowd.

This week, we're pushing a hot topic: Can church marketing issues be put into worldly business terms--consumers, product, price, sales, etc.?

Posted by Joshua Cody at 5:35 AM
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March 3, 2009

Mark Batterson on Church Growth

(Filed under: Philosophy)

The lion-wrestling, wild goose-chasing, Church Marketing Sucks-supporting Mark Batterson had some insightful comments to add to our recent discussion on church growth.

He talked about outcomes vs inputs in a recent blog post:

"I'm at a place in my life where I don't care about outcomes. I'm focused on inputs. I don't care about extrinsics. I'm focused on intrinsics. If we simply do the right things, God is going to bless it. Period."

He went on to add:

"I'm not concerned about church growth. I'm concerned about personal growth. And if you're experiencing personal growth, church growth will take care of itself."

Another perspective to add to the mix. Whatever you take away from the post, I especially liked his closing remarks, which could be summarized as: do less, pray more.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:27 AM
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March 1, 2009

A Church Helping The Church

(Filed under: Building Design)

Uprising Church is uprooting itself from its current meeting space at YMCA and moving ... to Sunday nights only.

Now, honestly I think I'd miss church on Sunday morning and at first I thought the story was going to be about the fact that this church wasn't going to have a Sunday morning service.

And then I read on.

What I really like about this story, isn't the time they are moving to but where they will be having church: in another church. Bellevue Grace Assembly Church has offered their space to Uprising for no cost.

This is a good example of being willing to change and adjust in how we are doing church and a great reminder that a building is just a building.

Bravo church, bravo. Way to be the Church.

Posted by Michael Buckingham at 6:37 AM
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