March 25, 2008

A Prayer for Church Communication Professionals

I had lunch last week with an art director from one of the larger well-known churches in southern California. This guy (I'll call him Brian) oozes sincerity and has a real passion for seeing people--especially those in the 25 to 35-year-old crowd--get to know Jesus. Although Brian works at a church now, his background is in the corporate media world, including a stint at Disney. Brian could get a job anywhere making many times what he's making now, but he chooses to be where he is at because he wants to see the church get better at communication.

When you meet Brian and hang with him for more than a minute, you are immediately drawn to his let-it-all-out persona. He's dramatic, insightful and has little tolerance for crummy church communication. Brian is deeply frustrated with his own church for their apparent disregard for improving and, although he has been there for a couple years, he is at the end of his rope. I wouldn't be surprised to see his resignation any day.

My heart goes out to people like Brian as I know he's not alone. And while it's easy for me to criticize and condemn, I'm trying to get better at laying this stuff at the feet of Jesus.

Continue reading "A Prayer for Church Communication Professionals"

Posted by Brad Abare at 12:42 PM
| Comments (14) | TrackBack

March 11, 2008

Forget Marketing, Christian Living Sucks

A recent report from Christian pollsters the Barna Group, summed up in the book UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman, has some bad news for churches.

Today's young people, ages 16-29, have a more critical view of Christians than previous generations. Specifically, they think Christians are judgmental, anti-homosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered. And that's not just a minority viewpoint--it's an overwhelming majority who say Christians are ...

• Anti-homosexual: 91%
• Judgmental: 87%
• Hypocritical: 85%
• Old-fashioned: 78%
• Too involved in politics: 75%

And those negative perceptions aren't simply perceptions:

"Going into this three-year project, I assumed that people’s perceptions were generally soft, based on misinformation, and would gradually morph into more traditional views. But then, as we probed why young people had come to such conclusions, I was surprised how much their perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches." -David Kinnaman

So what does this mean for churches?

Continue reading "Forget Marketing, Christian Living Sucks"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:14 PM
| Comments (27) | TrackBack

February 29, 2008

Gospel, Free of Charge

Reading what Paul had to say today was an interesting challenge to me as I look to share the gospel with others, and I think it will be a challenge to churches as well.

"What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:18 NASB)

Free. There's a marketing term that every corporation wishes they could use more often. As you set up programming, think about how to market and consider the best way to reach out, remember that our ultimate reward is to present the gospel without charge. There's no way to market like letting people know the gospel is free.

Posted by Joshua Cody at 7:53 AM
| Comments (4) | TrackBack

February 27, 2008

Weight Loss and Sex

Being fat and being sexy are two things that generally always lead to getting attention. From Victoria's Secret to The Biggest Looser, let's face it, we like looking at people. Two stories in recent weeks speak to this fascination we have with such topics by turning our desire to feel good and look good into a challenge.

You've heard about Relevant Church in Tampa, Fla. and their challenge to married couples to have sex every day for 30 days and to singles to abstain from sex for 30 days. But before all that hanky-panky, we should probably lose a little weight. In their daily "Across the USA" wrap-up on February 19, USA Today referenced the story out of Oklahoma City about the 15 “predominately black” churches that are participating in a weight-loss challenge. Zora Brown, a health care official with Integris Health, initiated the contest. Brown wants to address the “health disparities among blacks by fighting obesity.”

Although I do have my reservations about the approach for the sex-o-rama drive, I applaud both of these campaigns for their desire to see healthy relationships and healthy bodies. These are both really practical ways for bringing people together around a very worthwhile cause. The way these campaigns include insiders and outsiders is also a home-run.

Posted by Brad Abare at 6:13 AM
| Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 7, 2008

Jesus' Ministry Marketing

If you have a free minute, you might want to check out what Kent Shaffer has to say over at Church Relevance. He's currently on part three of a four part series--Jesus' Ministry Marketing--considering what ideal church marketing looks like.

He's been taking a look at the book of Mark and begins by considering the four P's of marketing: product, price, place and promotion.

Head over and follow along...

Posted by Joshua Cody at 11:46 AM
| Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 22, 2008

(Not) Celebrating MLK Day

This is an open question to local churches everywhere, specifically predominantly-white congregations: Where were the MLK Day celebrations?

Firsthand, I heard of none*. A news search led me to the celebration of Willow Creek Community Church and Salem Baptist Church. The largely white Willow Creek and the largely black Salem Baptist joined together to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to promote unity.

This seems like a wonderful day to move towards breaking the "white church/black church" stereotype, and I'm not quite sure why more historically-white churches didn't follow suit with Willow Creek.

It provides great occasion to ask ourselves, what message are we sending to others not like ourselves?

Continue reading "(Not) Celebrating MLK Day"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 8:49 AM
| Comments (18) | TrackBack

January 10, 2008

A Reader's Resolution

by Brian Gaffney, Guest Blogger

Happy New Year friends! I am writing to share my 2008 resolution…

I pray that 2008 brings with it the day that we no longer debate the need for church marketing and unanimously agree that Christ's kingdom cannot afford for it to suck.

The urgency of our need to effectively spread the Good News was recently underscored for me when I came across a quote from Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide, in the summer 2007 issue of Hermes, Columbia Business School’s alumni magazine:

“We are going to have to entice the consumer, seduce the consumer, charm him, invite her in a way that she cannot say 'no'. That is the creative challenge ... how do we make them come to us of their own free will? How do we surprise and delight, build connections and deep loyalty?"

Continue reading "A Reader's Resolution"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 6:14 AM
| Comments (6) | TrackBack

August 2, 2007

I-35W Bridge Collapse: A Church Marketing Perspective

You've surely heard by now, that the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed yesterday, killing at least four, injuring 79 and at least eight more are still missing. I live in the Twin Cities and while I don't normally take that bridge I did drive over it with my daughter the day before it collapsed. It's kind of surreal here and I'm having trouble tearing myself from the coverage (I've blogged about it here, here and here already).

I know church marketing and tragedy don't fit well together, but the reality is that churches still need to communicate--especially in times of tragedy. I feel a bit like a broken record trying to talk about churches communicating during tragedy (Virginia Tech, Katrina, Tsunami), but the need is still there and it often happens best through action, either by offering cold water ("We're out here because we think that's what Jesus would do.") or taking part in a prayer walk (Facebook login required) or whatever works. It's that simple.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:13 PM
| Comments (3) | TrackBack

July 27, 2007

Building A Network

by Kevin Peterson, Guest Blogger

Call it church marketing if you want, but Southeast Christian in Louisville, Ky. (my own church) is taking a unique approach to reaching the community.

Kyle Idleman has taken a three-part sermon series and turned it on its ear. The series is focused on prayer, not so much how to pray, but why we should pray. In an effort to connect the community to prayer, 25 small ballot boxes were placed around town.

You’ll find them in restaurants, doctor’s offices, bus stations, stores and even a prison. Each box has a simple sign letting people know they can write their prayer request on a slip of paper and a church in their community will pray for them. Or if they would like they can visit www.prayerboxnetwork.com and enter their request or praise online.

Continue reading "Building A Network"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 11:48 AM
| Comments (10) | TrackBack

July 5, 2007

Turning Churches into Homeless Shelters

I stumbled on this satirical and presumably fictional piece last month. The fact that it quotes big-name mega-church pastors in the Twin Cities gives it an eerie feeling of authenticity. But what if it were true?

A network of large Christian churches in Minnesota's Twin Cities has announced a multi-point plan to fight homelessness. The announcement of the "Twin Cities Open Door Campaign" comes in response to what leaders are calling a "crisis of conscience" and contains many bold measures, most notably, plans to make church building spaces available to overnight guests that will be bussed to and from city centers.

"There are thousands on the street in this town and we've got these big, beautiful buildings just sitting here most nights," said Leith Anderson, Pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie. Anderson, who also heads the National Association of Evangelicals, acknowledged skepticism, "Oh, we know people will think this is a joke, but we're quite serious. We hope we can provide a brand new model of how something like this might work for churches in other cities where shelters are overcrowded." ...

Some shudder to call this marketing, but as many have said before--doing what you're meant to do is the best form of marketing (which is why everyone is so excited about the iPhone).

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:46 AM
| Comments (10) | TrackBack

April 20, 2007

The Church Responds To Virginia Tech Tragedy

As Virginia Tech and all of America continue to mourn and grieve, the church has begun to respond. In instances like this where there is little physical and monetary relief to provide, the primary responsibility of the church is obviously to be the hands of God--to bind up the broken-hearted and heal their wounds. Through love, prayer and godly counsel. Here's a little insight to how the church is responding so far ...

• New Life Christian Fellowship posts prayers and encouragements.
• Gateway Ministries church sends 15 people on a four hour ride to offer comfort.

Continue reading "The Church Responds To Virginia Tech Tragedy"

Posted by Joshua Cody at 6:15 AM
| Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 8, 2006

Ted Haggard and Church Marketing

It seems painfully ironic to me that the same week I posted about Christians taking each other down, we have a high profile example of Christians taking themselves down in Ted Haggard. It seems the church's biggest marketing problem isn't typos or cheesy graphics, it's false advertising.

So what should we learn in the light of the Ted Haggard mess?

Continue reading "Ted Haggard and Church Marketing"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:46 AM
| Comments (15) | TrackBack

November 2, 2006

Snakes in the Pew

Too often the work of communicating the message of the church is ruined because of the people in the church. Dr. Ergun Caner shared the message "Snakes in the Pew" (that's the direct link to the file, you can also see find it listed here, link via Tally Wilgis) at Liberty University's campus church expanding on the point. It's good stuff.

Caner's basic point is that while Christians need to get over ourselves, this junk still happens and we can't let it get in the way of following God. We can't let stupid Christians make us cynical or jaded. It's encouraging to hear for a cynical person like myself who went away to college only to have my church fall apart.

It's also ironic because just before I came across this link, I found this link (via Tadd Grandstaff). Apparently Kirk Cameron's Way of the Master is trying to take on Rob Bell's Nooma in some kind of spoof video smackdown.

What's so troubling about Christians and the church is that we're always trying to take each other down. Can't we all just get along? Or at least ignore each other and put our energy into actually doing something productive?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:41 AM
| Comments (11) | TrackBack

October 31, 2005

Pastor Kyle Lake Electrocuted During Baptism Service

The news is spreading pretty quickly, both in the blog world and in the news, but in case you haven't heard pastor and author Kyle Lake was electrocuted while performing a baptism service yesterday and died. 33-year-old Lake reached for a microphone while standing in the water. Lake was a pastor at University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas and is survived by his wife and three children.

I didn't know Lake personally, but I did read one of his two books, Understanding God's Will (the other, (Re)understanding Prayer, came out earlier this month), and I loved his personal style. He brought a new understanding to that murky concept of God's will, which becomes even murkier in light of his death.

Continue reading "Pastor Kyle Lake Electrocuted During Baptism Service"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:26 AM
| Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 1, 2005

Churches Mobilize in Katrina Aftermath

In the aftermath of Katrina I'm just baffled at the chaos. You'd think we could do better.

The one tiny bit of consolation I have is the way churches and ministries are responding. Like the tsunami earlier this year, churches are stepping in. While it's odd to think of this in marketing terms, it's so good to see the church backing our words with action.

Continue reading "Churches Mobilize in Katrina Aftermath"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:47 PM
| Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 13, 2005

Social Club or Thermostat Church?

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the position of the church:

"There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society... . But the judgment of God is upon the church [today] as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century." ("Letter from a Birmingham Jail")

Are King's words coming to pass? For me, this is the heartbeat of Church Marketing Sucks. I see two primary problems which have made this site necessary: 1) The church has a hard time communicating its message. 2) The message we do communicate often fails because our authenticity is in jeopardy.

All the postcards and Google ads in the world won't fix the second problem.

(quote via Mission Safari)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:09 AM
| Comments (3) | TrackBack

July 11, 2005

The Golden Rule

This has little directly to do with marketing, but I love the story. It's about Rev. Frank Santora, the senior pastor of a Faith Church in New Milford, Conn. Santora was preaching on the golden rule, and shared a story about how he could have sued a roofer who put a leaky roof on Santora's house and then charged Santora for the materials to fix it. Instead he just paid the roofer to finish the job.

"I thought, maybe this man charged me the $1,500 for the materials because he couldn't afford to pay for them himself and was simply too embarrassed to admit it," he said. "And maybe what I have to do is swallow the cost so this guy's thoughts of Christianity and of ministers won't be tainted."

How many churches, how many pastors, how many Christians are willing to take that approach? Yes, you could be taken advantage of, but it seems the greater risk is making someone else feel cheated. It doesn't sound right to my ideas of fairness, but Jesus isn't really interested in that, is he? I wish it was something I could live up to.

And yes, I'd also agree that it's maybe a story better kept to yourself. Then again, if we always took that route there'd be little to challenge and inspire.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:08 PM
| Comments (10) | TrackBack

March 28, 2005

Diversity in the Pews

The Church of Saint Joseph in Spring Valley, N.Y. has something few other churches have: diversity. Weekly attendance is at nearly 4,000, spread over services in four languages: English, Spanish, Haitian-Creole and Polish.

As the New York Times (registration required) described the scene:

She pointed to a bulletin board where flags from more than a dozen countries surrounded a quotation from the Book of Psalms: "O Lord, let all nations praise you."

The same phrase is repeated on the church's bumper sticker, and its meaning was evident in the church pews during the 9 a.m. English Mass. Skin tones and clothing representing many nationalities could be seen in nearly every row, the physical differences only highlighted as people knelt to pray in unison.

The article doesn't describe how Saint Joseph's became so diverse (this post links to a few potential resources), but overcoming institutional racism and embracing diversity is something the church must do. The blogosphere has been dealing with this charge lately, when will the church?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:50 AM
| Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 22, 2005

Liquor in Church? Not in Maryland.

A Maryland church caused a ruckus after applying for a liquor license for their new banquet hall, and then quickly withdrew the application after a state lawmaker raised concerns.

"Many communities are concerned about the real intent of the church when people who are very devoted to the Christian principles apply for a liquor license," said lawmaker Joanne C. Benson.

I'm not much of a drinker myself—communion wine is all I ever imbibe, and I don't even like the taste of that—but I don't see why the church has to be so incredibly anti-alcohol. I would think being devoted to Christian principles would require a responsible approach to alcohol, not an abdication. Certainly the church shouldn't be encouraging drunkenness, but why can't a church-owned banquet hall be a safe place to drink alcohol?

What would it say to the community if the church stepped up and brought responsibility to alcohol? What if the church's banquet hall was a place where you could have a wedding or other party, serve alcohol, and not be worried about drunken guests? What if the church led the way in helping recovering alcoholics, in stopping underage drinking, in ending drunk driving, and in providing a setting where responsible drinking could happen?

Instead of facing tough issues and trying to be a voice of societal change, we get backpedaling: "We choose not to present this type of image to our church and local community," wrote the church's senior pastor Bishop Don Meares. Too bad Jesus set a different precedent when he changed water in to wine.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:30 AM
| Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 3, 2005

Solidarity Doesn’t Suck

I love this story. Kevin Burkhart, pastor of United Methodist Church in Curtis, Neb.—known as "Rev. Kev"—shaved his head to show solidarity with two members of the congregation who are undergoing chemo treatments for breast cancer. It's a tiny gesture and part of his broader point of the way we need to support one another, especially in hard times. It's not marketing per se, but it's a sermon in action—and that rocks.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 5:17 PM
| Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 17, 2005

I Have a Dream

The 86-year-old evangelist Billy Graham was named by pastors across the board as having the greatest influence on churches and being the most trusted spokesperson for Christianity, according to a new report from George Barna (who found himself in the 8th spot for greatest influence). The likes of Rick Warren, George W. Bush and James Dobson top the list of greatest influencers, with a similar list for spokesperson minus Bush and including T.D. Jakes.

With the exception of T.D. Jakes, the top ten lists for all pastors from both categories feature nothing but white men. On a day like today that honors arguably the greatest church leader of the 20th century, it's sad to see that Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream and the Church rose up and left a mark on history. It seems a disservice to call it marketing, but it certainly has to be the Church at its best. If only the church of all places could live up to King's dream.

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." (from a sermon King delivered the night before he was assassinated.)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 8:13 AM
| Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 6, 2005

Behavioral Marketing

by Andy Havens, Guest Blogger

I was reading a post titled "News from Australia" on Seth Godin's blog (author of the marketing books Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside) a few days ago. The second half of the post talks about a dentist who gets much happier after firing his "C" patients; those who complain constantly, don't pay on time (or ever) and make his life miserable. I was reminded of my time in retain marketing when we'd joke that we'd love a churn rate of 2% (losing 2% of our customers every month), if we could hand-pick the 2% that left.

Continue reading "Behavioral Marketing"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 7:38 AM
| Comments (4) | TrackBack

January 4, 2005

The Church Responds to Tsunami

In the wake of what has to be one of the worst national disasters in recent history*, the world is mobilizing with relief efforts for the tsunami victims. Despite early criticism for the “stingy” U.S. response, government relief has exploded while private efforts are being led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

Among all the stories of aid efforts, churches are coming up again and again.

“This is Christianity 101 applied, loving your neighbor in the extreme example,” said the Rev. Joe Kerrigan of Sacred Heart R.C. Church in New Brunswick.

Continue reading "The Church Responds to Tsunami"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 6:54 AM
| Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 23, 2004

The Pastor Can't Do it Alone

Marketing guru Seth Godin (author of Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside) has released a previous book in a free PDF format for a limited time only: The Bootstrapper's Bible.

The 103-page PDF covers the typical "bootstrapper" in business, the person who picks themselves up by their own bootstraps, making a business happen with few resources. It strikes me that these are the kinds of people needed in the church to make things happen. Often, they are pastors. But let's face it: pastors can't do it all on their own. Pew-warming lay people need to step up and help the church to be more.

As a side note, Godin comments on his own blog about the successfulness of spreading an idea when it's offered for free.

UPDATE: The limited time to download "The Bootstrapper's Bible" has expired, but Godin gives permission for others to post it online, so here it is:

The Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin (PDF 1.1 MB)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 2:14 PM
| Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 21, 2004

Marketing is Secondary

"I don't think we should try to improve our marketing until we first go back and look at our message, our content and our people." -Brian McLaren (see our interview)

Marketing needs to come out of who a church is, what their message is and who they are as a people. If the marketing sucks, then the problem might go deeper.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 9:01 AM
| Comments (6) | TrackBack

September 15, 2004

Apathy in the Pew

Doug Tappan doesn’t like church anymore, and said as much in his recent editorial:

"I’ve come to expect the church to forge my spiritual development. Instead of working on my own prayer and devotional life, I want the church to do it for me. ...

"I’d like to blame all this on our American culture of selfishness. I’d like to say that I am this way because I’ve been socially conditioned by all the advertising and marketing that I’m encountered with day after day; advertising that says things like ‘Have it Your Way.’ Well, I do want it my way. Don’t we all? Isn’t it true that if we don’t like how things are done at one church we can just go across town (or across the street, for some of us) and find a church that suits our felt needs better? Is that what Jesus intended for His church? Did He want us to forsake our churches just to seek ‘greener pastures’ somewhere else? It’s true that the Church is flawed. No church is exempt from this. But instead of giving up (or becoming total cynics of every last detail) we should be working to change that which is wrong in our churches, but more than that—to change that which is wrong in ourselves.”

I think Doug nails it. Church marketing may suck, but sometimes the blame lies with the people in the pews. Not that blame is the important thing, but it brings us back to the constant refrain that we are a broken people. Recognizing that is important.

It’s also interesting to note that Doug points a finger at the self-centeredness of current marketing. Does church marketing fall in that boat as well?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 7:20 AM
| Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2004

Bono: No Respectability for the Church

Bono, the lead singer of U2 and the patron saint of culturally aware Christians, has made his views on AIDS and the church clear. He hates the idea of the church being uninvolved in something he sees as right in line with the church's mission:

"Christ's example is being demeaned by the church if they ignore the new leprosy, which is AIDS. The church is the sleeping giant here. If it wakes up to what's really going on in the rest of the world, it has a real role to play. If it doesn't, it will be irrelevant."

He goes on to attack the status quo in the church:

"To some people the church is their ticket to respectability, a certain bourgeois point of view, a safety net for when they go to bed. My idea of Christianity is no safety net, a scathing attack on bourgeois values, and a risk to respectability."

Continue reading "Bono: No Respectability for the Church"

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:20 PM
| Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 5, 2004

False Advertising

"The greatest challenge the church faces today is to be authentic disciples of Jesus. ... That's one reason why the statistics on Christians generally don't differ from the statistics on non-Christians. We're not living a different life." -Dallas Willard (RelevantMagazine.com)

Christians are walking billboards for the church, and too often it's a case of false advertising. Church marketing sucks, but so do we. We're a sinful and broken people, but half the time we can't admit it. We put on an air of perfection, forgetting that in our brokenness we are complete. The church is for the broken, not the perfect.

Yet rather than accept our imperfection and live lives transformed by grace, we pretend to be perfect and wallow in our sin.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 1:05 PM
| Comments (7) | TrackBack