Church Marketing, how and why?

There's definitely a few things that I see happening in most churches. Making a big deal out of visitors... "please raise your hand" "fill out this form to get started" etc... I know that our church actually went away from both of those things.

We place the visitor packets on a table at the back of the worship center and mention it so that people don't have to stand up and get singled out. The pastor gives out his personal number and asks people to call if they have questions or want to know more. Talk about low pressure as a visitor!

Before the offering, the pastor announces that we don't want money from our visitors, to please just pass the tray without donating.

I'll have to watch the video again and watch for other things that our church may need to adjust :)
 
I didn't get to watch the video as I am in class, but churches advertise to get more members. More members = more money.
 
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That's a little cynical, Odale. lol

To me: More members = More people in heaven.
 
I don't think its cynical, but instead realistic (It doesn't help that I heard in a sermon detailing the reason churches advertise is to get more money...).

People do not need to go to your church to hear about Jesus, they'll find that at most other churches. So, then why do churches advertise for more members?
 
Odale said:
So, then why do churches advertise for more members?
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You are making a fair conclusion, but leaving out other possibilities. Most all churches do not have a motive of getting more members in order to get more money, but rather have a Biblical motive of getting more members in order to get more people into heaven. Though, I will agree that very few churches are motivated by money, but very few. Unfortunately those few are some of the most prominent one on TV.

Whether a church is large and have alot of money is not indicative of the total quantity of its members. The determining factor is the demographics of its members and how the leadership uses that money. A church might be small but have toms of tithe money coming in because it is in a rich neighborhood. Transversely, a church might be huge in size, but have very little tithes coming in because it is in a very poor area of the city. Population does not equate money in the church. I know of many churches that tithe back out to missionaries over 51% of what comes in. Thus proves money is not the motivating factor, but the furtherance of the Kingdom of God. Obviously, more money does enable to church to do more, but it is not the motivating factor for getting more members. Where God guides, He provides.

Back to the main issue. I believe that church marketing should be to establish your churches identity and promote how that identity can reach your needs. Each church has a different identity and is able to reach different people because the Sr. Pastor has been given a different vision by the Lord to lead and feed that church. God has created each person differently and each vision is different. Thus, you will never find any two churches exactly alike. God has created His church this way in order to be able to reach out to a greater number of different people with different needs, with different preferences in how they relate to God.

Blessings,

Pastor Dade Ronan
 
Wow, guys - I'm sorry your church experiences have been that way.

In our church, members are professing believers in Jesus Christ as the only means to salvation, who demonstrate their love for God in their lives - growing, serving, giving, reproducing. Every year we update our membership roles to include those people, ONLY. Granted, not everyone is doing all four, all the time, all out.

I'm sure there are churches that are just looking for more people to have more money - but most of the churches I deal with are seriously seeking to fulfill the Great Commission and bring more souls to eternity. They 'market' their church to meet more unsaved people so they can remedy that situation.

Yes - "people do not need to go to church to hear about Jesus," but most people who hear about Jesus do so through a church sponsored event/program or from a person/friend who goes to church. In Matthew 16:16 Jesus says he is building his church. As you know, he wasn't talking about a building, but the people. The church is still the people. People of God are called to attract people without God and help them become people of God. Hopefully, if a church is advertising it is tied to accomplishing this goal.

And, yes - "More members might mean more people in heaven, or it might mean you will have more people able to slip through the cracks thinking they are "good enough" because they attend church." Even Jesus said there will be weeds among the wheat - but he'll take care of that in the day of harvest - we are not to worry too much about that. There are always those who are just looking to get their ticket to heaven punched. I have seen even those people become full fledged followers of Jesus Christ when they are exposed to the truth about what it means to be a disciple. Again, that happens in church, usually.

I'll take more people in church hearing the Word on a regular basis, over fewer people, any day.
 
what should we do differently then so that these negative experiences dont happen again?
 
They weren't negative imo. I am not saying money is bad.

Churches who do more outreach or churches who have a larger membership base will naturally need a larger cash flow.
 
I just finished watching the video and, I'll be honest, it makes me cringe a bit. It's hard to nail down exactly why. I just get a "check" (for lack of a better term) while watching it. No, it's not conviction. It's the sense that something in the message or delivery is just...off.

I'm all for parody, but the video seemed almost mean-spirited. I understand the point they're trying to get across, but the humor is just a bit too pointed. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I have a tendency to do that.

It doesn't help that the entire video is based on a flawed analogy. The Gospel is not merely a service or good to "sell" to others. It is the Truth, it is God's Word, and we don't need to dress it up to attract the attention or interest of others. Human beings have a natural interest in truth, even while our sin nature rails against it.

I think of the story of Jesus being pressed in by people who were interested in him but perhaps not his ministry. He proceeds to tell them, "If you want to follow me, eat my flesh and drink my blood." The crowd dissipated and the people remaining stuck with him. Jesus turns around and asks the people left, "Well, are you going to leave, too?" I love Peter's response: "You have the word of eternal life. Who else do we have to turn to?"

I think it's safe to say that Peter didn't understand the difficult lesson that Jesus had just taught. I'm sure he had his own doubts. But he recognized the truth of Jesus' teaching and figured he would understand in time if he stuck around. Peter is a bit of a klutz, but he has some wonderful moments of clarity (more frequently after the Ascension of Christ).

I don't think marketing is in and of itself bad or evil. It's a tool. It has its place. If communicating the presence of a church and a willingness of its members to serve the surrounding community counts as marketing, then no, I'm not opposed to the idea of church marketing; however, I think the idea that people have to dress up the Word of God to attract people's attention is misguided, even if one's intentions are good.

We have at our fingertips the living Word of God. Pastors are called to preach and teach that Word. All Christians are called to live it out and many are called to teach in other, usually smaller settings (most often, the home).

Communicating a church's presence and events is important. If people aren't aware of the church, how would they know to attend? Churches need to make a reasonable effort to alert those in the surrounding community to their presence primarily for the purpose of bringing in Christians not already attending a local church so that spiritual leaders can teach them and raise them up to reach others in turn.

Some have already mentioned the church's purpose in communicating the Gospel to the local community as well as other areas (i.e. the Great Commission). I wanted to point out that another key purpose of the church is to raise up discples (not simply converts) for Christ. That means walking alongside Christian men, women, boys, and girls and helping them grow in their relationships with Christ.

If nothing else, this video sparks an important debate.

And while some may jab at churches that ask visitors to stand up and fill out a visitor card (which I agree is a very awkward experience for the visitor), it's dangerous to assume the intention of those setting the worship service guidelines as trying to "bolster numbers" or "get a head count." Sometimes people who are the least "culturally relevant" show hearts clearly longing to glorify God through serving others and inspire others to do the same.

I care less about whether a church serves free coffee (though again, that's just a tool, being neither good nor evil) and more about whether a pastor or church members will greet me with genuine warmth.

A side story and then I'll close: The church my wife and I attended in St. Louis was comprised mainly of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. We were one of the very, very few couples in the church in our 20s without children. But that was irrelevant because the people genuinely took care of one another (and it showed) and they showed Christ's love to others. We felt genuinely welcomed as people--not a demographic (we felt like most local churches didn't have a clue how to react to people in their 20s without kids), not as a +2 for the head count, and certainly not as a few more dollars in the offering plate. The pastors (there were two senior pastors) taught truth from the Word of God, occasionally throwing in an anecdote when it helped illustrate the point.

EDIT: "How do you treat a 20-something couple with no children? The same way you treat everyone else--with the love of Christ." That's what the actions and attitudes of those church members said to me.

The flip side of that story is that we found the church through their web site. They used the Internet to communicate their presence, their core beliefs, and upcoming events. Sermons were also available online.

What do I think about "church marketing"? That depends. How do you define "church marketing"?

EDIT: While I enjoy talking about games, I love topics like these. As I'm so fond of saying, we're Christians that happen to be gamers, not gamers that happen to be Christian. Games are, as they always have been, merely a tool to bring Christians together to serve God. I'd like to see more topics that address spiritual matters like this one.
 
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Odale said:
Churches who do more outreach or churches who have a larger membership base will naturally need a larger cash flow.
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True.

I didn't take Odale's statements to be cynical, but rather clearly pragmatic.

A local church is a building on property, using utilities like water and electricity, where people (like the pastor) spend full-time hours to preach, teach, and live out the Word of God. A church requires money to operate. I guess I never understood why some churches seemed ashamed of that.

I know when it comes to raising funds for the Alliance, I don't rattle a tin cup. I let the community speak for itself, I outline (with dollar amounts) what our expenses are, and I communicate how members can help support the community financially. I make every reasonable efforts at transparency. Members understand that if no members contributed funds, we'd have to shut down. Web hosting, like electricity, costs money.
 
Alright, I just saw the video.

Several parts that stuck out at me...

  • The greeter - how he wasn't greeting people.
  • Standing in line - when the new couple was in line and being eyed (or judged) by other people in front of them.
  • The cashier - singling them out and then asking if they will be back next week.

It was a good video. I think it outlines the short comings and follies some churches have when they are too involved with their image. (Narcissism comes to mind.)

Also... the cashier took their money. :D

( I dunno why he was vacuuming the cash register though... maybe make it seem cleaner to better reflect/represent what purpose its collecting for...)

Atown said:
what should we do differently then so that these negative experiences dont happen again?
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I think not singling people out would be of great help. The church where I try to go every Sunday does not embarrass new comers.

Explaining what exactly the offering will be used for is another good idea. This church I try to attend weekly tells its members of its plans and asks for donations when its members can afford to do so. They also gave the sermon from the gospel regarding what Jesus says a church should be... I really wish I had the verses!!!

Try not to push an agenda too much. The "starbucks" in the video seemed way too bent about getting X amount of new members and forcing "coffee" on everyone. That's not how it needs to work and I think when believers force "coffee" onto other people, the recipients are repelled rather than drawn in. All of the "employees" there (especially the cashier) seemed to be extremely happy and behind that happiness was another, more covert deed that has to be done. It struck me as sneaky.
 
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When it first came out I shared that video with church friends and pastor friends. Everyone thought it was a hoot - enjoyed it for what it was - a parody - where something is imitated for comic effect. It was funny.
 
Odale said:
I think not singling people out would be of great help. The church where I try to go every Sunday does not embarrass new comers.
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I think churches are presented with a difficult thin line to walk: Engage visitors head-on and you may make them feel awkward or embarrassed. Fail to engage them at all and the visitor leaves feeling like he or she is just a spectator or, worse yet, feel unwelcome. I admit I cringed when churches would start with a brief time for greeting one another, but I recognized the heart motive behind the event and I eventually grew to look forward to it once my wife and I joined a church. It's tough to strike a balance when people long for meaning social connections but introductions, especially in the context of the church, can be awkward.

I think some churches dropped certain behavior because that behavior was co-opted or associated with less respectable organizations (i.e. multi-level marketing companies).

From a pastor's perspective, I imagine it's like herding cats to try to get regular members to greet new visitors with genuine warmth but not come off as "salespeople." I imagine this would be significantly easier in a smaller church.

I agree the video was funny and I recognize it as parody. I couldn't shake the feeling that the video was mocking rather than parodying some church behavior, but I do tend to overthink things.

I think we can all agree that greeters who don't greet, church members who try too hard to "sell" the church, and church leadership more concerned with numbers or image than with people are pressing issues the modern church has to deal with.

My wife and I attended plenty of churches where we determined that we would not be coming back before the service even started. (We stayed out of social propriety, but there were times we just wanted to bolt for the door.) First impressions are important, but those impressions should emerge from a genuine love for Christ present in the majority of the members of the church.
 
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Did anyone check out these guys? These are Christian guys trying to make a positive difference by getting people to think.

Their website - beyondrelevance.com - is pretty good. In fact, they have an article on the blog directly related to this discussion that seems to reflect the thinking of most of the comments on this forum - Is Marketing Evil? It is the third article down (I think).

Give it a peek.
 
Abba San said:
Their website - beyondrelevance.com - is pretty good. In fact, they have an article on the blog directly related to this discussion that seems to reflect the thinking of most of the comments on this forum - Is Marketing Evil? It is the third article down (I think).

Give it a peek.
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I just read through the article and agree the writer makes some excellent points:
You see, money is not evil. Money can be used to spread the Gospel, feed the homeless, and pay the electricity at the church. It is not the use of money that makes it evil, it is the motive behind the money that matters. Money becomes evil when our affections turn toward it and our motives sour--when our hearts are not in check.

So does marketing. Marketing is a matter of the heart.
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Money, like marketing, is a tool.

I would still argue that certain sections of the video were unnecessarily harsh, but after reading the blog post excerpted above, I can trust that the people behind the video had right motives in creating it.
 
Quick pot stir:

Marketing is just fine for a church to do; it is for the purposes of attracting people in. Odale and Abba San are both right: more people equals more message and more money.

What is unfortunate is that a lot of church marketing targets the Christian members of other churches. This is bad.
 
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Yeah - it is tough. If you intend to market your church to the target group "unchurched" you will also get a lot of disgruntled "churched" in the mix.
 
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