Christian Web Resources

Remember that trick you used to play on your friends? “Want to play 52 card pickup?” Then you’d throw their deck of cards in the air.

I feel like my church does this each week with their bulletin. An usher hands me that beautiful piece of literature. Then my next five minutes are spent picking up the pieces that spill out.

Each piece of paper is advertising some church ministry:

• Fire Explosion Ignite Youth Ministry
• Proverbs 31 Zoe Grace Women’s Group
• Passion Eagle Holy Spirit Worship Arts

You see, my church has jumped on the branding bandwagon with extra gusto. Every ministry gets special marketing attention from its leader. Unfortunately, no one is watching out for the church’s brand.

The youth pastor is branding his youth group. The children’s pastor their ministry. Even the worship pastor gets in on the action by branding his band or department.

But with everyone branding their own ministry, who worries about the church’s brand? Very few churches can afford a branding manager for their church. And pastors are often focused on branding their messages. So the church’s brand is pushed to the back while everyone’s ministries fight for attention.

Does your church struggle with brand overload…with no brand overlord to keep them all in check? Let me suggest you scale back on some of the branding and focus on a strong church brand.

Ask every key member of the organization to focus their efforts on the church as a whole. Your church brand will grow stronger. You’ll even find those over-branded ministries will reap the benefits of a strong church brand.

Work on branding the church first. Make sure what people see both reflects the church and makes them want to step through the doors. Then you can slowly add the other stuff.

What are your thoughts on your church’s over or underwhelming lack of branding?