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Power to the Pews: Paint the Town

This is part five in our series on guerrilla church marketing, Power to the Pews.

Last time we talked about the people in the pews inviting their friends to church. That word of mouth, direct invite from someone you know is powerful and effective. But there’s more you can do. One big step is to make sure your community knows about your church.

Paint the town. Make sure your church is advertised all around town. Make sure people have heard of your church, make sure they see your logo, make it hard for them to miss. This is the kind of thing any communications team would love to do, but it might be too daunting of a task. But it might be something simple for the person in the pew to tackle.

But two things first:

Don’t be obnoxious. Painting the town with your church is a great way to spread the word. It’s also a great way to make your church look like the evil corporation that leaves garbage all over and vandalizes property. Don’t be that person. Ask permission, obey local laws and be a nice neighbor.
For the communication folks following along, this is a powerful way to empower your congregation. You may not have time to paint the town yourself, but it might be worth it to print up supplies and create a street team of lay people to do your marketing for you.

Now let’s get to work…

Post Signs – Signs have been a marketing standby forever. Small businesses rely on them and local bands have turned them into an art. Create signs advertising your church and plaster them around town. Many coffee shops, libraries, rec centers and community centers have public bulletin boards where you’re welcome to post your signs. Local businesses may be willing to put a sign in the window (get permission!), especially if you’re promoting a big event.
Flyers – The sign’s younger brother is the stack of flyers with the same eye-catching design that allows people to take the information home. You can ask businesses if you can leave a stack on the counter. You’re asking a lot more of a local business than a sign in the window, so it might help to find businesses run by church members. Or hit up the coffee shop around the corner that your congregation frequents.
Business Cards – Remember those business cards we talked about using for personal invites before? Those are perfect to drop in the fishbowl at local restaurants. You can spread the word and maybe even win a free lunch for your church’s staff.
Yard Signs – Your yard is prime real estate. Politicians take advantage every fall, so why not give the space to a better cause? Increase the impact by focusing on a big event and getting a large crew of your fellow church members to do it too. The message is more effective when it’s repeated, so the more yards you can get the better.
Bumper Stickers – Your bumper is a moving billboard. That’s another great place to spread the word about your church. Just make sure your driving habits match the message. You don’t want to end up on the Fail Blog.
Door Hangers – Another approach is to go door to door in your church’s neighborhood with some door hangers. Religious people going door to door has some negative associations, so save this one for special events and make it worthwhile.
Public Computers – A high tech way to paint the town is to pull up your church website on public computers. It’s low impact, but it’s also simple and easy. Do it at the library, Apple Store, college computer lab, etc.

There are literally hundreds of other ways you can paint the town for your church, from T-shirts to sidewalk chalk. We just shared a few ideas to get you thinking. Share more ideas in the comments and start thinking about how you can spread the word about your church around town.

What kind of guerrilla marketing would you do for your church? Take our poll >>

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/Xd-kgA41D8g/ Kevin D. Hendricks

From CMS Expo 2012

Here we are at the beginning of day 2 of CMS Expo. David and I have been here since Monday afternoon in preparation for the show that started yesterday. With over 400 attendees registered for over 80 sessions and speakers, we are hoping to meet a few more administrators, developers, users and technology partners for ImpressCMS.

The bulk of day 1 was focused on panel discussions for specific vertical markets - non-profits, government, education, small- and medium-sized businesses, and corporations. That kept the attendees pretty busy and the vendor displays were pretty quiet. David and I occupied ourselves with some lengthy discussions about our upcoming 2.0 release and preparing for some site upgrades.

You can follow along from our events page, or by following the #CMSExpo hashtag on Twitter.
Source: http://community.impresscms.org/modules/imblogging/post.php?post_id=224

Church Communication Hero: Athanasius

Not every church communication hero is a household name. Case in point: Anthanasius. Who? Exactly. He was a fourth-century theologian who argued for the divinity of Christ. His claim to fame (and what’s perhaps a little more well-known)—the Nicene Creed:

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made…”

That’s just the first part of it, the part that Athanasius fought for. What we believe and the words we use to communicate those beliefs are worth fighting for.

A popular idea of Athanasius’ time was that God the Father is eternal, but Jesus Christ is only a creature, a mere demigod. You can imagine the implications of this. If Jesus is “lower on the totem pole” than God, then some of his actions (walking on water, rising from the dead, etc.) and even value/worth (Savior of the world, love, bread of life, living water, etc.) might be called into question. Theologians have referred to this belief as non-traditional and controversial. Athanasius went a little further and called it “ignorant, godless, impious, heretical, hypocritical, non-Christian.” Yikes! He wrote pages and pages of text to explain why he believed Jesus was more than just a pretty-divine guy.

So how did he do it?

He read and reflected on the words of Scripture: “John says, ‘In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and apart from him not one thing came to be,’ [John 1:14].” -Orations Against the Arians
He thought deeply about the words of his predecessors, building on some and rejecting others. Athanasius comes from a long line of theologians who were struggling to make sense of the gospel. He tended to agree with a lot of what church father Tertullian and Christian ruler Constantine had to say; he didn’t like a guy named Arius at all.
He wasn’t afraid to form and fight for his own very deep convictions. The Nicene Creed was first formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325, but it didn’t actually take hold until the Council of Constantinople in 381. Athanasius was bold and uncompromising throughout this time. His tenacity, which brought about persecution even to the point of exile five times, was key to the victory of the Nicene Creed.
He stayed focused. After reading Athanasius’ various treatises, there’s no question what he’s after. Athanasius wants people to see that Jesus = God. And he’s very convincing.

And why does all this matter?

The Christian faith as a whole is well, confusing. It is hard, if not impossible, to fully understand and articulate it. But Athanasius knew that what we say about the gospel—and how we say it—matters. Athanasius shows us that it takes time and a lot of hard work, but we can be successful.

Athanasius also teaches us that our communication today can shape faith and even become legendary in the years to come. People in the pews might have no idea who Athanasius is, but the Nicene Creed could very well be their “go to” for how to articulate what they believe about the God they worship.

If Athanasius shied away from heresy, our doctrine would have suffered. If we fail to communicate what God has placed on our hearts, our churches will suffer.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/kiLs4PHuBdw/ Erin Williams

Church Marketing Lab: Epic

Epic. The word is epically overused these days. However, sometimes the Church Marketing Lab features compositions that accurately depict some of the amazing stories in the Bible.

For example, user cshehee posted a sermon series graphic about the story of Jonah.

Juliet Towner‘s series graphic, “Where Is God?” also has a bold feel.

And, we can’t forget Colleen Tunis‘ epic message series graphic about vampires.

Have you ever created an epic-feeling series graphic? If so, we’d love to see it over in the Lab.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/ezbttqeK0OI/ Chuck Scoggins

Firestarter: Substance Church

Firestarter is a way to recognize churches that have ignited ideas and sparked brilliant communication. The hope is that this project will fan the flame and spread those creative embers to other church communicators. Learn more about Firestarter.

From my first exposure to Substance Church it was clear that they were the perfect candidate for a Firestarter. This church in Minneapolis is being used by God in some pretty remarkable ways. They currently report that 70% of their church is under 30 years old, 50% of the people there did not go to church prior to attending Substance, and the one that really got my attention, they have 116% attendance in their small groups.

And no, that isn’t a typo. 116%.

I recently spoke with Associate Pastor Mark Mellen about their approach to communicating small groups to their church. Pastor Mark stated that Substance is a church “of small groups” and not a church “with small groups” and that they are the “foundation of our church.” Substance often says, “We don’t believe that church starts till the service ends,” and after a brief discussion with them you quickly understand that small groups are not just one of many options at Substance, they are the option.

Substance communicates small groups from the beginning of their Starting Point class (beginners class) right through every Sunday service where their announcements always end with a push toward small groups.

It’s easy to see why they have such high small group participation. Small groups are at the core of the Substance identity and they communicate that effectively to their church every step of the way!

When asked what advice he would share with other churches that are moving toward a small group model, or perhaps are looking to breathe life into their small groups, he stated that it “has to be something that the senior pastor believes in or it won’t permeate your community.” This belief that leadership must be on board is worked out in many ways at Substance and one that caught my attention was that fact that all staff and interns are required to lead small groups. Mark said that “just between those two groups you have 65 small group leaders!”

The small group approach is one that many churches have tried, some successfully, and some not. It is refreshing to see a young church getting people connected into community in such an exciting way.

Firestarter is a way to recognize churches that have ignited ideas and sparked brilliant communication and Substance is certainly one of those churches, especially in the area of small group ministry.

Mark made it clear that the heart of leadership at Substance is to be a resource to other churches. If you are a leader in your church and want more information on the Substance approach to small groups you can email Mark Mellen and he will be glad to help you. You can also visit www.SubstanceChurch.com for more information.

Do you know of a church that should be recognized as a Firestarter? Let us know by nominating a church as a Firestarter.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/Xllbl9ytGBM/ Adam Legg

Creative Missions 2012

This year’s Creative Missions trip—exactly what it sounds like, a missions trip for creatives—is heading to Northwest Arkansas and Joplin, Mo., starting tomorrow through May 25. A team of nearly two dozen people, led by Cleve Persinger, will be helping churches communicate better.

We supported the inaugural trip last year and we’re thrilled to do it again this year. This has to be one of the coolest, most practical and hands on ways that church communicators can help other churches communicate better.

A big thanks goes out to this year’s participants: Matt Adams (working remotely), Laura Bennett, Andy Burns, Kelvin Co, Evan Courtney, Trent Cowart, Nathan Dewberry, Shane Fife, Kim Fukai, Danielle Hartland, Dave Hartland, Brad Huss, Colt Melrose, Kyna Moore, Eric Murrell, Vajaah Parker, Cleve Persinger, Katie Persinger, Joe Porter, Matt Ralph, Jon Rogers, Chuck Scoggins and Mark Sliteris.

How You Can Pray:

Pray for team unity, as a whole and for individual teams.
Pray for maximized time and effort as they serve 15-20 churches in just six days.
Pray that churches, pastors and staff members will be encouraged by the services and products provided.
Pray that the churches and their communities will be impacted. The goal is to increase each church’s relevance in their community so they can have a more effective outreach.

How You Can Follow Along:

Facebook
Follow the #CreativeMissions hashtag on Twitter or check out our Creative Missions 2012 list
Recaps will go up on mediaBLEEP.com after the trip
We’ll be posting updates here at Church Marketing Sucks

It’s also not too late to support Creative Missions financially.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/TKGFo1F5ffY/ Kevin D. Hendricks

Power to the Pews: The Invitation

This is part four in our series on guerrilla church marketing, Power to the Pews.

If we’re going to get lay people promoting their church we should probably talk about the most obvious way they can do it. It’s kind of scary though. You ready?

Invite people to church.

It sounds obvious, but nobody is doing it. You can pick your stats on this issue, but they’re all pretty depressing. In his book The Unchurched Next Door, Thom Rainer says that only 2% of church people ever invite someone to church (guilty; though I don’t think any of us will be raising the 98% banner). And it’s not clear what we’re afraid of: 82% of the unchurched are somewhat likely to go if someone would just ask them.

It’s like a middle school dance. Everybody wants to dance, but nobody wants to ask.

Why Not?

So if you’re a person in the pew not inviting anyone to church, it’s time to ask why not. Maybe you’re scared they’ll say no, maybe you’re embarrassed of your church, maybe you just don’t think about it. Or maybe like a lot of us in Christian circles, you just don’t have that many unchurched friends you can invite.

I always tell my kids either stop complaining about a problem or fix it. So step one is to figure out the reason and address it.

If you’re just scared, find ways to make it less scary. Invite a friend to a special event instead of Sunday morning or find a mutual friend and tag team the invite. Maybe you can try a halfway step and host a non-church event at your church. Board game night at your church gives you plenty of space for Carcassanne, plus your friend is already there and it’s a simple task to invite them back on Sunday. Or you could flip the tables and invite your pastor along to your next karaoke night. The invite gets easier when it’s obvious the pastor isn’t the judgmental, stuffy type.
If you’re embarrassed of your church, how come? Is this something you need to get over or is your church that bad? Maybe you need to step up and help your church become less embarrassing (after all, people who sit in the pew and complain are part of the problem).
If you don’t think about it, it’s time to start. The great commission didn’t say anything about a social club. Be intentional about it and think of specific people you can start inviting.
If you’re lacking unchurched friends, it’s time to make some new friends. Start hanging out with your coworkers or if you work with a bunch of Christians, find some new groups. It may be a little uncomfortable at first and you feel like you have nothing in common. But if that’s the case, you’re too sheltered. You need to broaden your horizons and meet some new people. They need Jesus too. You’re a missionary at happy hour! But please, don’t call yourself that.

You like your church, don’t you? (If not, we’ve got a bigger problem.) Maybe it’s time to start sharing it.

How Can Your Church Help?

Another question to ask is how can your church make it easier to invite people? This is where the church marketing folks reading this series from a distance can jump in and get involved. And if you’re a lay person with no church communication team jumping in to tackle these ideas, maybe this is your role to fill.

Create handy invite cards with times and directions. It’s cheaper than you think: You can print 10,000 full-color, two sided business cards for well under $150. Have them available at all times. Not only does it make it easier to invite people, it’s a handy reminder for the people who don’t think about it.
Be active on social media. Everybody’s on Facebook and Twitter these days and it’s a lot easier to throw out an invite if you can point to an active Facebook page or Twitter account. It can give a potential visitor that first introduction and they’ll realize that church isn’t so weird.
Make sure your service is visitor friendly. Do your people actually welcome visitors or do they scare them away (either from being too friendly or too distant)? Does the service drip with insider lingo and archaic traditions that are never explained? It can be as simple as inviting people to kneel instead of watching the entire congregation drop to their knees as if on invisible cue that leaves the visitor feeling creeped out.

There are a lot of ways your church can help your congregation invite people. Start brainstorming and get to work.

The people in the pews are a ready-made street team for your church. The bodies are there and Jesus gives the motivation (that great commission thing again). We just need to get to work.

What kind of guerrilla marketing would you do for your church? Take our poll >>

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/QkCVLqew3vs/ Kevin D. Hendricks

Power to the Pews: Church Devotional Content

This is part three in our series on guerrilla church marketing, Power to the Pews.

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave the great commission we all know well:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Ever since he said these words, Christians have thought about what it means to “make disciples” and teach people to obey all that Christ commanded. The results have been everything from hardcore catechesis and the Sunday School movement to, more recently, mid-week small groups and online Christian communities.

If communication really has changed as much as everybody’s saying it has, it’s time to re-think the great commission again. These days, people don’t just “receive” the good news. Fewer people are in church, Christian radio is on the decline, and Sunday School has become practically extinct in many denominations. Not even an online devotional has the same power and punch that it did five years ago.

Christians want to talk more, maybe even speak with authority, and social media is giving them the chance to do it. Can the church learn something here?

The Example

A couple of years ago, my church invited its children and youth to participate in the usually-very-grown-up Advent season. Pastors asked children to draw pictures related to Advent and displayed the pictures in special mid-week services. They also asked teens to write daily devotionals that were put together as church-wide devotional books. Staff members guided students in the selection of Scripture and format for each devotional, advertised the devotionals, made them available outside the sanctuary and posted them online.

The response was overwhelming! It turns out our teens had a ton of meaningful things to say about God and how he had been at work in their lives. And who isn’t moved by a child’s picture of God’s love? After years of being taught in traditional contexts, students were now given the chance to process Scripture and articulate their faith in new and creative ways. The projects and support allowed them not only to share their faith through artistic mediums, but also to play a part in the teaching and inspiring of their church community.

The next year, the Advent project expanded to the Lent season too, and ever since then, children and youth have participated in both. This year, the devotional book project expanded to an online blog of writing, art, and video where people can comment on what’s been posted. There are plans for this blog to continue after Lent and expand to include both children and adult contributors too. The children’s art project also has grown to include adults.

See what’s been happening? It’s no longer only the pastor and Sunday school teacher taking on the great commission. The people in the pews are talking too, and it’s making a difference.

What kind of guerrilla marketing would you do for your church? Take our poll >>

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/JhU9l6sShs0/ Erin Williams

Office Hours: Wasting Time on Twitter & Basic Comm Strategy

Every week I hold online office hours and answer questions from folks like you. This week we’ve got a question about how to get a basic Twitter strategy up and running and how important it is to get buy-in from your senior leadership! Take a look and be sure to join me every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. CDT for online office hours!

What’s the least you can do on Twitter and not be a waste of time? I’d love to start a Twitter feed for my church, but I’m afraid I’ll get busy and it’ll quickly go silent. Is it OK if we only tweet once a week? Or is that just lame?

My answer:

More than anything, an audience wants to know what to expect (at least when it comes to communication, anyway). My advice? Start small and build up.

If you have time for one tweet a week, great! That’s a good starting point. Just make sure you’re consistent and build time in your schedule to make that tweet appointment.

My experience has shown that people actually have much more time available than they realize. If social media are a priority (which they should be), try and carve out just five minutes a day to build a strategy. You’d be surprised at what you can do in those few moments.

Build small. Build simple. Be consistent. Scale as you’re able.

My church has no communications team. There have been failed efforts to start a volunteer committee over the past decade, but nothing sticks. How can we get started and improve our marketing in a sustainable way with no staff?

My answer:

First things first, it is crucial for you to set the need for a communications team, be it volunteer or staff-led. I don’t need to tell you this, but it’s important to verbalize how vital communications are to the life of a church

Secondly, I’d dig down into what the goals are of senior leadership. Find them out and then tie them into your communication efforts. Let me be clear: for any sort of communication strategy/effort to work, the senior leadership needs to buy-in to the process. Without this endorsement, it’s going to make it very hard for something to stick, long term. My guess is, this is where you’re feeling the tension

If you can hinge the communication efforts to the goals of the organization, and paint a very clear picture of how the former depends on the latter, you’ll probably start seeing more traction.

Thanks for the great questions everybody! Hopefully this information will help you get from where you are to where you want to go. See you next time in the office!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/A92D5tCMpRU/ Justin Wise

Power to the Pews: Create Content

This is part two in our series on guerrilla church marketing, Power to the Pews.

The first step in guerrilla church marketing is to start creating content. You’re already tweeting/blogging/picturing (!?), just do it about your church. It’s not rocket science. But more than likely you need to be more intentional about talking up your church. Here are some ways you can get started:

Blog/Tweet the Service

Every week your church has a worship service and is creating all kinds of related content. That’s an opportunity. You can blog or tweet about the service and spread the word simply, naturally and effectively. Talk about the songs you’re singing, how the sermon impacts your life or just what you get out of the service. Your church staff puts a lot of effort into creating this stuff every week. Give it more legs by talking it about it online. You can take notes with pen and paper and do your blogging later, or whip out your laptop, tablet or smart phone and live tweet the service. Side effect: Listening for something worth sharing helps me to pay attention.

#LoveMyChurch Hashtag

If you love your church you should be talking about it. Use the #LoveMyChurch hashtag to share what keeps bringing you back to your church each week. It’s a simple exercise but doing it consistently is a powerful testimonial for your church.

Many of your Twitter followers might not even get why you’d want to go to church. If you can tell them in a loving, friendly, non-snarky way, then you’re doing reputation management for the worldwide church.

Share Photos

Nowadays everyone is a photographer, snapping cell phone pics and sharing with Facebook/Instagram, Flickr and more. Take pics at church, whether it’s a special event or a cool service and share them. Let your network see what happens at church. It’s probably not the boring church service they expect or remember.

You could even get creative and make a project out of it. Stand in the back and take a picture every week—a year’s worth of back-of-the-church photos would be pretty awesome. People have been doing it with their faces for years, why not do it with your church’s sanctuary?

Documentary

Video is exploding these days and what would be more fun than a video about your church? It’s a project only the most well-staffed and funded communication teams will ever get to, so it’s perfect for a free agent like yourself. Give us an honest-to-goodness documentary—just walk around the church office getting some off-the-cuff remarks from staff. Spend Sunday morning set up in a corner and asking folks about church. Avoid the awkward and overdone Office mockumentary vibe and make it real.

What’s Your Story?

Go even deeper: Collect and share stories from your church. Talk to people and get their faith story, whether it’s how they came to Christ or how they came to your church or some momentous spiritual milestone in their life. Collect these stories in whatever medium works (text, video, audio, etc.) and start sharing them (blog, book, podcast, YouTube, etc.).

This might be a communication team’s dream project, but they’re too busy with the day-to-day to ever make it happen. You could be the hero that finally brings it to life.

What Are Your Ideas?

How would you start creating content for your church as a church marketing civilian?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/churchmarketing/~3/qtJqehlLErk/ Kevin D. Hendricks