Over the last year and a half – maybe longer – I have been plagued with a nagging question that leaves my spirit restless and the more I pray…the more I seek…the more I try and listen…the more the restlessness refuses to leave, begging me to keep praying, keep seeking, and keep listening.
My background is in communication design. Anything having to do with visually communicating a message is where my natural niche resides. I promote and advertise anything because it’s what I naturally do.
Since in the last few years I’ve been fulfilling that role in as a vocational church employee, I often walk the line between what is necessary as far as “marketing the church” and “is this necessary at all?” I struggle because marketing, in the sense of advertising, happens whether it is intentional or not. And I struggle because having intentional plans is a good thing, even when it comes to the message of the church.
But has the local church taken church marketing too far?
I did a Technorati search on “Church Marketing” and came across this blog. John O’Keefe writes:
it is easy to sell, “come to our church, our pastor is handsome”
it is not easy to sell, “come to a faith that tells you to love the unlovable”it is easy to sell, “come to our church, we have great music”
it is hard to sell a faith that says, “come to a faith that seeks you to be silent”it is easy to sell, “come to our church, we have some great programs”
it is hard to sell a faith that says, “come to a faith that tells you you must be active in reaching the needs of others”it is easy to sell, “come to our church, we have a wonderful and clean building – with a ton of parking”
it is hard to sell a faith that says, “come to a faith where we will meet on a hill side, and you will need to walk five miles to get there”it is easy to sell, “come to our church, God loves you”
it is hard to sell a faith that says, “come to God, and by doing so love others – even to the cost of your life”it is easy to sell, “come to our church, we love america”
it is hard to sell a faith that says, “live for the kingdom of God, and love those who hate you.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
As a marketer, I see the need for target markets, for knowing your audience, and other marketing principles you learn. But as a Christ-follower, I often wonder if by marketing the church, we’ve bowed down to the American consumeristic mindset which has evolved into a slogan-filled, attention-grabbing, who can come up with the most polished looking piece of marketing collateral-tsunami.
Isn’t our target market PEOPLE? Does it really matter if those people are ages 30-45 with an annual household income of $85,000, with 2.5 kids and a dog who shop at Pottery Barn and eat at Panera? Does the gaping hole in their soul, longing for a Love really exist soley after the fact their houses cost $190,000 and they drive a minivan? Can’t the love of God shine through our lives more than a four-color, glossy, die-cut postcard?
I think we have it backwards sometimes. I really, really do.
Comments
9 responses to “A Nagging Question”
the everlasting question is, “are we selling a church, or finding a relationship with God?” and if we had the answer, all would be very cool :)
thanks for the link, you have a very cool blog :)
pax – john
Anne, I hope you always struggle with this question. It is the very thing that will keep the priorities straight in your purpose and giftedness. This struggle *is* the balance.
Anne, in one sense the church is a human organisation and that means it has an institutional dimension, what I mean by that is that it needs structures and systems. Seen in this light marketing I think can be legitimate.
But to what extent?
I think your question asks a more fundamentally question, which is, what is the mission of the church?
In Christendom, the mission of the church, was to put it bluntly, the church. To grow the church, make it bigger and better. Despite all the talk about reaching the unchurched, the truth was that a lot of church marketing was really about attracting the already churched. How many people in mega-churches today were actually converted through mega-churches, as opposed to attracted from other churches, would be an interesting question to research.
In the new era, mission is no longer about the church, it is no longer attractional, about attracting people into the church, but incarnational, getting the church into the world with the aim of transforming it. This understanding of mission I think will have less use for marketing.
Just been working on my dissertation, and came across a whole chapter in Eddie Gibbs book, ChurchNext about marketing and its positive and negative effects on the church. I think it pretty well reflects how I think. (bet Eddie Gibbs is pleased about that!)
Good comments James. I agree.
you ask, ‘can’t the love of God shine through our lives more than a four-color glossy, die-cut postcard?’
absolutely. but aren’t your gifts in visual communication part of your life? is there a way you could use your gifts to challenge your community, beyond just selling programs and services? i think the sky’s the limit on how your skills could impact the kingdom…
i love that you ask these nagging questions, anne. :)
Anne,
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve recently been thumbing through some biographies on Christian personalities such as Evan Roberts, Dwight Lyman Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, and George Muller. These men of God relied more on the Holy Spirit and the movement of God rather than things fashioned by men. These men did very radical things in their time but behind the scenes we know that time on their knees did what no maketing campaign could ever do.
I know many pastors personally who have given thousands of dollars to “Christian” marketing agencies in the name of God who had little or no return on that investment. That’s a risk some are willing to take and I did my share on a smaller level. Recently, Jackie and I heard of a local church, a big church, who had a member donate $70,000.00 to upgrade the church sound system. Jackie runs Powerpoint in that church for a Christian school based there during the week. She was stunned that someone would give that kind of money just to “upgrade” what seemed to be working well. I defended the church at first but then thought about how many people could be fed on the streets of Charlotte NC, or how many children could have been adopted, or how many missionary pastors could have been supported. I try not to be critical but it seems that the church is trying to keep up with the entertainment world.
I tell myself that in the next mission church we plant we will focus more on people rather than on props. Will I have the courage to carry it through? We will see.
Thanks Anne for reminding me what is important! And congratulations on your new job.
so glad you found them. and now you know about the tiny secret pocket!
orrr it might make it cost $.35 more per copy to print… : )
but it’s not a bad idea.
incidentally, you are making thoroughly valid points here, with which i agree.