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Church Marketing Sucks

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Rethinking Church ConferencesYesterday

The resident expert on church staff burnout, Anne Jackson, started a conversation this week about church conferences. It started with a Twitter post and turned into a blog entry that currently has 49 comments. The essence of Anne's post and the feedback she's receiving is questioning whether or not conferences are worth it. Do you come away with anything helpful or do you just feel inadequate?

Redefining the Conference
That's why I like the new breed of what I'll call "un-conferences." They're experimental events that are trying to redefine the typical conference. Two that come to mind are on opposite ends of the spectrum: Q and Idea Camp. I say opposite ends because Q is pricey and Idea Camp is free. But both events are about getting people together and talking about ideas. Both events banish the garish exhibit hall, so no booths or bozos with their hard sell. (Full disclosure: We'll be attending Q and hope to have a CMS meetup. And we have some connections with the man behind Idea Camp, Charles Lee. He's cool.)

Activity vs. ActionJanuary 7

Once again marketing guru Seth Godin stirred up some thinking with this post that caused me to think about all the ministries churches are involved with. While Seth is talking about online activity, this quote is worth pausing on:

"Is the work you're doing actually leading you where you want to go, or merely keeping you busy?"

Think about all the ministries housed in your church, all the effort you put into them and ask yourself that important question--is it leading you (and those you minister to) where you want (and need) to go?

Too often I believe we launch a ministry because it sounds like a great idea, or because someone really thinks it's needed, or maybe even because the hot church down the block just launched one. That can lead to busy work and often doesn't produce a result other than the addition of another ministry.

Before you launch the next ministry be sure that you understand the purpose and define where you want it to take you and those you minister to. There are great ministries that you can skip (or jump in head first). Maybe because there's someone better equipped for the task, maybe it's a question of focus or passion or maybe, and this is every bit as legitimate, you're already spread too thin.

Be purposeful in your ministry and don't confuse activity with action. This will create both

Next Christmas PollJanuary 7

Last week we asked what you'd most like the Center for Church Communication (our nonprofit parent) to give you next Christmas.

Surprisingly, more than a quarter of you (25%) wanted a podcast. And I thought podcasts were so 2005. Next up two options tied with 18%, one wanting something offline like books or magazines and the other wanting more reports (like You Know You're In Church Communications If...). In the under 10% range we had a number of other options, including organized meetups (like the Local Labs), conferences, consulting and nothing.

Lastly, 13% of you (the 4th most popular option) wanted something else. Let us know in the comments what you've got in mind.

We'll see what 2009 has in store. We can't promise we'll deliver all of these things by next Christmas, but we can tell you that we are working on some of them. This week we're asking how your church handles copyright issuse.

Jesus is Not a Brand: The GoodJanuary 6

This is part two of a two-part post discussing the recent Christianity Today article Jesus is Not a Brand, by Tyler Wigg Stevenson, the author of Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumer Age.

Recently we discussed the shortcomings of Tyler Wigg Stevenson's views in "Jesus is Not a Brand." But he also has some wonderful insights to challenge churches in their marketing, and I'd like to look specifically at three of them.

Marketing is full of segmentation.
Wigg-Stevenson mentions Ford vs. Chevy and Mac vs. PC. Kem Meyer captured the essence of our spirit of debate succinctly recently on Twitter:

Here's an idea: How about this in 2009? Respective Apple & PC fans stop gloating and wishing for the other to fail. It's annoying.

Jesus is Not a Brand: The BadJanuary 5

This is part one of a two-part post discussing the recent Christianity Today article Jesus is Not a Brand, by Tyler Wigg Stevenson, the author of Brand Christianity. We mentioned the article last week and generated some initial discussion.

"Jesus is Not a Brand" is well-written, and I think the author would find himself largely in agreement with us here at Church Marketing Sucks. I certainly recommend the entirety of his long article for intelligent discourse on some of the inherent problems with brands and the traps that churches can fall into.

He has arguments that are inspirational, eloquent and mostly spot-on, but I'd like to address a few of the article's fundamental flaws. This is neither an attack on him or Christianity Today, it is simply our addition to a great conversation surrounding church marketing. And moreover, judging by his article, it is largely a discussion in semantics.

All that said, let's get to his arguments and a few basic misinterpretations.