Church Marketing 101 (The Next Evangelicalsim pt.3)

As someone who is part of a new, forming, church community in Western, MI, I couldn't help but highlight, underline, and circle the following from The Next Evangelicalism:

"A few years ago I was told about a church plant in a suburban community. The church had been given a fairly healthy sum to aid in its church plant. The church proceeded to use a substantial portion of those funds to pay a graphic designer to create a logo for the church. In short, a third of the church planting budget went toward a marketing effort....I wonder if Jesus would spend a third of a church planting grant to make a logo that would give the appearance of a successful church, or would those fund have been better used by serving community?"

Welcome to the world of church marketing :) In many ways no different than our corporate world; brand it, advertise it, get people to buy it, get people to buy it again!

In all honesty I struggle with this all of the time. I never want the church (or the gospel) to become a thing that we sell, yet I value the contributions of many of the artists within our church community that design pieces that inspire and communicate. Is there an appropriate level by which a church can/should communicate what is going on? When does a church step across the line from sharing/communicating the story, to selling a product?

What Have We Got Here?

The other night at a meeting we spent some time brainstorming all of the various talents, passions, and giftedness of people who have connected to the Renovate community. I began to write on the whiteboard as people shouted out words:

artists (musicians, vocalists, graphic designers, theater, film makers), teachers (french, spanish, mathematics, english, film, business), financial planners, ceo's, truck drivers, sales people, tattoo artists, bakers, electricians, seamstresses, show producers, massage therapists, doctors, hair dressers, organizers, directors, leaders....

the list went on to include the various life experiences of our people: single, married, divorced, kids, no kids, single parent, employed, unemployed, churched, un-churched, de-churched, politically left, politically right, those living with illness, and those with deep emotional pain.

The whiteboard was full.

When I stood back and looked at the list I saw something more...I saw people. People with passions and stories to share. People who upon coming together, pooling their talent, life experience, and collectively offering it to God could change this world.