Think on These Things

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Church Marketing 101 by Richard Reisling. This book is a rendering of some of the important steps that small churches can implement to ensure growth and increase retention rates. Reisling suggests that there are basically three factors in church growth:

• Lateral/denominational – these are Christians from other congregations.
• Vertical/relationships – these are persons invited by members and are transformed by the Christian experience.
• Curbside – these are persons who chose to visit without a personal invitation. 

According to Reisling, the most sustainable factor in growth is the vertical which involves members inviting new people. However, he indicates that most members don’t invite others because they have not come to terms with six questions that are germane. I share these with you:

• Will my friend feel welcomed? (hospitable)
• Will my friend fit in? (comfortable)
• Can I feel confident that I know how the service will turn out? (consistent)
• Will my friend get something out of the experience? (relevant)
• Will my friend understand it? (understandable)
• Will anything that could seem strange be explained through Scripture? (sensitive)

My guess is that these questions reveal some honest questions that could be the talking points for a small group concerned about personal evangelism.

What do you think?

The new Global Ministry Center in Lenexa, Kansas is a remarkable testament to the usage of space and the attempt to create cohesion and collaboration among employees. I have seen employees who I had never seen in almost nine years.

As one approaches the building from any direction it is impossible to miss the three flags that blow furiously in the winter winds – Christian, Kansas, and the American flag. In the spirit of being or becoming a global church and ministry center, I wonder about the flags that are noticeably absent. The case can surely be made for the Canadian maple leaf.

Since about 63% of our membership resides in the six world areas might it not be a gesture of goodwill to plant a flag that represents each of those burgeoning regions? Granted, there is presently no united flag that is recognized as representative of the regions. However, with some measure of creativity, a flag could be created that demonstrates geographical recognition.

This is merely another thought along the way. What are your thoughts?

May I entreat you as you read this blog-vignette with these sobering words: DON’T GO THERE!  This is not about politics. Neither is it about the personhood of President-elect Barack Obama. We evangelicals have an insatiable thirst to be conveniently myopic and inhospitable to any sane conversation about ideas or topics without allowing them to be clouded by our own religious and personal proclivities. DON’T GO THERE!

I simply wanted to share with you my amazement over the capacity of Obama’s marketing machine to raise the amount of monies for the primary and presidential campaign in the midst of an economy where some claim we have officially been in a recession since November 2007. Given, this feat is really a part of a broader narrative that is significant. Considering the prevalence of massive foreclosures, loss of confidence in the stock market, endemic suspicion of the credit rating system, moronic lending practices, worldwide collapse of banking systems, volatility of energy prices, and irresponsible reckless spending, yet millions of people contributed modest sums of monies to a campaign they thought was worth the sacrifice.

In a more expanded article that would appear in the Winter edition of MissionStrategy.org magazine, I have listed ten lessons that church leaders and those responsible for church marketing and communication can learn. Here’s my abridged list that would be expanded in the magazine:

• Diversify communication through user-generated content.
• Communicate passionately to people what they care about.
• Sustain lively communication through unexpected incentives.
• Design a simple message that is consistent, relevant, and focused.
• Maximize the opportunities that the social media presents.
• Establish a continued dialogical connection with the market.
• Expand the marketing base to include the overlooked and underserved community.
• Results must be constantly measured and evaluated.
• Tangibalize the intangibles.
• Leverage the broad possibilities of the internet.