Today we begin an 8 week blog series... "8 Things You MUST Do In Church Marketing"! Please feel free to share these posts, and help us increase our following by spreading the word of Forefront. Thank you!
When I was younger and I had to do homework, I was like any other kid, I would try to find a way out of it. So, sometimes I would need my parents help. When I got tired of thinking through the solutions and the issues at hand I would ask my mom, dad, or brother (depending on who was helping me at the time) what the answer was. My dad's response was always "I don't know what do you think?". I hated that response, so I would just throw out an off the wall answer and hope he'd just give me the correct one. But he would always respond with this, "No. Stop for a minute and THINK about it." That was the whole reason I'm asking YOU for the answer dad, because I don't WANT to think about it! Ever been there, or am I the only one?
The reality is that many times in church marketing, promotion, and evangelism we don't want to think, so we just ask God for an answer and hope He gives us one. I completely believe, however, that many times God is responding much like my dad did... "Stop for a minute and THINK about it." Think about what? I don't know anything about church marketing. I don't know how to create nifty graphics, and I don't know how to even use Facebook...so what do I think about? Try these on for size:
Think about...What does my target age talk about?
Quit looking for the easy way out and THINK for a minute. What is your target age talking about? Sports? Politics? Jobs? Promotions? Kids? Marriage? If you know what they are talking about you can speak their language even better! People talk about what they care about. And then when you know what they are talking about...THINK outside the box on how you can market your church to them? If they enjoy sports, why not market a series of teachings based on a sports theme? If they are worried about parenting why not do a parenting seminar one weekend? If they want to be more professional at work why not get a successful Christian business person to come in and meet those needs? THINK about it!
Exodus 4:10-13 - If you ask God to help you speak their language, He will!
Think about...What will grab attention?
I've heard the old saying "The Word will attract them, we don't have to do outlandish things to attract people." so many times in my life that I could vomit. The Word will TRANSFORM them, but we have to get them to a place where they are comfortable enough to HEAR the word! So, ask yourself what could get others attention? At our church we often say, "We will do anything short of sin to reach people for Jesus". (And NO that's not original with us) For Father's Day why not get a bunch of old cars and park them at the church for the men to gawk over before and after? For Mother's Day why not giveaway free family portraits? For Christmas why not have carriage rides for families? What will grab attention and get people to say, "I want to encounter that. And it's at a church!?"
If you're one of those that is against doing something crazy to attract people's attention... check out Exodus 3:1-6... The Burning Bush! Do you REALLY think that wasn't something crazy to attract Moses' attention?
Think about...What will meet a need?
It's time to stop being a church IN the community, and become a church OF the community! Here's what I mean: we're great at being a church that exists within the community and brings people to the walls of the church. But oftentimes we are horrible at being a church that exists within the community and goes out tell people about Jesus and His church! There's a BIG difference... one sees a need, the other meets the need! Meet people's needs and make it known to your church and to your community that you're there to meet needs! If you're doing a town cleanup, let the paper know about it, let social media know about it, let the community know. "But isn't that being boastful?" Not at all! What that is doing is showing people that have given up on church and God, that there are still people out there that care and love, and here's where you can be part of that! People WANT to be part of something bigger than themselves... it's our job to facilitate that!
Look throughout the New Testament...Jesus met basic needs of people - lepers, deaf, dead, and dumb people. Meet their needs and make a difference!
These are just a few things to get you thinking outside of the box and how you can market your church while doing ministry! Now go and let's MAKE HIM KNOWN!
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