Has church become too commercialized?

There has been a growing trend in the church market. There are more books, websites, and programs for church leaders and their teams than ever before. Church growth, Gen X services, post modernism, authentic communities, emerging movements, worship experiences, and planting missional churches have all been the buzzwords over the last decade and has led to many of the fore mentioned products. It seems that Christianity is a big business. You can even bling out your dog now in the latest JC apparel.

I recently asked a pastor about how the Exponential Conference went last week and before he replied the word jumped into my head - commercialized. He said the conference was more about speakers promoting their books and agendas than church planting. I won’t go into my personal experience with the National New Church Conference but I can totally see my friend’s point of view.

Christianity has become too commercialized in some aspects and I think we need to get a reign on it.

It appears in some circles that selling books, CD’s, sermon series, speaking gigs, metrosexual identities, and being the top blogger is the “in thing”. This has really been observed in the church planting world and evident by the groupies who continually blog about stalking their idol at conferences or who market their personal blog more than their church…all the while wearing long sleeve black shirts with big collars unbuttoned to their chest with faded jeans, Doc Martens, and a soul patch or frosted hair to match.

You know what I would like to hear more about and see?

Jesus Christ, biblical inerrancy, small guys in the trenches, life transformation, spiritual discipline, serving and washing feet, becoming the least, humility, toned down church marketing and advertising, and the realization that people NOT in church or our faith see what’s happening but many Christians don’t.

Please know that I have personally struggled with these issues myself and I thank Jesus every day that I see in a new perspective. I’m jacked up too, but friends, we have to start looking at Christianity in America through a new lenses or we will reap what we have sown.

April 30, 2008 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Leadership, Church Marketing, Church Planting

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Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

I wrote about this topic a while back and the same conversation came up with a church planting brother the other day so I think it’s worth mentioning again.

It is so easy to compare ourselves to another church or a church leader or church planter. We look at others and benchmark our success (or failures) by what they have achieved. Churches try to duplicate other churches or some of us attempt to be the clone of Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, or David Crowder (goatee and all). But what works for them isn’t going to work for us - not to mention that God has called us to be ourselves in the situation He has given us.

God has uniquely made you. Celebrate it. Live it out loud!

We can learn from others but the best thing we can do for ourselves, our team, and our organization is to be true to who we’re called to be or the vision we have been given…not someone else’s.

April 15, 2008 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Leadership, Church Ministries, Church Planting, Innovative Churches

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The Dialogue Church and I get some press!

Normally I try not to answer the “business” phone on weekends - especially on holidays - but yesterday I did and got interviewed by Scott Brooks of the Union Leader in Manchester, NH about the buzz surrounding The Dialogue Church.

The Dialogue Church kicked off its official launch yesterday and apparently the word was out about the controversial and edgy, yet highly effective, buzz campaign The Branding Shed did for them. It’s funny because I was telling Steve Jesmer, the lead pastor, that we should be prepared with a media kit including some ’sound bytes’ in case they got some press. They got it all right!

This leads me to the topic and some quick advice…if you are launching a church, a new ministry, or a program - be ready in case you get that call from the press or a news channel. It pays to be prepared and knowing what to say. I wasn’t prepared and thought I could have done a better job. You never know what piece of the conversation the media will take so try and give them clear and relevant info that works for what you are doing.

The article is called Worshipping Outside the Box and you can read it by clicking the link.

April 9, 2007 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Marketing, Church Media

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Seven Ideas for Naming Your Church

I had a conversation a few days ago with a church planter who was asking advice about what to name his church and how that would work in a branding situation. Naming your church can be a very exciting process but it can also cause analysis paralysis. Planters all want the “perfect” name and something that will capture the essence of who they are. So how do you come up with a great church name and how do you know it will be a keeper?

There really is no true secret formula for developing a name that rocks (ok, there is but I can’t tell you all the secrets). Sometimes you find the needle in the haystack, sometimes it takes a while for your branding to ignite, and unfortunately there are times where the name just falls flat and fails to invoke any excitement or meaning. But make no mistake – your brand and name is very important – so I am going to give you a seven suggestions on how to develop a great name for your new or “re-purposed” church.

1. Pray about it…and then pray some more. Jesus is the CEO and we need to take our requests to Him. When I decided on Element 3 Church for my church name it became clear through prayer and a vision. There was a lot of meaning behind it and I knew this was the one. Maybe it won’t happen that way for you but I do believe that prayer is essential for discovering your church name. Read more

April 2, 2007 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Marketing, Church Planting

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What Should Your Church Marketing Budget Be?

There are many church planters and pastors who are now catching on that branding and marketing their church can be a good thing if it’s done with excellence and focus (the only time a church shouldn’t move forward is if they can’t do it well) and it’s very exciting to see churches begin to invest in great stuff! It really makes a difference in many ways.

One of the questions I encounter when working with churches is what is the cost for a great brand identity or marketing campaign. This is always difficult to address because there are so many scenarios and options. Every church is different and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. My reply question is usually “What is your budget?”, but many people don’t know what to budget or sometimes believe that it is going to be cheap. Before I tell you an estimated amount, I am going to share a few “truths” with you.

Truth #1: Think of your marketing budget as a mission investment and not an expense. Read more

March 28, 2007 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Leadership, Church Marketing

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Affordable Brochure or Website Copyrighting Services for Your Church

One of my seminary friends Ariel Vanderhorst is offering some excellent copywriting services for churches at excellent rates. (I don’t get any money from this … just the joy of helping a friend help churches.)

Check out his ballpark rates here.

He’s written for some great publications and is an awesome guy. Dependable, solid, trustworthy. In fact, I’m using Ariel right now to do some feature articles for our church newsletter.

If you’ve got some content you need written … from brochures, to websites and probably everything in between … Ariel’s your guy!

[Please note: No animals were harmed in the making of this testimonial … and no arms were twisted, rather mine was willingly offered without request to do this because I believe in Ariel’s work … I mean ministry.]

March 23, 2007 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Marketing, Church Media, Resources and Links

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