Church Marketing
I read a great post on one of my favourite blogs (Stuff Christians Like) this morning. Jon, the author of the blog works in advertising, so his post today was clearly a personal pet peeve. But he gives the following quote:
But it’s hard to shrug it off when I read things like this from the Harley Davidson brand handbook: “There are three essential elements to the Harley-Davidson experience, which riders feel for the first time they ride: the joy of individualism, the chance to be free, to make choices; the commitment to adventure, the opportunity to change, to discover new experiences and emotions; the reward of fulfillment, an intense, personal and consuming bond with the bike that means a richer fuller life.”
Want a fun game? Switch out Harley Davidson with the word “God” and it reads like a church mission statement. “A consuming bond with God that means a richer fuller life.”
I think he makes a powerful point. Christ followers have the greatest message to offer a world looking for hope, love, fulfillment, purpose and passion. And yet, our primary marketing tool: Christianity has done such a poor job of it, that we have turned off more people than we’ve connected with.
Perhaps it’s time to rethink our marketing strategy. To show our society that you truly can be a follower of Jesus Christ AND actually be somewhat normal – at least as normal as the rest of culture!
What are you doing to market your faith? And before you flame me over using that term, read Jon’s post on the subject.
Stuff Christians Like
The more I get into this blogging stuff, the more cool sites I find. I really like this one: Stuff Christians Like.
Here’s a great post from today:
#138. Saying “I grew up in the church.” Whenever people asked me if I were a Christian, I would say, “Yeah, my dad is a pastor.” That’s not really an answer to that question and neither is “I grew up in the church.” That’s a funny phrase, but it’s the most popular thing I hear in testimonies. I used to say it a lot too until I realized it wasn’t true. If I grew up in submarine for instance I would probably have really intimate knowledge of the ocean and it’s mechanics. But I had just sort of passed through the church experience. Eli grew up in the church. I went a few hours a week. I think it’s more accurate for me to say, “I grew out of the church.” Somewhere in college I got really tired of going through the motions and mentally/spiritually/emotionally I checked out. It wasn’t the church’s fault, it was mine. Today’s different though. In the last three years a lot has changed. And I have a new phrase I want to propose. I’m a huge fan of “retiring” old ideas like “I grew up in the church.” So like a gun for money trade in program I’m suggesting you lay down that phrase and walk away with a new one. Instead, let’s start saying, “I grew into the church.” I think that’s what God’s about. Helping us not grow up in a location, but more grow to embody a destination. Let’s become the church. Let’s be the church.
