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Church Marketing – Good or Bad?

Brian Fegter — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:13:52 +0000

I’ve been pondering modern media and the church and how intrusive we should allow media to be in our operations. Lately in our fair town, I’ve seen a church build a helicopter – The Jesus Medic Flight or something of that sort. I’ve also seen church billboards plastered with “Would Jesus Wear Jeans To Church?” and a girl wearing 3D glasses eating popcorn with blown away expression and a messed up hairdo to prove her excitement. Then we come to the annual Christian fest downtown where every church’s band plays contemporary songs and boast fancy light displays on different stages, while not one person is reached with the Gospel.

It seems as though everywhere I look these days, the church is trying to compete visually with each other and the secular society. I’m all for having a nice identity and presenting ourselves in a proper manner to the community, but I do have a problem when the media becomes the message. It also is an issue when the ambiance becomes the apex of the congregation’s visit rather than the presence and the Word of God.

One of the largest churches in the New Testament was the church in Jerusalem. Scholars tell us that the total congregation measured upwards of 80,000 people. By today’s standards, this would be a mega-church, even though they had no formal cathedral or church building. There are those who say we cannot compare today’s church with the New Testament church since we are over 2000 years removed. I beg to differ. We might have a different cultural society than Paul or James ever dealt with, but the principles of their operation still maintain.

For the Jerusalem church, the Gospel was foremost. The pure power and Word of God was the driving force behind this enormous church growth. One miracle was all it took and the word of the Gospel was spread like wildfire. Paul was said to have turned the world upside down. He did not have Twitter, Facebook, fancy lights, or even a business card with a cool logo. His transportation and communication methods certainly were archaic compared to today’s conveniences, but he affected his world with the Message of the Gospel.

I’m not advocating in any wise that we start riding donkeys and turn off our electricity, I’m simply making a case for a purer presentation of the Gospel. The Bible tells us to whom much is given, much is required. We have the ability to communicate worldwide in seconds while the New Testament church sent message that took weeks and months to deliver. The impetus is heavy upon us to use technology and media to magnify the Message rather than take away from it.

I was recently in a prayer service where the power of God was moving among us mightily. The program called for a CD recording to play background music at a certain point. The moment the quiet music began to play, the people relaxed their thoughts from intensely seeking after God and began listening to the music. It was revelatory for me to see how even the slightest media in the wrong moment usurped a powerful move of God. I’ve been in many churches who have the most incredible lighting and video presentations, but yet I’ve missed out on what God was speaking to me because I was distracted by the media.

What then is the line where church media is too much?

When media diminishes the Message
- Media can be used as a filler routine during the preaching
- Media can be used as a crutch for laziness in studying the Word
When media usurps the Message
- More time is spent on media during a service than the preaching of the Word
- The congregation remembers the media after the fact, but can’t recall the message content
- The altar is empty, but the foyer coffee shop is full
When media distracts from the Message
- The minds of the congregation are saturated with the movement of lights or video that God cannot adequately speak and the people cannot adequately listen.
- When the personnel who produce the media begin backsliding.
When media become the Message.
- People come to the church solely for entertainment
- People choose a church because it looks cool
- People know more about the branding than the belief
- Constantly having to out-do ourselves from the last production

Church marketing has its place. Advertising gets the unsaved through the doors. It’s good to get the word out about your local body of believers in any available medium possible. However, when media becomes the focus, it’s time for the church to take a step back and recalculate their route and destination. The church was not founded in Acts 2 for entertainment, but for Christ to impact this world through us with His message of redemption and relationship.

Here are a few ways the church can balance their use of media:

Have a consistent, conscious concern for the spiritual well-being of the media personnel
Be sensitive to the Spirit of God through prayer as to the purity of the Message in your church
Evaluate new convert retention and first-time visitor referral sources. More converts will become long-term members through genuine human connections than through advertising.
Break up the routine of media productions so the congregation does not expect bigger and better every service
Analyze whether or not the media will have an impact on the message positively or negatively before the media is produced

Let me know what you think about this issue. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Church Marketing – Good or Bad? is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Church Marketing?

Brian Fegter — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:45:58 +0000

I just read this fantastic article about “church marketing” by Brent McCraken. This is a must read for every pastor, staff and creative working for a church.

View The Article

(via @kjhouk)

Church Marketing? is a post from: Mister Nifty

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A Kingdom Lesson From Google

Brian Fegter — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:01:07 +0000

Google is everywhere. It is plausible that almost every website you visit will be attached to Google somehow visibly or invisibly. Its footprint on how we communicate is simply massive and mind-boggling. Check out this video which better illustrates the point.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whether we like it or not, Google is everywhere. Every click leads to another Google application, widget, or urchin. They have figured out how to permeate every part of the Internet with their message and method. There are no boundaries. They aim to index and control how content is served and analyzed on the net, and they’re doing an incredible job at it.

I was thinking about how this translates to the message and method of the Church. Can it be said of us that anywhere you turn in the community we are there? Can we look at any given neighborhood and see the footprint of a Bible study group or a prayer meeting? Can we go to any park and see the Message being preached? Can we walk into the projects and see the footprint of the church? Do we see a global effort in our community or just a territorial boundary that defines our small finite local effort? Do we have influence with the leaders and officials of our city? Can we say that every part of our region has been permeated with the Gospel where no one in our community can take a step without feeling its impact whether visibly or invisibly?

If a company can saturate a global network with method and message, even more so, we should do the same with the Gospel of the Kingdom.

A Kingdom Lesson From Google is a post from: Mister Nifty

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A Church Growth Lesson From Technology

Brian Fegter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:38:54 +0000

When Internet Protocol or IP addresses were created 30 years ago, they created them using a 32 bit system. They never dreamed that we would ever run out of IP addresses. But, with the onslaught of smart phones and mobile computing, the world is slated to run out of IP address by next year. The developers of the current IP system never imagined the network would grow this big so they capped it at 32 bit. We are now facing a 128 bit system which would be similar to the USA forcing everyone to switch to HDTV signals. This would mean hardware and software tweaks worldwide.

How many times do we plan too small in our church structure only to find later that we should have increased our structure to match God’s vision and His harvest?

Listen to this interview explaining the IP shortage.

A Church Growth Lesson From Technology is a post from: Mister Nifty

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The Science of Motivation

Brian Fegter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:17:01 +0000

I found this study fascinating and fantastic. I think a lot of churches could learn from this behavioral study how to motivate their staff members and volunteers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(via @stephenjudd)

The Science of Motivation is a post from: Mister Nifty

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The New FCC Laws and Wireless Mics

Brian Fegter — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:57:37 +0000

Here’s an interesting read about frequency usage of wireless microphones. I might be a good idea to learn the law if your church uses a lot of wireless microphones so you keep your system up-to-date. Also, it’s a great idea so you don’t get slapped with a fine for interference with the new digital television frequency range.

Read the Original Post at Video Maker

The New FCC Laws and Wireless Mics is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Prayer Lists and Patient Privacy

Brian Fegter — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:56:57 +0000

One of the most curious things to me about the modern church is the graphic medical detail of the prayer list. In the past years, I’ve seen prayer requests ranging from “Bleeding Liver” to “Colon Exploded”. I have a pretty weak stomach when it comes to other people’s medical issues, and reading a graphic prayer lists makes me want to add my name to the bottom of the list. Before I proceed, let me affirm my deep belief in prayer and its power in real situations. I am not against praying for the needs of others at all.

Since the inception of HIPPA, health organizations providing care are not allowed to transmit any patient information to unauthorized persons. The church or ministry however is not required to keep a patient’s information private unless they operate a care facility.

Imagine this scenario for a moment. You have an embarrassing medical situation that you would prefer to keep to yourself and your immediate family. One of your family members fills out a prayer request form with detailed information about you. That information gets broadcast to the entire church on the big screens during prayer meeting. Upon your recovery, you return to church and are inundated with questions and concerns about your embarrassing medical situation. And then there are those who avoid you because they might think you’re contagious. I personally, wouldn’t want to be in that situation.

If health care facilities are held to such a high standard with patient information, I think the church should follow suit for a few reasons.

We should never disenfranchise someone who is sick (Example: someone with AIDS)
We should never embarrass someone who is sick
We should do our best to curtail the gossip circles

If a prayer request is submitted by a third party:

Keep the extreme details vague when communicating with your prayer team. Instead of “Burst Colon”, say “So-and-so has been hospitalized and needs our prayers immediately.” This also helps people like me with weak stomachs.
Place a checkbox on your form indicating that the submitting party has permission to share this information publicly
Make sure any third-party prayer requests are moderated before being sent to the big screens or bulletin.

I think it would be wise for leaders to communicate with their congregations on a mid-week about the importance of handling patient information wisely. We definitely need to pray for the sick as it is biblical. However, we should not go about praying for the sick in a manner that will harm the patient.

Here are some suggestions and tools to help you wisely manage patient information in prayer lists.

Stop putting prayer requests on the big screens. When your church grows, this is a task that WILL grow to be unmaintainable.
Use Prayer Engine for a moderated web and prayer team communications solution.
Define your process of prayer request submission and dissemination with a flow chart from Gliffy.
For more information about ministry and HIPAA, read this article.

Prayer Lists and Patient Privacy is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Free Worship Planner From Lifeway

Brian Fegter — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:47:09 +0000

If you need a quick way to put together a worship plan for your services, check out Lifeway’s free online tool. It has a nifty search feature if you’re looking for just the right song. You can also add notes and other elements such as prayer, announcements, etc… They offer a premium plan which allows you to schedule individuals and send notifications via email. Their premium plan also offers a communications portal to manage all of your teams. Another great thing is you have music resources at your fingertips. Depending on the songs you choose, you can download soundtracks, lead sheets, and much more.

Go to Lifeway Worship

(via @kjhouk)

Free Worship Planner From Lifeway is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Cool Coffee Fundraising Idea

Brian Fegter — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:54:52 +0000

If you’re looking for a great non-cheesy fundraiser, check out Church Coffee. Everyone loves coffee and selling them guilt-free (no child labor, bad employer ethics, etc) coffee is a great way to make a few extra bucks for your ministry. Grown by a pastor in Central America, they claim to have an excellent blend and roast that will knock your socks off. I made up the last part, but it sure sounds like good coffee. The profit margins seem really good as well. Purchasing wholesale can net you $3-$5 per bag sold. Check out their sample forms and information to get started.

Go To Church Coffee

Cool Coffee Fundraising Idea is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Simple Steps to Problem Solving

Brian Fegter — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:38:16 +0000

I was reading a programming concepts textbook today and I came across this list that I thought might be useful for real life problems. The headings come from the book Problem Solving and Programming Concepts. The commentary is mine. I’m sure you can take and port these concepts to your own line of work or life issues.

1. Identify the problem

Have you ever sat in a meeting and everyone wants to talk about problems? I’ve enduring countless meetings where problems were identified, but nothing was ever done to solve the problem. It’s easy to be a critic. Everyone has the ability to identify that a problem exists.

For instance, I set up Google Apps for our church recently. The secretary was accessing her email from two different clients. Even though we left all the mail on the server, she was only receiving some mail in one, but not in the other. She knew what the problem was about, but she had no idea what the problem actually was technically.

Get a room full of intelligent people and you can get a list as long of problems as long as your arm in just a matter of moments. It’s in our nature to find what’s wrong with a process or a person. It take much more character and brain power to get beyond finding problems to understanding problems.

2. Understand the problem

We expend enormous amounts of energy over time worrying about issues and problems when we don’t understand. For example, many people worry about taxes because they’re afraid of the system and rightly so – the tax code is 78,000 pages long. It is impossible for one person to completely understand the tax code. This is one extreme situation.

When I’m presented with a problem of an unknown subject, the first thing I do is start researching. Self-education is my weapon against worry. If I don’t understand something, I learn about it. Learning about a problem helps you get a high ground vantage point of the problem. You cannot even begin to identify a solution until you grasp what the problem is about. Take time to learn by asking others who have encountered the same problem, stopping by Barnes and Nobles, searching the Internet, or whatever means you find to understanding. Understanding can only come through knowledge.

3. Identify solutions

Once you properly grasp the extremities of the problem, it’s time to get to work on solutions. Depending on the problem, much of this will be trial and error. I find it is most efficient when I make a list of possible solutions with pros and cons. Solutions can be gathered through research, debate, conversations, or just nitty gritty logical conclusions.

Like I said before, it’s easy for a group of people in a meeting to identify that there is a problem. It’s hard work to create solutions to fix the problems. It is my feeling that meetings should mandate a solution for every problem that is identified before its conclusion. Don’t just be “one of those people” that always find problems. Couple your problem finding skills with positive solutions.

4. Select the best solution

I find it’s best to make a contingency list of things that might go wrong and compare the solutions to my contingency list. With this approach, you can see which solution will solve the most aspects of the problem. Here is a simple chart I created to illustrate a comparison table to visualize the best solution.

5. Prepare a list of instructions

Finding the best solution is where a lot of people end the conversation. I remember a young man came to me and asked my advice on a problem he was having in his personal life. The issue was with anger and sudden outbursts when dealing with mean kids at school. We went through steps 1-4 after an hour of conversation. The most impacting thing we did was take out a piece of paper, cut it down to wallet size, and write a few simple steps to implement the solution. The simple, elementary list of instructions was something similar to the following:

Quickly walk away from situation to somewhere private.
Take three deep breaths.
Close your eyes and ask God to give you peace.
Quote Philippians 4:13 out loud.
Don’t say a word to the kids who provoke you.

It sounds silly to some people, but not to this young man. It gave him an offensive plan of action and more importantly power over his situation. He didn’t feel helpless anymore because he could pull out his list and follow the simple steps. If this simple instruction sheet empowered a young man, imagine what an ordered list of implementation actions could do for you personally or for your team.

Simple instructions give direction. Proverbs 28:19 says “Where there is no vision (direction, instructions) the people perish.” Paralysis sets in quickly when people don’t have a plan of action. You can either make or break yourself or your team by creating/not creating simple attainable steps to solve your problems.

6. Evaluate the solution

A plan of action should never be cast in concrete. It should be a living document that constantly evolves until the problem is solved correctly. Rarely do we find solutions to complex problems that work the first time. Thomas Edison tried hundreds and hundreds of solutions until the problem was finally solved.

Don’t give up on the process, refine it as you go. Step back from your emotional investment and analyze the effectiveness of your solution. For pastors and youth ministers, this means intense followup after dealing with people situations. Without proper evaluation, we just create more problems than we started with in the first place.

Simple Steps to Problem Solving is a post from: Mister Nifty