catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

discussion

Marketing the church

Default

Jerry
Jan 20 2003
03:35 pm

Kris Vos writes truthfully about how a specific piece of advertising was a significant tool in bringing a seeking family into a local church. I remember smiling while listening to the public testimony of the person about whom he wrote. Certainly that testimony (and many others since) more than justified in the minds of our local church leaders the thousands of dollars spent on local advertising. At the same time, as a new community, the Church must become culturally more aware of the difference between advertising and marketing. The one can be directly measured and evaluated based on numbers and testimonies. Therefore, it is also the tool most subject to abuse, dishonesty, manipulation, and distortion by local churches passionate about “bringing in the sheaves.” The other has more to do with position, influence, and the possibility of bringin about cultural changes in expectations and actions. While it, too, can become a slave to the personal passions of church leaders, it provides the best “big picture” potential for co-venturing among many different types of churches serving completely different communities. Make sense?