Media Outreach

I’ve had the privilege to serve at a church which believes in Church Planting. We’ve launched over 23 church plants all over the Greater Austin area and have 3 more in residence now. When planting a church there are thousands of things to consider, from location and demographics, to core team members and approach, and countless others along the way.

Once a few of the most important decisions are made (like location and demographics), attention should be spent on the branding of your Church Plant. Decisions need to be made about a Church Name, Logo, Graphic Identity, as well as creating a great online web presence. There are a couple of reasons why Branding is extremely important to get correct from the beginning.

First, your brand is what people will see. Whether you decide to send out invite cards, go door-to-door, or put up a billboard, people will notice your brand. Making sure your brand matches who you are and what your message is going to be is extremely important.  Changing your Brand often will create a sense of distrust and confusion to the audience you are trying to reach.

Second, there is something calming about creating a Brand Plan. Since working with faithHighway I’ve had many opportunities to work with Church Plants. I’ve seen many succeed, and unfortunately several have to close. Something else I’ve noticed is that the Church Plants that are set with their Brand don’t have to worry about little decisions about color schemes or a logo anymore.

Brands define who you are now, and who you want to become.  Getting your brand settled from the start allows you to focus on the most important part of who you are, your calling.

Photo By: Pakhnyushcha / Shutterstock.com

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Are you planting a church or kicking off a new ministry? Here are 7 quick church planting resources to keep in mind:

1. Support – Surround yourself with people who will offer prayer and wise counsel – we are meant for community especially when we are venturing into something new.
2. Logo – The logo is the basis for all visual branding and is 10 times more likely to be remembered than any other piece. Take the time to invest in this centerpiece of your brand.
3. Online Planning Center – The logistics of planning a Sunday service are made easy by good software to help you handle all the details.
4. Professional Website – 85% of people visit your website before attending in person and they decide within 7 seconds of visiting your site whether they will keep browsing or not.  You need to have a great online presence that acts as the hub of all your communication.
5. Free Church Media – Take advantage of free stock images, sermon series designs and videos to help in the early stages. As you establish your identity you can work to produce your own pieces.
6. Branding – Decide who you want to reach and what you hope to achieve, then you can build your brand around this core identity.
7. CRM – You need a way to manage all the new visitor information and a CRM system can be a great asset to insure quick visitor follow up and member engagement.

And of course, keep praying and trusting God to reward your diligence by opening doors and windows into your community!

Photo By: Rakic / Shutterstock.com

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January 10, 2013 marked the three year anniversary of Legacy Church in central Texas. Being a part of a church planting from day 0, and serving on the leadership team for Community Impact, it has indeed been a journey.

Looking back, we’ve learned lots of lessons…things we could’ve done better and things that God completely blessed.

Hindsight, there are a few things that I realize we could not have lived without.  Check out my top 7 list of church planting resources and/or necessities. Keep in mind, this is assuming you pray often and seek God regularly already!

1. Network of Support, Prayer and Wise Counsel – one thing I’ve learned is how much I second-guess myself. This is a good thing, so long as I don’t “sit out of the game” while I’m working out my thoughts on something.  Have a dependable, third party contact that you can trust to answer you with His truth and wisdom from experience.
2. Solid, Timeless Logo – this is one of those non-negotiables for a church plant. The logo is the basis for all visual branding and is 10 times more likely to be remembered than any other piece. If invested upon in the beginning, the logo can survive all the detours/swerves the ministry may take throughout the years.
3. Planning Center Online – while you may feel that the beginning stages of running a Sunday service should be easy, having software help you work out the logistics allow you to stress less and focus on giving your message. From volunteer management to worship service planning, it’s a great tool to increase the excellence factor.
4. Professional Website – now, it should come as no surprise that I’m about to talk up a professional website. I’m saying this not only as an employee of faithHighway, but also from seeing first-hand how a great website is at the core of brand building.  85% of people visit your website before attending in person and they decide within 7 seconds of visiting your site whether they will keep browsing or not.  I’m just not comfortable with the idea of having a site that drives people away before they hear the good news. So, at the very least, get a free consultation.
5. Free Church Media – it seems that there is always something to promote inside or outside of the church. That being said, free stock images, sermon series designs and videos are incredibly helpful for the early stages.  Just be sure that if you’re using a stock design…that you’re not losing your identity in the process. While free is great, there are drawbacks, so use sparingly. 
6. Branding Investment – while the “how” may differ from church to church, there’s no doubt that creating your brand from scratch will require lots of strategy and intentionality. Start out of the gate with a plan in place. Where will you focus your outreach? Will you target geographically or solely through relationship? Are your folks comfortable hosting events to meet the community or are they more comfortable serving behind the scenes? Will you invest in print/web/social/promotional items to increase traffic to your site?  All these questions will need a plan to refer to…and they all stem from having a foundational brand in place.  We can help you with that…call 877.703.2484 and press 2 for a brand strategy consultation.
7. CRM – we started small, but even still, I didn’t know every person there on the first Sunday.  Some were folks that were just there to support us our first day…some were out of town family…but what’s interesting is that many who came to “support a friend” haven’t been able to leave.  All that to say, I don’t know a friend of a friend well enough to trust my kid’s care to them.  A CRM with check-in capabilities and small group management is a necessity for the average church…but if we’re starting with the end in mind…might as well try out a few out see if it fits you well and is worth the long term investment of getting your visitors plugged in, encourage growth and allow visitors to feel secure.

One word of encouragement, fight the good fight!  God is in control!  The Kingdom needs you and your gifts. We’re here if you need us. If you have some church planting resources or anything you’d like to add, we welcome your comments!

Photo By: Pakhnyushcha / Shutterstock.com

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So we can all agree that the church has a few unpleasant stigmas, according to unbelievers. Boring. Judgmental. Irrelevant.  In order to seem fun, accepting or relevant, some churches strive to market themselves in a way that is appealing and/or defeating of the preconceived notion.

Church Marketing Sucks recently released an article about a gentleman that attempted to portray his church in a different light.  The pastor, Adam, wanted to run a campaign that would “play off of [a] shared experience”, or the stigmas of the church.

“To create the buzz, they sent out 120,000 mailers. One featured a church in the rear-view mirror of a car, another featured simple text about their church, a third read, ‘God Doesn’t Care,’ and a fourth had the text, ‘Church Sucks. Or at least we thought so.’”

Instead of drawing a crowd as originally anticipated, the campaign instead opened the door to a slew of Christian hate-mail and phone calls.  In fact, “they underperformed on expected launch attendance by 75%.”

So what is the point?  Don’t try new things? Don’t try and push the envelope?  Perpetuate the stigma?

No.

While we fully support creative means to reach a new crowd, we must remember that our fight for visitors is not against other churches, but rather, against the busyness of life.  As quoted in the article, Michael Buckingham said,

“Messages like this simply perpetuate people’s negative view of church, cast a negative message and come across as self serving.   While you’re trying to say that you’re trying something new you’re main message just points out how other churches aren’t. Remember, we’re in this together. This isn’t about being the best church, this is about finding the best way to share Christ.”

The church should always seek to be innovative and creative in how it reaches new people.  As Rick Bezet put it at the Dirt Conference this past week, “If you’re not willing to change anything then you probably aren’t creative.”

Cultural and technological shifts happen everyday, determining how we distribute our message.  But the message itself does not change.

I found the high point of the article at the very end.  Joshua Cody shares some great ideas for churches to “differentiate” themselves.

• “Instead of beginning services immediately, begin with concerts or events. Hold these monthly with great music, great production, etc. to let people know this won’t be like the church of their childhood.
• Say you won’t launch your church until $100,000 has been raised for your community. And don’t back down from your goal.
• Go door-to-door. Leave no house unvisited. Ask them their biggest needs right now, and never mention your church. Then get back together and figure out how, as a church, you can start meeting those needs.”

Of course, make sure your website is worthy of all the attention your efforts will attract to it.  Studies show that 85% of people will visit your website before attending your church.

As my husband and I help our friends start a church, we’ll be seeking new ways to reach people.  Do you have any great ideas to share?  Please post them below!  I can’t wait to see them.

Photo by BillyRowlinson

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So we can all agree that the church has a few unpleasant stigmas, according to unbelievers. Boring. Judgmental. Irrelevant.  In order to seem fun, accepting or relevant, some churches strive to market themselves in a way that is appealing and/or defeating of the preconceived notion.

Church Marketing Sucks recently released an article about a gentleman that attempted to portray his church in a different light.  The pastor, Adam, wanted to run a campaign that would “play off of [a] shared experience”, or the stigmas of the church.

“To create the buzz, they sent out 120,000 mailers. One featured a church in the rear-view mirror of a car, another featured simple text about their church, a third read, ‘God Doesn’t Care,’ and a fourth had the text, ‘Church Sucks. Or at least we thought so.’”

Instead of drawing a crowd as originally anticipated, the campaign instead opened the door to a slew of Christian hate-mail and phone calls.  In fact, “they underperformed on expected launch attendance by 75%.”

So what is the point?  Don’t try new things? Don’t try and push the envelope?  Perpetuate the stigma?

No.

While we fully support creative means to reach a new crowd, we must remember that our fight for visitors is not against other churches, but rather, against the busyness of life.  As quoted in the article, Michael Buckingham said,

“Messages like this simply perpetuate people’s negative view of church, cast a negative message and come across as self serving.   While you’re trying to say that you’re trying something new you’re main message just points out how other churches aren’t. Remember, we’re in this together. This isn’t about being the best church, this is about finding the best way to share Christ.”

The church should always seek to be innovative and creative in how it reaches new people.  As Rick Bezet put it at the Dirt Conference this past week, “If you’re not willing to change anything then you probably aren’t creative.”

Cultural and technological shifts happen everyday, determining how we distribute our message.  But the message itself does not change.

I found the high point of the article at the very end.  Joshua Cody shares some great ideas for churches to “differentiate” themselves.

• “Instead of beginning services immediately, begin with concerts or events. Hold these monthly with great music, great production, etc. to let people know this won’t be like the church of their childhood.
• Say you won’t launch your church until $100,000 has been raised for your community. And don’t back down from your goal.
• Go door-to-door. Leave no house unvisited. Ask them their biggest needs right now, and never mention your church. Then get back together and figure out how, as a church, you can start meeting those needs.”

Of course, make sure your website is worthy of all the attention your efforts will attract to it.  Studies show that 85% of people will visit your website before attending your church.

As my husband and I help our friends start a church, we’ll be seeking new ways to reach people.  Do you have any great ideas to share?  Please post them below!  I can’t wait to see them.

Photo by BillyRowlinson

Continue Reading