Thus Spake The Head of Marketing

February 20, 2006 - 9:59am

A quick survey of local church signs reveals the usual:

“People Who Care”
“Where God’s People Gather”
“A Light that Shines for God”

Ever wonder if the lives of people who are these churches bear any resemblance to their roadway signs? Because, let’s be honest; church committees meeting to design signs aren’t soul-searching—they’re marketing.

Click here to read the rest of this essay at The High Calling.

rlp

rlp's blog
Essay | Church | The High Calling
I agree 100% but I still
Submitted by Anonymous User on February 20, 2006 - 10:12am.

I agree 100% but I still love the creeds and other rote parts of church. The remind me of the history of my church. Everytime I repeat the Apostles creed I feel better. But then I see the sign in front with some flipent blurb from a get big quick book and I just want to run away.

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High calling, indeed. Thank
Submitted by enz on February 20, 2006 - 10:27am.

High calling, indeed. Thank you.

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Actually, most signs,
Submitted by Anonymous User on February 20, 2006 - 10:30am.

Actually, most signs, slogans, and efforts of churches that I'm familiar with are created not by committees, but by groups of Christ-followers who really do care for the lost and hurting people of their community. They want to open their doors to welcome and accept those in their neighborhood, for the sole purpose of sharing Christ with them. Attendance and dollars have nothing to do with it. It's too bad they get lumped in with cynical generalizations, and their motives are questioned because of a jaundiced view.

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Well, the writer has an
Submitted by rlp on February 20, 2006 - 10:46am.

Well, the writer has an impossible task, you see. You are called to write with passion, but there is no room for listing the exceptions, which undoubtedly exist in great numbers.
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However, I will say that the impulse to reduce Christianity to marketing is a temptation for most American churches. My own included. And it has little to do with your motives. It's more about the means.

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the church we just left used
Submitted by Anonymous User on February 20, 2006 - 1:38pm.

the church we just left used 'to be and make disciples' - we wanted to sneek in there late at night and graffiti the sign to 'to be and fake disciples'...

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'The Church of Jesus Christ
Submitted by JoKeR on February 20, 2006 - 5:25pm.

'The Church of Jesus Christ is not made up of those who cry out, “Lord, Lord,” but of disciples filled with the Holy Spirit, standing ready to bring God’s presence and love to a needy world.'

Really? So as someone struggling to figure out what it means to believe in God instead of being "filled with the Holy Spirit, standing ready to bring God’s presence and love to a needy world" I'm not part of the church? Or is this "Church" a special sub-set (or overlapping set, perhaps) of the many people who attend church but don't meet this criteria? This is not the kind of thing I've been accustomed to hearing from you.

Peace,
JoKeR

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I'm using some insider
Submitted by rlp on February 20, 2006 - 5:55pm.

I'm using some insider language, JoKeR. Because that publication is mainly for a Christian audience.
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The "Lord Lord" thing is a quote, sort of, from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The idea is that Christianity is not made up of those who claim it with their mouths, but those who, with the Spirit of God, live their faith. So no, you're not left out. In fact, I feel that the real church may be made up of many who do not wear the label "Christian" at all.
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And I suppose I would say that it is not inapropriate for the church of Jesus Christ to talk among themselves about what it means to be the church.
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Anyway, no exclusion intended. I wrote that thing some time ago and, on a lark, put a link to it at RLP.

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That, and "filled with the
Submitted by spidey on February 21, 2006 - 11:36am.

That, and "filled with the Holy Spirit" is such a loaded phrase that means something different depending on who's talking and who's hearing.

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That slogans are created or
Submitted by rockin rev on February 20, 2006 - 7:38pm.

That slogans are created or chosen by sincere Christ followers who have a heart for lost and hurting people in the community is undoubtably true. But when the majority of the cute and clever slogans grossly misrepresent the gospel, are we really helping those lost and hurting people? Cases in point from my recent travels:

"Now playing: Word of God. Rated G"

  • You can't get 15 chapters into Genesis before you have murder, sexual indecency, and a massive natural disaster. Scripture contains the real life PG-13, R, and X-rated struggles of humanity. Can we not be real about that? I don't want anything to do with a G-rated Word of God.
    "Your way is hard, God's way is easy"

  • Does the phrase "take up your cross and follow me" ring any bells? When we misrepresent discipleship as the easy way, we are guilty of a theological bait-and-switch of an offensive magnitude.
    "Free ticket to heaven . . . inquire inside."

  • See note on the easy way above.
    I've seen very few marquee slogans that speak the truth about life with God. In an effort to be cute, we butcher the gospel message. Nobody is helped by that.

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    An old retired minister told
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 20, 2006 - 11:17pm.

    An old retired minister told me when I started out: "Don't ever let the bishop send you to a church named 'Harmony' because there usually isn't any."

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    I have a feeling it's
    Submitted by mrupert on February 21, 2006 - 8:21am.

    I have a feeling it's nothing absolute one way or the other. I have a feeling the quiet church secretary often displays the love of God in greater ways that the know it all pastor (not you, of course, RLP!)

    -FTM

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    Gordon Your thoughts set me
    Submitted by dont eat alone on February 21, 2006 - 12:53pm.

    Gordon

    Your thoughts set me to thinking. Check out my blog for today when you get the chance.

    Peace,
    Milton

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    I've always been a collector
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 21, 2006 - 6:34pm.

    I've always been a collector of words & interesting phrases,and I have a stack of books about word origins & such. Church signs are fascinating, because they do sometimes reflect the "flavor" of a congregation. I suppose they could be misused as a marketing tool, but for the most part they're pure entertainment mixed with inspiration. (I've seen some that sound scolding, too, so I suppose a passerby could learn something about the mood of the moment, too.) Interesting topic!

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    I have to admit one of my
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 21, 2006 - 8:06pm.

    I have to admit one of my weekly joys driving through rural Alabama and Georgia is reading wayside pulpits. My favorite so far has been, "Without the bread of life you're burnt toast". I know what reading something like that doesn't make me want to ever step foot in the church, but it does make me remember it. From a marketing standpoint, possibly good. From a religious and spiritual standpoint? It puts a bad taste in my mouth. My relationship with God/god does not involve burnt food. From a comedic standpoint? It made me laugh for quite sometime. I've thought of taking pictures of their sign...

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    Well, this was written for
    Submitted by rlp on February 22, 2006 - 2:04pm.

    Well, this was written for the kind of marketing that is a lie. When you put no effort into describing yourself, but instead reduce the gospel to a catch-phrase intended to lure people inside - That's bad, at least from my point of view.
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    I want to give the benefit of the doubt, but some things are just wrong and bad for the church. I think our marketing approach is at BEST benign and slightly hurtful to the Kingdom in the long run and at worst, an outright lie that is ruining our reputation.
    -
    Anyway, given the way American churches rush to the marketing trough without even asking a question, I think there is room for a few folks to say, "Wait a minute!"
    -
    I'm one of those folks.

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    I totally agree and thank
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 23, 2006 - 6:08pm.

    I totally agree and thank you for your "Wait a minute!" I think that's a good thing to say.

    The thing is that we are ALWAYS marketing. Everything we do and say is marketing. We may try to play the game and end up deceptive and lying and that's a bad thing. We should stop that. We should stop anything that's wrong or bad for the church.

    The small church that greets vistors warmly and treats them with respect is also marketing, but doing it in the right way.

    I guess my point is that "marketing" is not a bad thing. "Bad marketing" is a bad thing. Being honest, good, warm, loving, and true is also marketing and we need to do more of that kind. Marketing is about commmunication and relationships, just like church should be. It's just a different name for it.

    Thanks for the response. I really do like your stuff.

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    I actually saw a couple of
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 22, 2006 - 6:40pm.

    I actually saw a couple of church signs recently that I enjoyed - one made me laugh and one just made me say, "Sometimes we need to be reminded of that".

    The one that made me laugh said:
    Want a sign that says God loves you?
    Okay.
    God loves you!

    Silly, but it made me realize that they had a sense of humor, which I deeply appreciate in a church. And people need more than that, obviously. But maybe it might draw someone in who was scared of church being too serious or full of itself.

    The second one simply said:
    Even when we mess up, God's hugs don't get any smaller.
    Which is something as a Christian I need to be reminded of, and I think it brings a small bit of hope to everyone.

    In some ways, marketing is a double edged sword. The church I attended at college needed a little bit of marketing because we met in a local movie theater, and so people who were interested but didn't know anyone who went there would have no idea we existed. (Although I think we got many, many more people coming to church because they had a solid relationship with a churchgoer than any advertising we could ever do, which is the way it should be. We also had the issue of a very transitory student population.) On the other hand, as RLP pointed out so eloquently, marketing can easily become something very damaging to both the church (the small community) and the Church (the world Christian community as a whole). But if all churches approached it with the same love and lightheartedness that those two signs did, I think it might be okay to have a little bit of it.
    - Shannon

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    I guess our theology and our
    Submitted by Anonymous User on February 23, 2006 - 1:57am.

    I guess our theology and our practice don't lead to the Word taking root in the lives of all those who come to church. Do you think a church can do more to make this happen? Some churches must think they're doing what's right, and some must not want to push people or not know how to foster them into a strongly developing rooted new life.

     
    At a guess, thinking about what it might take, I'd say it's also hard to try to really change people's lives - is that what you want? - without seeming a bit cultlike or controlling. You want to offer examples and opportunities without cajoling or coercing. Everything has to be offered, nothing pushed too strongly; it IS a marketing problem, just not the one the sign is tasked on.

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