We Are Church Marketing
by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader
No, not Pinnacle Leadership Associates.
You and me people, disciples of Jesus…WE are church marketing.
Pre-pandemic, the Congregational Life Survey reported that 86% of first-time visitors to worship services were there because of someone in that congregation… a personal invitation, or observed life, or some other direct influence. Perhaps that percentage has lowered a bit due to the digitalization of our world, yet it remains extremely high. Let that sink in a moment… the vast majority who try church do so because of us, you and me. Not because of programs, or lovely buildings, or excellent preaching or music – those are the backdrops on the stage of the real drama, our lives, you and me. WE are church marketing.
We ARE church marketing.
Who we are, the way we live, how we embody the Way of Jesus… this is our church’s primary marketing. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an embodied faith, as the incarnation we celebrate this time of year reminds us. We ARE our church’s primary marketing strategy, like it or not. When the way we live invites curiosity about the Way of Jesus, then we are embodying the gospel.
We are CHURCH marketing.
We are walking sign-boards, proclaiming with our lives what it looks like to be Jesus-followers in the way which our church teaches, trains, and values. You want to know what a church values, what it prioritizes? Look to its people, observing THEIR values, priorities, concerns, and endeavors. This is what those who are curious about churches do, observe. Since we are church, we are CHURCH marketing embodied 24/7.
All those other networking activities our churches do… social media, websites, etc… they are helpful. They are helpful only when they have a winsome story to tell. Since they are 14% of the influence (pre-pandemic) bringing first time visitors to worship, their influence is minor. When these approaches do bring people into our faith communities, these newcomers expect to find something valuable, a pearl of great price so to speak.
The bottom line is this: Living in the Way of Jesus is beautiful and winsome. Living in the Way of Jesus is not fear-driven, anxiety-riddled, nor desperate institutional maintenance. The heart of our church’s witness to the grace and goodness of God is embodied in its people. So, we must get ourselves to good, centering and re-centering ourselves constantly in the energy, power, and love of God expressed through Jesus Christ and embodied by God’s Church.
For, WE ARE CHURCH marketing.