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April 25, 2007
Selling Church
A side benefit of (a) moving and (b) moving into a rapidly growing area is that you now get to be Targeted. Apparently, many marketing campaigns are based upon combing through utility company records for recently moved people and sending said people large quantities of information about What Is Available in Your Area.
This, combined with what appears to be a church planting boom in my area, means my house has received a great deal of advertisements for local churches. And almost every advertisement proclaims the same things: "you should go to our church because we have free coffee, great childcare, practical, relevant teaching, and a fun, relaxed atmosphere."
Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of that. My guess is that the underlying desire behind these efforts is laudable - to serve God and to reach people where they are. This is good.
What becomes disconcerting is what is left out. One flyer we received for Easter proclaimed that we could show up wearing anything we wanted, just as long as we weren't naked. But what were going to? The only thing on the flyer that indicated this was different from, say, a YMCA event, was a blurb noting that there would be some teaching on how the Bible can help you have a stress-free life. Otherwise, there was nothing explicitly "religious" on the card.
There are, of course, the theological problems. It is hard to see Jesus walking around Galilee shouting, "hey! look! free coffee!" Or to see the apostles arguing, "you really need less stress in your life." Something about the mystery and grandeur of the New Testament message seems lost when distilled to free coffee and wearing shorts to church.
But there also seems to be something wrong with this picture from a marketing perspective. Something about your product, it seems, needs to be unique. There is nothing unique about coffee, a relaxed atmosphere, and teaching on stress-free living. If I'm willing to spend a few dollars, I can get all of that by going to the book section in Wal-Mart and then heading to the local coffee shop.
At the same time, these strategies apparently work. Which makes me wonder who they work on. If I had no interest in church in the first place, nothing about the advertisements makes a compelling reason why I should get up on a Sunday morning and not sleep in. If I was already deeply committed to church, then I probably would make my decision based on other criteria. And if I was in the process of seeking genuine answers to questions of God, Jesus, life, salvation, etc., nothing in the advertisements promises answers to those questions.
My guess is that these types of marketing strategies work most effectively on people who know they should go to church, but want the easiest route possible. Someone who feels guilty when he or she does not go (maybe parental units are providing pressure) and wants to remove the guilt at as little cost as possible.
Given the cultural makeup of Atlanta and the Bible Belt, this is probably a sizable group. And that group should not be neglected. Still, what is the long-term effectiveness of this? If you aren't getting the seasoned or committed leaders, your potential for a strong foundation disappears. If you aren't getting the energetic new converts or the earnest seekers (which is what I assume churches are primarily attempting to attract), how will you grow?
In a way, I wish my first substantial post was not critical. At the same time, the gospel is an amazing thing, which upends ourselves and our understanding of God and the world. I wish churches in the area felt a little more free to proclaim that.
theology | By maphet | 03:40 PM
Comments
From a local news story today:
"Marketing is not a bad word. I think Jesus himself was one of the best at marketing."
In other words, "If any man wants to follow me, he must take up his commercial instinct and publicize me to the world."
Posted by: tom at May 17, 2007 09:52 PM