Church Marketing Sucks

With all his list making and checking, Santa Claus has the organizational skills of any church communicator. With his bright red hat and bushy white beard, he has the branding to make any marketer jealous. And Santa’s worldwide spree of gift-giving to children around the world is a story like no other.

But beneath all the myth, folklore and legend of Santa Claus is the story of a true hero for church communicators.

Old St. Nick

St. Nicholas was a bishop in modern-day Turkey in the third century. This “Old Saint Nick” is the original Santa Claus, the real life inspiration for the jolly fat guy we’ve commercialized today. St. Nicholas is known for giving away his inheritance and constantly helping the poor.

The primary St. Nicholas story that morphed into our familiar Santa Claus is about St. Nicholas coming to the rescue of a poor father who couldn’t provide a dowry for his three daughters. Without a dowry the girls would never marry and likely be forced into prostitution or slavery. St. Nicholas gave bags of gold coins to each daughter, providing their dowry and a safe future. Whether to give anonymously or to spare the father’s pride, St. Nicholas did his giving under the cover of night, stealthily dropping his gifts through an open window.

You can imagine how the legend of this generous act has spread and turned to tradition, with stories of the gold falling into a shoe or landing in a sock hung by the fire to dry. One story claims the gold was given as the daughters came of age, so for the third daughter the father hid in order to discover his benefactor. Not wanting to be found out, St. Nicholas tossed the sack of gold coins down the chimney.

Down through the chimney with old St. Nick, indeed.

Good Stories Need Action

We talk about marketing, strategy and communication plans. Those are all good and important. But communication has to be more than mere words. We don’t remember the words of St. Nicholas. His sermons didn’t inspire a tradition of giving, his actions did.

It was the extreme generosity of St. Nicholas’ actions that brought his story to life and captured the imagination of the world. So much of our December mania is rooted in his act of sacrificial giving.

That’s one heck of a story.

A story requires plot, movement, action. It’s more than words.

Today’s writers, including Donald Miller and Scott McClellan, have talked about the importance of living a good story. You’d be hard pressed to find a better example than St. Nicholas.

So when your church communicates, don’t post idle words or repeat the same old thing. Do something and then tell the story of what you’re doing, how you’re loving, how you’re spreading hope and good cheer.

May we follow the example of St. Nicholas and communicate with our actions. May we give generously of ourselves, not just at Christmas but all year long.

More:

• Learn more about other saints of communication with our ebook, Church Communication Heroes Volume 1.
• Check out other heroes in our Church Communication  Heroes series.
• How and why you should celebrate St. Nicholas Day, full of info, links and resources on St. Nick.
• For help with Christmas, check out God Rest Ye Stressed Communicators: Planning Christmas for Your Church.
• The church marketing Christmas elves are ready to help. Check out our church Christmas ideas for help with planning, promotion and inspiration for your Christmas services.