It’s time to go back to the basics.
I don’t know any non-Christian who wakes up and thinks, “Gee, I should go to church today.” Churches need to find ways to make people think that very thought–whether it’s through billboards or outreach events or the incredible example of their members (or all three and more–my point, don’t get hung up on the method). If churches aren’t getting people to think that, then what are they doing?
Unfortunately, too many churches have settled for the status quo, the steady stream of Christians who do wake up thinking they should go to church, and for some churches that’s good enough. Those churches are social clubs, and useless. Sadly, many Christians are that way too.
revolutionfl
June 4, 2007
What if, rather than saying, “Gee I SHOULD go to church today.” Chritians were really saying, “Gee, I’m USED TO going to church today.”
We are all creatures of habit, whether we follow Christ or not.
REVOLUTION
Joshua
June 4, 2007
How about creating experiences where people say “Gee, I WANT to go to church today.” We are creatures of habit, and churches should recognize that, but in an increasingly bored society, we have to create an environment people want to be in. It’s a hard thing, and I think few people honestly say they want to go to church.
angelsvsanimals
June 4, 2007
Hmm. Not a very thorough thought in my opinion. It’s pretty easy to put a blanket statement out there and claim too many churches are into just the status quo. Yes, some are probably guilty of that, but many simply don’t know how to reach others with messages that spur action. And yes, some give the appearance of “just” being a social club, but I would also say that many people use churches like a social club, and that’s not necessarily the church’s fault. The church can (and should) only do so much. It’s the individual that has to at some point pick up the reigns of their journey and drive. I’ve seen too many people leave churches because it didn’t give them enough of this or that. It’s funny, however, when I asked if they attempted to step in and help the church provide what they felt they were lacking, they suddenly get real quiet.
Mike
June 4, 2007
The way to get people into church is to get them plugged into their purpose.
Coming in, singing a couple tunes, and hearing a message will only last so long.
Damian Kinsella
June 5, 2007
The outsider believes that church is for “church people”, they simply do not see themselves as those kind of people. This isn’t a marketing problem as much as it’s a mark of humanity. It’s like people saying “there’s too many cliques in this youth group!”… duh. People gather in groups based on affinity and shared experience. When was it you last kicked it with a Basque shepherd? I didn’t think so…
Many of us “see ourselves” going to church each week, it’s what we do, because it’s what we’ve always done. The exciting thing is when we wake up one Sunday and say “I’m going because I can’t wait to see what God does today”. Of course, this could happen any day of the week, but we’re conditioned by our experience to think it happens on Sundays.
Marketing an image of the church as “the place where all your needs will be met, your purposes discovered and fulfilled, your family fixed, your teeth brightened while you wait…” is a real problem. We would do well to understand that we’re inviting people in to relationship with God, and that there will be many who want that, but don’t want it in the church.
So perhaps the answer lies in stating truth and provoking thought. Perhaps a huge billboard in your town that asks the question “HOW OFTEN ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?” would be useful in accomplishing two things… intriguing non-Christians and stirring up Christians.
mrben
June 5, 2007
Surely the ideal would be for people to go to bed the night before thinking “Man, I mustn’t forget to go to church tomorrow”….
C. Michael Pilato
June 5, 2007
Many years ago, I suspect churches had more unbelievers in the pews because there was a social pressure to be in church on Sunday morning. That social pressure no longer exists in this country. (And has, in fact, become a pressure to not be associated with organized religion.)
My understanding of the purpose of the local church is that it is primarily an assembly of believers gathered for three express purposes:
While every pastor would jump at the church to watch unbelievers lose that status while sitting in the pews, I think conversions are more likely to happen in 1-on-1 situations out in the Real World.
Why, then, do churches fret about the fact that they can’t get unbelievers through their doors, as if that’s due to some failure on their part? Fret instead when you can’t get your faithful congregation to affect the kind of change on their respective spheres of influence so that new believers are coming through the door.
C. Michael Pilato
June 5, 2007
Many years ago, I suspect churches had more unbelievers in the pews because there was a social pressure to be in church on Sunday morning. That social pressure no longer exists in this country. (And has, in fact, become a pressure to not be associated with organized religion.)
My understanding of the purpose of the local church is that it is primarily an assembly of believers gathered for three express purposes:
While every pastor would jump at the church to watch unbelievers lose that status while sitting in the pews, I think conversions are more likely to happen in 1-on-1 situations out in the Real World.
Why, then, do churches fret about the fact that they can’t get unbelievers through their doors, as if that’s due to some failure on their part? Fret instead when you can’t get your faithful congregation members to affect the kind of change on their respective spheres of influence so that new believers are coming through the door.
Mike Hosey
June 5, 2007
Hey guys –
I think this whole topic brings up a potential controversy.
Perhaps, just maybe, possibly, our marketing efforts have been aimed at the wrong targets. The western church has developed the idea — possibly a false idea — that The Great Commission is for the church. Reading that passage, I see that Jesus is giving that commission to 11 disciples on the side of a mountain. They’re not even apostles yet. In fact, the Church isn’t even born until Acts two.
From this, might we infer that the commission is specifically for individual followers of Christ? The onus is on the individual. But the Church has been pre-occuppied with marketing itself to the lost, and making itself attractive to a lost world. Maybe, just maybe, it has a different mission. Is it possible that mission is 1)to glorify God, and 2)provide a community by which fellow Christians can be equipped, encouraged, rebuked, and sharpened to carry out the great commission.
How much marketing would we need if each Christian saw the Great Commission as a personal duty?
Just a thought.
If this reasoning is correct, how might that shape our marketing efforts, and guide our marketing aims?
wayne
June 5, 2007
The word habit has been used here. I prefer the word “discipline,” even though it has the stigma of being understood as punishment. Yet, discipline is from the same word as disciple. Attending worship is a discipline, a part of one’s discipleship. The challenge is that many today are “un-disciplined.” Sunday is just another day with 27 or more other options for things to do, going to church is one of a long list. We need to move worship up the priority list to a discipline that says that “This is what I do on Sunday morning.” (Or Thursday night, or whenever). Its a matter of disciple-ship. Just my 2 cents. YMMV.
Truth Seeker
June 5, 2007
As someone who works on a church staff and one who plans conferences and such, I have consistently found that the #1, numero uno, numer eins, way to get people into either an event, a sunday school class or anything related with church has always and consistently been a friend who invited them to church.
We recently did a conference in which we pulled out all the stops as far as advertisement went. We did TV, we did radio, newspaper, the whole gambit. When people we checking in the day of the conference we had them check off how they heard about the event. I figured with the ad blitz we would be seeing a large number coming because of all the coverage in the paper, TV, and such. NOPE!
The number one, with over 70% rating, was word of mouth by friends and family who attended the church. With almost 10 catagories to choose from people consistently spoke of how they were invited and were told of an event by their friends. We have tried billboards in the past, but have since stopped because noone even mentioned it. There were church members who had never seen the billboard.
I firmly believe that the personal touch is the best way and is the way God intended it. He is a personal God who used word of mouth to share his plan of redemption and the Gospel with his people. It has been the number one way the Gospel has been shared all over the world. Why change a good thing?!!
Blessings,
Andy Moody
June 5, 2007
I think that some of the statements above about the reason for having services in the first place hold some serious weight for this discussion. It really makes for an interesting dialogue on a website primarily focused on advertising for churches. Essentially the argument could be made that you shouldn’t need to advertise your “Sunday Service” since that would be the gathering of believers anyway.
The structure we have built is this never ending cycle that revolves around getting more and more people to come to our weekly meeting. Most of the churches that I have been on staff with have kept some sort of chart/system that let them see what the attendance trends were. It’s funny that the only places we really tracked those numbers on a consistant basis were the Sunday Worship services. If the numbers were high we were happy and celebrating. There was no real concern about “who came and who didn’t” except for wanting to know how many new visitors were there. Now if the numbers were down, watch out. We were tracking every pew to try and discover who didn’t show up. It was a huge pendulum swing that never balanced out.
If we really looked at “worship services” as a true gathering of believers I believe it would totally change our overall focus. Then the discussion about people not wanting to come changes along with it. Are the members of our church really being discipled in an effective manner? If we aren’t advertising for “worship” attendance then what does the advertising become effective for or is it even effective? Who is it that we are expecting to come? What are they coming to? How effective is a “seeker mentality” if you adjust your mission in this manner?
Coming to worship (I don’t want to call it coming to church, because that’s not what it is.) or attending the gathering of our communities is something that must come out of the heart and what we have gained from our experience. It’s about personal growth, not gimmicks. As it was said above we are a part of “an increasingly bored society”. We can try to interest people by billboards and tv commercials, but in the end boredom will win out if they don’t gain something personally.
Just my thoughts, though:)
Rindy
June 6, 2007
Just like any relationship, being “attractive” in some way gets attention, but that only lasts so long…it’s the personal interactions and growth the keep it going. The church is no different.
I like the comment about how much marketing would we need if all Christians saw it as part of their “duty”…sounds like building relationships…
Ruben
July 8, 2007
Call it symantics, but it seems to me that our terminology is off. When the family gets together for the holidays do we “go to family”?
Mike Ellis, Church For Men Florida
November 13, 2008
Great post!