Church Marketing Sucks

Many churches go to impossible lengths to redeem Halloween, the evil holiday where people actually talk to their neighbors and we give each other candy. They seem to forget that it might be easier to remember some history. Halloween started as All Hallow’s Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day. And if that’s too Catholic for you, there’s always Reformation Day.

The point is that today’s church too quickly forgets our history. For once we’re right in step with mainstream society as nobody seems able to remember their history these days.

All Saints’ Day is a holiday to remember the saints who have gone before us (let’s go lowercase ‘s’ in saints and make this as ecumenical as possible). It’s a chance to remember our Christian fore-bearers, to be thankful for those who spread the word, whether they’re “uppercase saints” and officially recognized or all the lowercase heroes who told us about Jesus without being beatified or getting their own book deal.

These are the heroes of our faith who made us what we are today. They’re the ones who argued for theology or brought the gospel (and smallpox) to distant lands. No, they’re not perfect. And that’s part of what we need to remember. They’re the denomination founders, the defenders of the faith, the revolutionists and rebels who did incredible things for our faith.

But they’re also the humble heroes: The faithful grandparents who prayed for wayward children, the Sunday School teacher who patiently answered questions, the nameless guy who strummed a guitar and told me about John 3:16.

These are the heroes of our faith and it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on them and be thankful.

Church Communication Heroes
This year we started an on-going series focusing on church communication heroes. We’ve talked about folks like Martin Luther King Jr., Vincent van Gogh, Athanasius, Harriet Tubman, St. Francis of Assisi and more. We also put together our own book, Church Communication Heroes Volume 1: Lessons From Those Who Have Gone Before.

There’s a vast tapestry of church communicators who have gone before us. They’ve struggled with the same issues you have. You’re not the first person to work for a church and feel under-appreciated and over-worked. You’re not the first one to hold your church to a higher standard. There are ‘saints of communication’ who have gone before and we can learn at their feet.

• Who are the church communication heroes that inspired you?
• What marketing lessons have you learned by diving into the church’s past?
• Which ‘saints of communication’ do you think we need to cover?