Church Marketing Sucks

We’ve had a good year here at Church Marketing Sucks, along with our nonprofit parent the Center for Church Communication (CFCC). It’s a bit self-indulgent, but as we look back on 2009 we thought we’d recap the top CFCC news of the year.

5) Accolades
We scored two prestigious accolades in 2009 that quite honestly make us blush. First, Collide magazine named us best ministry blog. Then Church Relevance put out their list of top 100 church blogs and we landed in the 11th spot. Whoa. About all we can say is: Thanks.

4) Five Year Anniversary
In July we celebrated our five-year anniversary. In Internet terms that makes us a dinosaur. In human terms that makes us a kindergartner. You can decide which seems most appropriate.

3) Twitter
In August we finally hopped on the Twitter train. Since then we’ve pushed out over 400 updates to more than 1,700 people. Not enormous numbers for Twitter, but it’s a start. Beyond the numbers, it’s given us a new outlet for content and we’re excited to see where it takes us. (What do you mean you’re not following us?)

2) Cultivate
The Cultivate conference come to Chicago at the end of October. We’ve been involved in many church marketing events and conferences over the years, but this one holds a special place in our hearts. Organized as a sort of anti-conference, Cultivate was more conversation than conference and even earned a mention in the Chicago Tribune. The proceeds of the event went to support Blood:Water Mission and our nonprofit parent, the Center for Church Communication. We’re humbled to receive that kind of support and be in that kind of company. Thank you.

And the top CFCC news of the year…

1) CFCC Board
We haven’t made any official announcement yet, so the biggest news of the year is also the quietest. The first ever CFCC board was formed and met in Chicago earlier this year. An official announcement is coming in January, but looking back on 2009 this was the most significant news. This gives us official direction, leadership and some sanity as we move forward. We’ve had some of those things over the years (maybe not sanity), but this organizes and legitimizes those efforts. This is the first of hopefully many steps in moving forward and helping the church matter.

That’s 2009 in a nutshell for Church Marketing Sucks and the Center for Church Communication. Thank you for an amazing year and we look forward to serving you next year.