Building Bridges
We’ve all felt lonely at some point in our lives. It’s no wonder Mother Teresa once looked at our world and reflected, “loneliness is the modern-day leprosy.”
Just think for a moment of all the people that live in your community that have moved there for work. They didn’t grow up there. They are far from family and old friends. Yeah, social media allows them to stay up-to-date, but it doesn’t provide the personal interaction we all crave. They’re hungry for friendships. They’re hungry for community. This is a huge need that your church can meet head on.
This month’s newsletter focuses on providing you with tools and ideas for how you can initiate spiritual conversations. That’s what we believe church marketing is all about. It’s not just a website or a direct mail campaign.
Sure, tools like Facebook ads and direct mail postcards can help you do this, but don’t forget these are a means to an end – not the end themselves. For free tips, tools, and resources to help you engage in spiritual conversations with your community, check out the resources we’re highlighting in this month’s newsletter.
-Dale Spaulding, Director
January 2019 – Contents
- Marketing Ideas
- Marketing Strategy Template
- Your Church’s Front Door
- Assessment: Affirming Your Call
Marketing Ideas
Church marketing is all about building bridges to lost people so they can hear the Gospel. It’s about empowering your church or launch team to share their faith.
What are some ways your church can do this? The possibilities are endless, but before you commit to a method, research what would be the most effective way to connect with lost people in your community. Then contextualize your marketing strategy to fit your church’s vision and your community.
Check out our list of church plant marketing ideas and let the brainstorming begin!
Marketing Strategy Template
How has communication changed in your lifetime? Do you remember when pagers were a thing? The way we communicate is constantly changing and the church should be on the leading edge of these changes. After all, we do have the greatest message of all time to communicate!
With that in mind, think about your church’s strategy to engage your city with the Gospel. How are you reaching your neighbors and coworkers? In other words, what’s your church’s marketing strategy? Every church has one. For some it’s just inviting people by word of mouth. For others, it involves using social media and paid advertising. Whatever your strategy is, we encourage you to be consistent so it can be most effective.
To help you formulate a strategy for engaging your city, use our free Marketing Strategy Template. It won’t give you all the right answers, but it will help you ask the right questions regarding your church marketing.
Your Church’s Front Door
Fact #1: Most people will visit your church online before they visit in person. Fact #2: Many church websites are visually unattractive and hard to navigate. Knowing these facts – how confident are you that your church website communicates what you want it to communicate?
What can your church do to develop a website that’s inviting and informative? Learn from Pro Church Tools’ list of The Top 25 Best Church Websites of 2018. Whether your website needs a facelift or you’re creating one from scratch, this list offers ideas on how to put your best face forward with your website.
Assessment: Affirming Your Call
Healthy growing church plants find creative ways to bridge the gap between themselves and their community. They have to because they need people in order to gain momentum. That’s why planting a church requires a unique leader – one who is called and passionate about lost people.
Wondering if you’re that leader? We can help you gain clarity through our Church Planter Assessment. Our next assessment is April 8-10, 2019 in the Washington D.C. area. Assessment helps affirm and clarify your call while providing clear next steps in your ministry.
Not quite ready for a formal church planter assessment? Take an initial step in discerning your church planting calling via an online informal assessment like Gateway Leader’s Church Planting Profiles or Lifeway’s Church Planter Candidate Assessment. This is a good place to start when exploring your church planting call.