Tag: church branding

By: Russ Cantu

Picture this: you get off work late. Everyone is exhausted, nothing is defrosted, and no one wants to cook. You pile everyone into the van and head to your favorite fast food joint. You pile out of the car, get in line, order your food, and find a table. There you wait at the table for your food – ten, fifteen, twenty minutes go by. By now, everyone is grumbling around the table. The kids are bouncing off the walls; coloring books are not working, and one of them is starting to cry.

You go up to the counter, and ask to speak with a manager. When he arrives, the manager turns around, finds your order, and hands it to you on a tray. The food is cold. You hang your head and the family plows through the food, grateful to finally be eating. You pack up the van and head back to the house, declaring out loud, “We will never, ever, ever, eat there again.”

Time is precious. We only have so much of it in a given day, week, lifetime. That’s why little hiccups like these can so dramatically impact our minds and emotions. This is especially true on church websites where attention spans are measured in nano-seconds. (more…)

By: Ted Vaughn

As a trusted partner to many churches, I often hear the following, “our church serves EVERYONE; our doors are open to ALL; our ministries serve CRADLE TO GRAVE.” I love the heart and passion behind these words…and I do not doubt for one second the pure motive and intention. Unfortunately, limited resources often call into the question the viability of this ministry paradigm. After all, how can any one organization possibly reach, with effectiveness, EVERYONE?

Many of my clients are struggling through this question today. They want their church to be seen as a trusted brand where anyone and everyone in the community can find a home. They also realize that, by definition, their local church exists PRIMARILY for it’s NON-MEMBERS; those not reached yet. And even that audience (non-members) is of a size and scope too large for any single church to entirely reach. Which begs the fundamental question I help churches think through: “Who, outside of your existing membership, has God best positioned you to reach?” Because you cannot – you will not – reach all of them. No brand can reach everybody….not even Apple (this is hard to admit). (more…)