Advertisng Your Church (Pt. 2)

Just started a series on advertising your church. Should churches advertise? Well, we covered that last time.

I thought it might be good to briefly ask the question: What is advertising NOT?

It is not a gimmick. Well, it better not be. If you do gimmicky advertising you’ll just need to do a bigger gimmick next time. You don’t want to get in that cycle. Doing gimmicky kinds of advertising also holds as much potential for turning people off as for bringing people in.

It’s also not manipulation. You can’t con people into coming to your church, even if you want to. I’d caution you, if you do advertise, to keep what you do free of manipulation.

It’s also not a cure all. If your church is stagnant and hasn’t seen growth in awhile, my guess is that advertising probably won’t solve anything. It may bring in some new people, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t stick. There’s a good chance that there’s something you need to “fix” in your church before you try advertising. Maybe you need to raise the level of excellence in your services. Or create a better system for connecting and assimilating newcomers. I don’t know what it is, but there’s a reason you’re not bringing in and keeping new people, and advertising will likely highlight (not cure) the problem. Advertising tends to work better for a church that is already growing. It’s kind of like if I started taking steroids – that wouldn’t propel me to a career in major league baseball. I just don’t have what it takes, with or without steroids. But for someone who has what it takes, advertising can pump up your growth. So first make sure your church has what it takes.

That’s what advertising isn’t. So why should your church advertise? We’ll talk about that next time. Until then, kiss the sky.

– featured on newchurches.com