Branding the Church - That’s Gotta Hurt!

I recently ran across a couple of articles that grabbed my attention and shook it ‘til its teeth rattled. They were both about "branding" the church. I’ve always wanted to brand a church, but when you get those hot irons ready, the people just tend to run away screaming. (Keep those doggies movin’, rawhide!)

Chris Busch says http://www.chrisbusch.com/2004/09/church_branding.html

Churches are beginning to awaken to the importance of branding to communicate their "essence" to their communities. Actually, churches have been practicing branding for years without knowing what it was called. With all the buzz about "branding" these days, it seems to me that the fad stage is almost over.

Now that it is no longer a fad, I feel much more comfortable talking about it!

I will admit to being a marketing ignoramus. Sitting here in my naivete, my first impression is that I would like to "brand" a congregation as "Christian after the pattern and teaching of the New Testament." Not very glitzy, I must admit. But it just sounds right.

Chris even tells us, "Find a good firm to help you develop the written, visual and even musical elements of your brand."

A "firm"? Is he talking about a marketing firm? I think he is! He’s inviting "Madison Avenue" right into the church. Lights! Camera! Action!

So on we go to another article by a fellow named Maurilio Amorim - and no, I didn’t just shift my fingers to the wrong key row while typing that!

(His article resides at http://www.thechurchreport.com.)

Maurilio’s message to churches is "Define Yourself." Again, mindless me thinks that I cannot define a church, rather, God defines His church. But I was never a marketing genius, as I said before.

Maurilio says that a church must be very careful in developing the message of its "brand."

I remember driving by a church not long ago and seeing a message on its sign in big, bold letters: "King James Only!" Well, I personally don't have a problem with the King James version of the Bible, but if that is the most compelling reason to attend your church, you've got problems.

I admit that the particular Bible version most often used is not much of a reason to attend a church. But Maurilio mentions another "brand" as being a church that has "environments where the unchurched can feel welcomed and comfortable." I’m not so sure that being "comfortable" is much better than "King James Only" when it comes to churches.

Maurilio says that a congregation should develop a good "Brand Statement" and then "use it everywhere" and "say it over and over." That being the case, how about:

"Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth"

If you must "brand" your congregation with something, why not brand it with that? Meanwhile,

"Don’t try to understand ‘em,
just rope those dogs ‘n brand ‘em -
soon we’ll be livin’ high and wide."