Marketing/Communications

On a JourneyWhen three central Indiana congregations decided to take a look at their communications and marketing processes, they found themselves on journeys of self-discovery.

By exploring and defining how to present themselves to members, visitors, and the community, congregational lead-ers at Kingsway Christian, LifePoint Church, and Mount Pleasant Christian Church also found unique opportunities to study their ministries, programs, and activities from an out-side angle.

“The branding process we went through wasn’t just an attempt to put a new face on an old ministry, but an effort to really uncover the DNA of who we are so we could represent ourselves to the community in a truthful and fresh manner, ” explained Kevin Carr of Kingsway Christian Church in Avon.

“This process encouraged us to integrate consistent messag-ing throughout our publications, website, and media. It also helped us to define who we are,” said Joyce Long of Mount Pleasant Christian Church in Greenwood.

Defining Identity At LifePoint Church on Indianapolis’ south side, this journey led to a name change from Community Church of Southport. The marketing assessment also facilitated positive and coop-erative group conversation about what the church means to its members.

“We are a church. We want to teach God’s word, and that’s what we’re all about. I feel like we have more identity as a church now that we have become LifePoint,” stated Seth Bartal, pastor of students at this growing church on Indianapolis’ south side.

This 22-year-old congregation, which was planted by the Community Church of Greenwood, moved to its new location at 8540 S. Combs Road in May 2007. This relocation brought about the new name and the focus on marketing.

“We didn’t really have a brand. And we weren’t really in Southport,” Bartal explained. “We had no logo, no anything to tie everything together.”

Externally Focused Close by, Mount Pleasant Christian Church is located in the growing Greenwood area. With an attendance of nearly 2,700 each weekend, the congregation is full of life, and members are eagerly anticipating the celebration of the church’s 125th anniversary.

The church is home to many families. Although the average age of adult members is 35-50, Mount Pleasant has a popu-lar young adult worship for 18-29 year-olds. Since making its home at the current location on North Bluff Road near Highway 37, the church has expanded its facilities and is now finishing construction on a Community Life Center.

“Mount Pleasant Christian Church is becoming a more exter-nally focused church,” stated Long, who is in charge of the congregation’s marketing and media relations.

At Kingsway, congregational leaders wanted to streamline their goals and provide a common thread through their numerous activities and programs. Founded in 1973, this congregation welcomes about 2,100 worshippers each week-end. The church also runs a school for children in preschool through eighth grade and helped launch a now self-sustain-

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Mount Pleasant Christian Church

ing medical and dental clinic, in addition to offering a very active youth program, adult study groups, and more.

“We do a lot. There’s always something going on around here,” said Carr, Kingsway’s involvement pastor. “There are lots of areas of overlap. We end up running lots of different directions some-times.”

Carr said they wanted to look at “what we’re doing and why.” With the help of Fishhook Communications , the con-gregation evaluated their programs and ministries and deter-mined strengths and attributes that were most important to Kingsway members.

Real Passionate TruthFrom these conversations emerged the tagline “Real—Passionate—Truth.” The words are representative of the importance of relationships (Real); worship (Passionate); and certainty about beliefs (Truth).

Fishhook’s design of a simple circle logo with a lone K in the middle drew a lot of attention in Avon and surrounding areas. Kingsway leaders were surprised by the influence of this uncomplicated symbol. “I don’t think we anticipated that would have as big an impact as it had. It was huge,” the pastor stated.

Car stickers, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and a billboard sport-ing the logo prompted a lot of buzz, Carr explained. People would see the logo and ask “What’s the K?”

“It was everywhere. It was a huge identity-builder for our people,” he stated. “It became a neat way for Kingsway peo-ple to talk about church with friends and neigh-bors.”

Through Sunday ser-mons, Kingsway pastors reinforced the tagline words and their mean-ings and significance to the congregation. They also developed a com-panion to the mission

statement with the Core 4 – worship, grow, serve, share. Carr explained that when new programs and ideas come along, leaders evaluate to see if they fit into the Core 4.

People Passion PurposeLikewise, Mount Pleasant focused on words that are mean-ingful to the congregation with the tagline “People – Passion

– Purpose.”

The congregation worked with Katherine Coble of the Indianapolis communications agency Borshoff (formerly Borshoff Johnson Matthews) to audit marketing, conduct con-gregational interviews, and develop a foundation document for consistent messaging.

“When people would call in and say ‘we want information about your church’ we could send them tons of information,” Long explained. But they were all separate pieces about indi-vidual ministries, nothing that was an overall introduction to the congregation.

“We wanted something that would show who we are as a body of believers,” she said.

The new tagline – “People – Passion – Purpose” – as well as the marketing assessment helped the congregation define itself. “It was to provide a comprehensive portrait of who Mount Pleasant is and what we do,” Long said. “Katherine helped us to come up with some consistent ways to talk about this – talk points, she called them.”

These ideas are now communicated through an introductory brochure and DVD, newsletter and other publications and media. Mount Pleasant also developed new ministries based on conversations with members during the assessment about what is important to them in the church. Some of the new programs include exercise for seniors, more counseling activi-ties, ministry for children with disabilities, nursing home outreach, devotions posted on the website, pre-teen ministry, and more.

Kingsway Christian Church

Mount Pleasant Christian Church

Kingsway Christian

“You don’t want to single anyone out or leave anyone out. You just see people and hopefully that’s just what the church sees,” said Mount Pleasant’s graphic designer Jason Monday. Monday has been busy designing an updated introductory brochure, as well as other refreshed publication pieces. “We want to be about people, but based on actions, not who they are or what they look like.”

“Overall the [process] gave us defined purpose and a design for future ministry growth,” Long stated. “It went far beyond communications.”

Also looking beyond marketing, LifePoint leaders found their work with communications planners RHB/The Agency to be a fulfilling exploration into the life of the congregation.

Gatherings and conversations with members uncovered ideas about why the church is important to them. When congrega-tion members were asked their ideas for the new name, they contributed numerous recommendations along with explana-tions about why they chose those particular names. Bartal said it was enlightening and exciting to hear their stories.

“It really was neat to see how the church had influenced them, to hear about what God is doing in their lives,” he said.

Members appreciated being part of the process – they felt their input was important. The new name, LifePoint, was not one single suggestion, but a blending of ideas and recommen-dations, Bartal explained. The congregation wants the church to be “a place where people can come and find a point of life,” he described.

LifePoint’s new logo includes three circles, representing the Trinity, with a cross. This logo, along with a consistent design theme, spreads throughout the building as well as printed publications. They are in the process of updating the website and e-newsletter to sport the new look as well.

LifePoint sees 500-600 worshippers on Sunday and offers a variety of programs including Mothers of Preschoolers, Bible study, small groups, kids programs, choir and more. Most of

its members, which include young families as well as older folks, are within a five mile radius of the church.

“We really want to be a family destination,” Bartal stated. “It’s a good generational church.”

New Ministries Emerge Some new ministries also came out of the discernment pro-cess, including Life Groups, which are small study groups, and a new newsletter feature. The printed newsletter now includes stories about what is going on behind the scenes, what people are doing to live out their faith, and how LifePoint programs are impacting members daily lives. “That really connects with people,” Bartal said.

Connecting with people is the goal of these marketing efforts.

Carr said that Kinsgway leaders and members have learned that you have to be willing to try new things in order to reach out to people. They wanted to attract more folks to the church, not to count them as numbers, Carr explained, but to bring them in to grow and to follow Christ.

“The church has to find its voice and be willing to stand out in the midst of the crowd. Be willing to do the hard work to find out who you really are,” Carr advised. “It was enlightening for us to go through that process.”

More than a new logo, a new name, or a new web design, marketing assessment at these three Indianapolis-area con-gregations opened doors to explore and talk about their work and their ministries. Taking a thoughtful look within helped leaders to present a consistent picture of their congregations but also to re-examine and define each congregation’s own identity and purpose.

LifePoint Church

Questions for ReflectionDoes your congregation present a consistent message •(in expression and look) to its members, visitors, and the community?How does your congregation communicate with its •members, visitors, and the community?Is your congregation meeting the needs of its mem-•bers with its current newsletter, website, and ministry opportunities?What other questions and ideas does this article bring •to mind?

LifePoint Church

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Center for Congregations staff are happy to talk with you about any issues this article raises about marketing and communica-tions. If you would like to know about additional resources, consultants, or marketing firms, contact the Center nearest you.

Find a Niche and Scratch It by Robert Perry.Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2003. What’s your

church’s niche? Robert Perry shows how churches can use the concept of “niche marketing” in the secular business world to reach certain segments of the population with a ministry that meets their needs and encourages them to embrace the Christian faith. This practical book is an excellent resource for congregations of all sizes.

Marketing for Congregations: Choosing to ServePeople More Effectively by Norman Shawchuck,

Philip Kotler, Bruce Wrenn, Gustave Ruth. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1992. Marketing can help religious organizations achieve their objectives in the face of such current challenges

as a secularized society, changing demographics, and competition among congregations. Marketing is not merely selling, but an overall discipline for organizational planning.