5 lids that limit church attendance - amazon s3...5 lids that limit church attendance i will spare...

5 Lidsthat LimitChurchAttendance

About the Author 3

Not Having a Guest Friendly Website 5

Misunderstanding Connectivity 7

Being an Island Church 9

Focusing Only on Big Event Sundays 10

No Rest 11

Prologue 12

Table of Contents

©2013 MARKETING MATTERS™ // WWW.MARKETINGMATTERS.TV // 2

We exist to connect your church to your community. Our teams bring creative

solutions to your team and together we work to reach as many people as possible

with the most important message in human history. Through Marketing Matters™,

your church can bolster communications to people inside your church and outside.


About Marketing Matters™

Wade Bearden is a student ministries pastor, writer, and content director for Marketing

Matters™. In addition to breaking the record for most occupations on his resume,

Wade graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University in 2011 with his

Master’s degree in Bible and Theology. He currently teaches at his former college as

an adjunct instructor. If coaxed, you might also convince Wade to perform stand-up

comedy to a group of soon-to-be disappointed audience members.

You can watch Wade attempt to make jokes on Twitter at @WadeHance or read his

thoughts on God, life, and the arts at wadebearden.com.

About the Author

5 L i d s t h a t L i m i t C h u r c h A t t e n d a n c e

In his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell

describes what he calls the, “Law of the Lid.” The Law of the Lid

states that an individual’s leadership ability will determine his or her

ultimate effectiveness. Each person will only be able to go as far as

their “lid” allows them to go. After that, they run into an invisible barrier.

What many local churches don’t realize is that they too have lids. Lids that

determine the amount of effectiveness they achieve. By understanding just

what some of these lids might be, pastors will have a better opportunity

to initiate the kind of change that can result in church growth. With

such an important, life-changing message like the gospel, ministers

must learn to utilize all of their God-given resources to build his community.

By understanding their congregation’s lids, pastors have a unique

opportunity to see tremendous results not otherwise achieved in the past.


I NTRODUCTION


In today’s world, your organization’s website is your digital front

door to the community at large. It is the first experience people have

with your church. It is the ultimate first impression. What’s

disheartening is that many local churches don’t understand this principle.

A majority of congregations make the mistake of designing their

website for insiders instead of outsiders. The website in and of itself,

then becomes a lid. Crafting a web experience primarily for insiders

stops guests from ever making it to your front door. On the opposite

side of the spectrum, having a web presence tailored to visitors

makes them feel welcome before they even have a chance to attend their

first service.

Potential guests need to be able to read, listen, see, and hear what your

church is all about in a few clicks. This is the essence of being

guest-friendly.


1 Not Having a Guest-Friendly Website

95% of people moving intoa new area will visit a church’swebsite before attending.


Who is the pastor? Who will be taking care of my children?

They aren’t convicted felons are they? Can I relate, trust,

and connect to this team? These are all questions

outsiders are asking. Make your staff page easy to find

from the homepage and make it awesome. Upload

pictures, and not the ones that look like mug shots. If you

haven’t already, record your weekly messages and place

them on the site. This will help families who just moved into

the community connect with you during their church

addition process.

Church websites also have to make sure social media is

woven into their page. It’s possible that guests may find

that they know someone who goes to the church simply

by connecting on Facebook. Anytime you can connect

someone to your church, it’s a win. Especially if it gives you

another opportunity to share updates on future church

events with guests. Social media is a great bridge that

pastors can’t afford to ignore.


Recent studies have shown up to 78% of website traffic is from smart phone & tablets.


In the olden days of marketing there was a theory. Marketing was about interrupting. Interrupting your day with TV commercials, door to door salesmen and flyers. Companies thought that whoever interrupted the loudest and the most would get the customer. That’s why you have to turn down your television every time there’s a commercial break.

Today, marketing is not about interrupting, it’s about connecting.

One of the ways you can connect with the people in your community is through

what Seth Godin calls, tribal marketing. There are four types of tribal marketing:

1. Leader to tribe member

2. Tribe member to leader

3. Tribe member to tribe member

4. Tribe member to outsider

For years churches and businesses have spent the majority of ourenergy on #1. As Jon Dale says in the book Outspoken:

The problem is the #1 has a lid. If people within your congregation are not connecting with those in your community, you’ll see a decline in growth. The challenge then, is to empower your church members so they can leverage their relational influence and connect people to your congregation, and, ultimately the message of Jesus.


2 Misunderstanding the Principle of Connectivity

“We get up on stage on Sunday and do #1. We send out eblasts and do #1. Then we upgrade to the latest craze and do a podcast (more of #1). And for kicks we send out a survey and think we’re doing #2 well. But the reality is that #3 and #4 are what change the world.”


Tribal marketing is more than just seeing attendees as mindless

consumers, but instead as Spirit-empowered resources to spread

ideas (or in our case, the gospel) even further. Paul writes a letter

to the believers in Ephesus and explains that God has given

church leaders “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for

building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12, ESV). In light of this,

ministers must place a high priority on preparing those within the

church to, in a sense, “market” the gospel within their realm of

influence. To boil it down, we have to create raving fans. Fans that

burst out of our doors saying, “I’ve got to tell someone about this!”


Great marketing isempowering relationalconnections to your church.


I have been as guilty as anyone when it comes to building bridges in the

community. One thing I learned is that not everything we create has to be

a “come and see” experience. In fact, it is healthier for your people and the

community when you “go and do.” We must get off our church property

and connect with individuals in neighborhoods and cities. This is the

absolute best kind of marketing, tribe members connecting with outsiders.

We must be bridge churches, not island churches.

An island church primarily plans events that happen on the church property. A bridge church asks the question, “Where is our community hanging out?”

An island church holds an outreach just because it’s always been done that way. A bridge church finds a need in the community and meets it.

An island church has a “me” mentality. A bridge church has an “others” mentality.

Here are a few ways to create bridge connections:

1. Get involved in local chamber of commerce

2. Lead a valuable network for local business owners

3. Partner with local non-church charities

4. Organize servant evangelism opportunities

5. Increase social media interactions with non church members


3 Being an Island Church


The rush a pastor experiences after a great Easter Sunday is almost unmatched. It is uplifting, encouraging and motivating. Then, a few weeks later, the momentum settles down, leaving you and your team wondering how to get it back. This cycle repeats itself during Christmas and the handful of other “big event” Sundays throughout the year. If this is a picture of what happens in your local church on an annual basis, you are not alone. Every church has experienced this type of momentum dump in the past.

One of the reasons excitement seems to only come in spurts, has to do with the temptation for us to put all of our resources into the home run hitting days/events like Christmas and Easter. Figuratively, we put all of our Easter eggs into one basket. This philosophy ultimately leaves nothing for the other 45-50 Sundays of the year. The big question then becomes:

How do we create and sustain momentum throughout the year?

The first and probably most impactful thing your team can do is begin by strategically planning momentum builders throughout the year. This will help each month build upon the prior wins of previous weeks. Here are a few things you should plan out in advance:

1. Sermon Series - Over the years I’ve seen firsthand how a well branded sermon series can produce momentum for a church. It’s essentially the same principle that pastors utilize when they put on a big event service for Easter or Christmas. You’re promoting something that will catch a person’’s interest.

2. Events - This is a great opportunity to have your events in sync with your sermon series. If you are doing a series on community, plan an event for your community.

3. Marketing - Always be promoting the next Sunday. Your marketing process should include bulletins, website graphics, social media pushes, and video promos. When marketing an event, advertise in layers. Next time you watch your favorite TV show or program, notice how advertisers will always plug what is coming up next week. Sunday mornings should be no different.


4 Focusing Only on Big Event Sundays


I will spare you the common illustration about sharpening your axe. I actual-ly think we should update that saying to include a chainsaw somewhere. We’ve all heard how important it is to stop for rest and encouragement. We might even repeat this principle to others. It’s not always easy to live out though.

Why is rest so difficult for pastors? I mean, we understand the concept, but so easily miss the mark in application. “Rest” sounds incredibly elusive in today’s chaotic culture. We tell ourselves we don’t have time or we’re just too busy. We might even put the blame on God, “I can’t afford to take a break when there’s a world full of hurting people.” We promise ourselves to take more days off the next month but never do. After all is accounted for, taking a sabbath is a ten commandment we are so commonly used to breaking.

I can guess what you are thinking right now. How does rest help me increase our church’s attendance? It might not seem all that logical, but the truth of the matter is, if you want to step up your production, performance and preaching, you need to learn to step out.

Empower your team and trust them.You will be better for it, they will be better for it and your church will be better for it. You’ll feel more energized and in turn be more productive Here are a few things to remember when thinking about rest:

1. Schedule extra time off and stick to it.2. Schedule extra time off for your staff in a rotation.3. Empower your team to be able to lead while you are out.4. Repeat

Here’s to you sabbath. May we never forget how awesome you are.


5 No Rest


If you want to limit your church’s momentum and attendance,

make sure to keep these five lids in place. If you want to have

a bigger impact on your community for Jesus, then be willing

to make a change. Change will always be difficult. It’s never

fun or easy. But, if we sacrifice to produce change, things will

be more fun and easy in the future.

I’ll leave you with a quote by Seth Godin from his book Tribes:

“The largest enemy of change and leadership isn’t a “no.” It’s

a “not yet.” “Not yet” is the safest, easiest, way to forestall

change. “Not yet” gives the status quo a chance to regroup

and put off the inevitable for just a little while longer.”

Will you say “not yet” to change or “why not today?”


Prologue


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