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Church of England ClergyAttitudes Towards MarketingActivitiesAnn Sherman a & James F. Devlin aa University of Nottingham , USAPublished online: 22 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Ann Sherman & James F. Devlin (1998) Church of England ClergyAttitudes Towards Marketing Activities, Journal of Ministry Marketing & Management,4:1, 67-77, DOI: 10.1300/J093v04n01_06

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Church of England Clergy Attitudes Towards Marketing Activities:

A Qualitative Perspective Ann Sherman

James F. Devlin

ABSTRACT. Churches in Britain are incrcasingly seen to be engag- ing in what have been termed markcting activities. Although a small number of studies exist about clcrgy attitudes towards the use of marketing tcchniqucs in a church setting. in the US, little research exists in thc UK context. This paper examines British clergy atti- tudes towards the use of marketing attitudes from a qualitative per- spective focusing on possible conflicts between the use of such techniques and the evangelistic mission of the church, the use of long range planning, and the Church's recent attempt to develop a logo. UK clergy opinions indicate a reluctant acceptance of the use of marketing within the Church of England. [Article copies available/or. rr feefiorti The Hr~wor.llr Doc~rmertf Delivefy Se~vice: 1-SOL-342-9678. E-moil addt.ess: ge/itlfo@]towor?h.cotti]

KEYWORDS. Markcting, clergy, ministry marketing

INTRODUCTION

It has increasingly become more common to see churches, both at the parish or national level, engaging in what could be classified as 'marketing activities' (Considine, 1995; Stevens, Loudon and Pas-

Ann Sherman and Jamcs F. Devlin are affiliated with the University of Nottingham. Address correspondence to: James F. Devlin, School of Managcmcnt and

Finnnce, Social Scicnces Building, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK (e-mail: James.Dcvlin@nottingha~n.ac.uk).

Journal of Ministry Marketing & Managcmcnt, Vol. 4(1) 1998 D 1998 by The Haworth Prcss, Inc. All rights reserved. 67

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68 JOURNAL 01; MINISTRY MARKETING & MANAGEMENT

chal, 1995). Given that the definition of marketing suggests that customers determine, to at least a certain degree, the product offering and, given the association of marketing with commerce, some have questioned whether marketing is an appropriate or beneficial activity for the church (Devlin et al., 1997; Barna, 1992; McDaniel, 1989). Others would present marketing as a dimension of the church's mission to evangelise while others would argue that effective mar- keting is essential to the survival of the church in a changing social context in which the church finds itself (Barna, 1992; Stewart, 1989).

While the amount of research into attitudes about marketing the church, in particular the attitudes of the clergy, is increasing, the tendency has been for such research to focus on the United States using scaled surveys and similar quantitative methods. However, churches vary between the USA and the UK enough for there to exist a strong case for there being a need for the evaluation of the attitudes of British clergy a b o ~ ~ t whether or not marketing of the church is necessary and/or appropriate in the UK situation. Given that much of the information required is opinion based, opportuni- ties must be provided for individuals to assert their perceptions through both quantitative and qualitative methods (Deshpande, 1983). In light of the growing interest in UK churches with regard to markcting activities and the questions of appropriateness of such activities, and in an attempt to redress the lack of research focusing on the British context, this paper will describe the results of a study of the views of Church of England clergy. In a related study, clcrgy in a UK diocese were surveyed using a questionnaire based on an earlier US survey (McDaniel, 1989). A qualitative layer was added to that research and this paper is the result of that approach.

In the following section the British situation is described and discussion of recent investigations regarding the church's interest in marketing is presented. In the third section of the paper the gather- ing of the data is described and the clergy views are presented in the fourth section. The paper concludes with implications regarding the church's involvement in marketing activities.

CHURCH MARKETING AND THE BRITISH CONTEXT

Churches in Britain are seen to be struggling with internal tur- moils, financial problems and declining populations (The Observer,

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Dec. 1, 1996) and, as a result, Anglican priests claim to find them- selves in a 'competitive market' (The Guardian, Feb. 7, 1997). Re- cently, the Church of England reported a decline in average Sunday attendance of 36,000 people each week (The Telegraph, Feb. 9, 1997). As the established church in Britain and head of the Episcopal church in several other countrics as well, the Church of England is struggling to keep itself relevant in today's society in the face of competition from not only other churches but from secular cvcnts occurring on Sundays. The recent figures are reminiscent of the decline in attendance that occurred during the 1970s when in a period of eight years over 350,000 people stopped attending church on the average Sunday.

In light of this competition, British churches are beginning to adopt marketing techniques such as poster and press advertising in hopes of retaining and attracting congregation members. For exam- ple, in December, 1996 the Church of England joined with other churches to promote a Christmas campaign which included televi- sion advertising, huge posters in bus stops, car bumper stickers and lapel buttons which suggested that Mary had a 'Bad Hair Day' but there was a happy ending to be told at local churches. This cam- paign caused a great deal of debate among church members.

The idea that churches may need to market themselves has been attributed to the work of Berger (1967). Berger argued that:

religious traditions which previously could be authoritatively imposed on society, now have to be marketed; religion must be sold to a clientele that is no longer constrained to buy. The pluralistic situation is above all a market situation, in it the religious institutions become marketing agencies and the religious traditions become consumer commodities. @. 137)

It was following Berger's work that both academics and practi- tioners were attracted to the idea of applying the principles and processes of marketing to the Church. Churches began to be in- volved in activities that could be identified as marketing and practi- tioners began to not only study the phenomenon but become in- volved at the practical level assisting churches that were interested in applying marketing principals to their planning for the future. As congregations have begun to decline, the interest of the Church regarding the application of marketing has been heightened, howev-

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er, those in marketing see the extension of marketing beyond thc commercial sector to not-for-profit activities and social causes as having value in the context of the Church and they see the church as an area in need of marketing.

Still, little research exists about actual clergy perspectives about the appropriateness of marketing activities in a church setting and what research exists tends to be quantitative in nature. In a 1995 sulvey in the US, Stevens, Loudon and Paschal (1995) revisited an earlier survey by McDaniel (1989) where 290 clergy of various denominations and 261 laity of the general public were surveyed about their views on the appropriateness of church marketing activities. In both surveys the respondents were asked to rank 43 descriptions of marketing activities as to their level of appropriateness for the church. Questions were asked which were related to service offering design, distribution, promotion, pricing, and market research.

In the McDaniel survey, clergy were found to be generally more positive about using marketing activities in a church context than were the general public however, the second study (Stevens, Lou- don and Paschal, 1995), with 102 clergy responses, found that almost all of the values in their re-examination tended to be lower indicating a dccrease in the level of acceptance of marketing ap- plied Lo a church setting. The Stevens et al. study did not solicit responses from the general public.

Stevens, Loudon and Paschal give several possible reasons for the decrease in clcrgy acceptance of marketing activities. They suggest that it could be a reflection of a general decline in the influence of churches and they suggest it may even represent the view that clergy are no longer able to reach out to the community as they used to be able to do, due to a "general cultural antipathy to confrontive evangelism" (1995, p. 95). They also suggest that churches are encouraging clergy and other staff to use an evangeli- cal style which includes more 'people networking' which may cause clergy to be hesitant about using the more 'gimmicky' kinds of advertising like yellow pages advertising, or temporary signs. Negative views of the clergy towards the use of marketing activities may also be the result of the large amount of negative press that has become associated with tele-evangelists in the US and their use of marketing activities which has created a low acceptance of these types of activities amongst the general public.

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ResearrA Arlicles a d Notes 71

This study intends to solicit the views of British clergy by provid- ing opportunities for the clergy to provide opinions related to the marketing of the church in a qualitative format. Given the decline in church attendance and the competition that exists for UK churches today, both from other churches and from outside the church, the possibilities that marketing can provide the church may be both useful and valuable and the opinion of the people who may be most affected by changes that marketing can bring provide an interesting focus for this research. \

METHODOLOGY

In order to investigate the opinion of clergy regarding the ap- propriateness of marketing in a church context a research method needed to be utilised which could reach a large number of people in an efficient manner but one that did not stifle responses of those clergy who were willing to share longer opinions than found in typical postal questionnaires (Marshall and Rossman, 1995). The questionnaire mailed to the clergy in this shtdy included four open- ended general questions to which they were asked to respond. The questionnaires were sent to a set of clergy for piloting with the final version being mailed to 286 names drawn from a diocesan mailing list. The diocese was representative of mid-size dioceses in Britain with one Bishop and one Suffragan Bishop. Permission was granted by the Bishop and the Bishop's Council for the survey to be sent to all clergy listed on the diocesan mailing list.

The survey solicited opinions from 108 respondents of' whom all were members of the Church of England, with some in full time ministry and others were in positions of non-stipendiary ministry, positions where ordained members of the church provide their ser- vices on a voluntary basis. In addition to the general questions concerning marketing, information was gathered regarding age, education, sex, previous work experience, years in the ministry,

. type of ministry (i.e., whether paid or non-stipendiary), number of members on the electoral role and congregation size.

General questions were asked of the clergy related to overall areas of marketing and the church. The initial question asked the clergy to describe any activities that their church was involved in that they might consider to be marketing. Due to the fact that mar-

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keting concepts involve soliciting the opinion of those involved in the organization, the clergy were asked about any long range plan- ning that their church is involved in and if so, its value to the church. They were then asked about whether or not there exists a conflict between marketing activities and the evangelistic mission of the church given that some activities which might be construed as marketing activities are seen by some as being inclusive in the day to day mission of the church in spreading the word of God, i.e., the handing out of pamphlets. Finally, clergy were asked about a recent attempt by the Church of England to utilize the marketing process in its creation of a Church of England logo. These questions provided opportunities for the clergy to express opinions about the issues surrounding marketing of the Church in general, and about the Church's recent attempts to market itself specifically. The ques- tions also provided an opportunity to determine whether or not the clergy were interested in determining their congregation's perspec- tives and acting upon them.

The comments provided by the clergy were analysed through careful reading and categorization. Many responded to the four questions with elaborate descriptions of programs in place in their churches and what they saw as potential conflicts between both their own attempts and the church's attempt at a national level to market itself and what they saw as the true evangelistic mission of the church. While a few provided rather short terse answers, the majority exhibited a willingness to share their opinions in lengthy discussions, providing valuable information about their perspec- tives. These descriptions were grouped according to patterns and exemplars were sought. Direct quotes used in the next section will be presented in italics.

THE CLERGY PERSPECTIVE

Most clergy perceived there to be no conflict between the evange- listic mission of the church and the church's attempts to market itself, as long as the primary focus did not become simply filling the church on a Sunday morning but spreading the Word of God. A preoccupa- tion with 'butns OIZ pews,' as one clergy put it, would result in the church failing in its true mission. However, if 'marketing' referred to activities which regularly brought the public in contact with the

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Research At~icles urd Notes 73

church and the clergy and 'allowed for an opportunity for thepublic to see the Word of God in action,' through service work and commu- nity events, then, it was the opinion of the clergy that no conflict existed. One clergy saw "niarketing as a form of pre-evangelism. Sharing Godk word is direct evangelism so, although they are not the same they can support one another." Many issued warnings that marketing the church would be beneficial but that the advertising and publicity canied out at a church level must not appear too confronta- tional or financially orientated. The provision of written material, i.e., posters, newspapers, or pamphlets, provided opportunities for sharing the message of the church in a situation that was less con- frontational than direct personal contact of any kind, whether through telephone contact or personal invitation.

Despite implying that surveying church members would be bene- ficial, the clergy admitted a distinct lack of long range planning of any kind at the parish level, planning which could include surveys of church members in particular. Some mcntioned barriers to this type of planning which included "a lack of interest on the part of both the lay and clergy involved in the church" or "a lack of younger people who are able to carty out such plans," however, many of those who responded that their church had no such plans also suggested that there was some interest in the possibility of preparing such plans or that present planning included the develop- ment of long range plans which would include congregational sur- veys. Even those who do not presently have long range plans in place commented on the benefit that such planning might bring to their congregation.

As previously mentioned, comments were made by the clergy stating that the most appropriate way of contacting members of the general public was through leaflets and posters, providing written information that was non-confrontational and could be read at a later time. High approval was also given to activities like handing out pamphlets in public places or placing information on public notice boards. "We use written notices topresent infornlation about events. People see it when they walk by and v they are interested they can join in." Perhaps the provision of written material is seen to be a less confrontational method of sharing information than is direct contact through street ministry or telephoning individuals. "They can read it later or throw it out" as one clergy suggestcd.

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Clergy commented on the highcost of mailing information about the church as well as suggesting that telephoning was inappropriate when trying to contact largc numbers of people. " I don't have the time or the rnoney to send things by post to more than a few people and 1 don '1 have the time to sit around using the telephone." This view may be partially due to the cost of telephoning in a country where local calls are charged at an individual rate, rather than cus- .

tomers paying monthly rental charges which cover local calls, no matter how many are made. "I would rather visit my parishioners in person; the telephone is too irnpersonal and costly."

Many clergy responded positively about their parish's attempts to share information and activities that portrayed their church in a posi- tive light. These included the very typical Parish magazine but others also mentioned the use of local newspapers, sponsoring special events directly focused at people who usually do not attend the church (i.e., everything from Christmas Concerts to 'Mothers and Toddlers Groups'), placing posters where the maximum number of people will see them, and hand delivery of notices. Many of these ways of sharing information where accessible to thc general public as well as church members and so many more people were reached with information about the church through these activities. Since fmancial struggles appear to play a large part in the difficulties that afflict churches today, low cost advertising which reaches more people is vitally important for churches and the clergy comments implied that in many cases a great deal more would be done if the cost was no so prohibitive. As one priest commented "In the ideal world, with an unlimited budget, I could phone people and mail newsletters without having to worry about the cost. It would be great $I could keep in closer contact with everyone, but I can P afford to do it eitherfinancially or because of time restraints." These concerns differ from organizations where an increase in spending might lead to an increase in revenue. Concerns amongst the clergy revolve around the possibility that even if a campaign to gain interest in the church is successful, if there is no corresponding increase in regular church donations, the campaign may be considered too costly.

Perhaps it is indicative of the strugglc for congregation members that the church is going through, however, many clergy commented that it may be necessary to prcsent church doctrine in a different light in order to create new interest in the church. Without actually chang-

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Research Arlicles and Notes 75

ing the doctrine, clergy suggested that a change in explanation or alterations that might lead to clarification, might be needed. "lf changing the doctrine tneans changing what we believe then I will not support it, however, if changing the doctrine rneans making it more accessible@r all, then by all means, go ahead." Given the rapid transformation that appears to be taking place in our society each year, clergy suggested that any clarification that would make the Church's beliefs and doctrines more relevant in the lives of people today would be of benefit to the Church. The difficulty lies in determining where clarification of doctrine ends and actual changes in the beliefs begins. As one clergy suggested "There has to be a real dialogue between scriptural and traditional values and the values suggated by contemporary society-with the expectation that sorne- times the church will not simply adopt modes of behavior suggested by contemporary society, but that, at other times, the church will accept and respond to challengesj?om contenlporary issues."

In general, the responses were fairly positive about the church's attempts to portray itself in a favorable light although many of thc comments about the recent Church of England logo were both cyni- cal and derogatory. Responses implied that many of the clergy had not seen the new logo and those that did deemed it conhsing and a waste of money and asked 'What is wrong with the cross?' As one clergy suggested 'The church is not built up by an advertising logo, but by The Word, The Logos.' Or as another commented: 'Our identi- ty is~not about a logo but about what we do and say.' Those who thought the logo might be of some benefit were hesitant to recommend it wholeheartedly and thought that the way it had been inuoduced had devalued it. If the logo is to be of any use to local parishes it must be immediately recognisable and provide an accurate depiction of what the church is about, suggest the clergy. As one clergy suggested "What is vital [in the church] is something of greater substance in terms of spiritual and moral leadershipfrorn the top co~nbined with the same challenge to the local church." Creating an image is not good enough. The image must represent something that the Church lives out every- day. As another clergy inquired "lfthe 'believing without belonging' analysis is correct in Grace Daviek Religion in Britain since 1945 is the logo an image with no pmduct?" Perhaps the suggestion is that there exist problems in the church that a logo cannot 'fix.' Without being relevant to people's lives today, the church will find it difficult to

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76 JOURNAL OF MINISTRY MARKETING & MANAGEMENT

relate to the public no matter how many logos it uses. One woman cautioned "Does the logo on an iterr1 of clothing make you buy sonte- thing you don t want or need?"

CONCL USZON

Certainly, while the clergy were not unanimous about their ap- proval of the use of marketing activities by the church most gave at least a cautioned approval. The overall tone, although accepting, might be better classed as grudgingly favorable, where most clergy have no explicit disagreement with the use of marketing activities within the church context, however, many approvals were given with warnings about the nature of the advertising that might occur and the need to ensure that the true mission of the church is not confused with attempts to simply fill churches. As more than one clergy asked "What happens ifwe don '1 live up to thepackaging?"

Researchers, such as Stevens and Loudon (1992) try to alleviate worries created by the knowledge that within the concept of market- ing exists the assumption that at the centre of an organization are the constituents needs. In their writing about marketing the church, they assure clergy that this does not in any way replace the idea that a church or ministry must be Christ-centred (p. 4). However, in an institution like the Church of England, where some clergy still have 'freehold' on their parishes, or the right to stay in that parish for as long as they desire, the idea that the needs of the congregation drive the programming in the parish, may be somewhat foreign to some clergy. As the Church moves towards shorter appointments, with five years becoming more expected, congregations will be expected and required to provide the continuity in any programs that are offered by their church.

REFERENCES

Barna, G. (1992) Church Markeling, Ventura, California: Rcgal. Berger, P.L. (1967). The Sacred Canopy: Elemer~ls of a Sociological Tlreoty of

Religion, Doubleday, New York. Considine, J.J. (1995), "Broadening thc Marketing Concept to Churches," J o w

rial of Marketing Mirlislry & Muriugearet~t, Vol. I ( I ) , 25-35. Deshpande, R. (1983). "Paradigms Lost: On Theory and Method in Rescarch in

Marketing," Journal of Markelir~g, 46, Fall, 101 - 1 10.

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Researclt Articles a d Noles 77

Devlin, J.F., C.T. Enncw, A.K. Hull, and A. Sherman (1997), "Marketing and the Church: Should God be Sold or Found," J O U I ~ I I N ~ for Nonprojf attd Vol~trt/ary Secior Mat~keiirtg, Vol. 2 (I), pp 23-30.

Marshall, C. and Rossman, G.B. (1995), Desigrtirtg Qtrulilafive Research, Sage Publications, London.

McDaniel, S.W. (1989). "The Usc of Marketing Techniques by Churches: A National Survcy," Review of Religiolrs Resea~clr, Vol. 31 (2 ) (Dccember), pp 175-1 82.

Stcvens, R E , D.L. Loudon, and R.W. Paschal, (1995), "Clergy Evaluations of the appropriateness of Marketing Aclivities: A Rc-Examination," Jo~rrttal of Miriislty Mor~kelirtg & Mnnugen~ert~, Vol. I ( I ) , 85-96.

Stcvcns, R.E., and D.L. Loudon, (1992), Mirrkelir~g for Clrtrr.cl~es and Mirtislries, Thc Haworlh Prcss, Inc., Ncw York.

Stewart, T.A. (1989), "Turning Around the Lord's Busincss," Forllrne, Septcm- bev 25, 1 16- 128.

'l'hc Guardian, February 7, 1997. The Observer, December I, 1996. The Telegraph, February 9. 1997.

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