Marketing your church

Many people really dislike the concept of marketing the church, but I've never understood why.  When I talk about marketing the church I am referring to finding ways to let people know about your church.  A few months after joining our church a new member told me we were the best kept secret in town.  That really bothered me.  Our church should not be a secret.  If we are pleased with the ministries we offer we should want everyone in our communities to know about us.  Yet, I find that many small churches seem to go out of their way to remain a secret.  Maybe that is one reason they remain small.  What are some inexpensive ways a small church can let its community know it exists?

One of the simplest ways is to put up good signs.  I serve a number of small churches located in rural areas, and it was very difficult to find some of them during my first year as an Area Minister.  I remember being 30 minutes late to a meeting at one church because I couldn't find it.  I stopped at three different houses within five miles of the church, and none of them could give me directions to the church.  They had a sign on the highway, but to get to their church building I had to turn on three different county roads after leaving the highway, and none of them had a sign.  I had decided to turn around at the next driveway I came to and return home, and the next drive way was the one into the church property.  Put up some good signs and help people locate your facility.

Speaking of signs, one of my pastors had 12 signs made that resemble realtor signs.  The signs simply invite people to the church and gives the address and the time of the morning service.  Each week he moves the signs to different church member's yards.  This way he avoids problems with the highway department regarding signs.  Because they are the same size as realtor signs he avoids problems with having signs too large for the city zoning codes, and by moving them each week the entire community will see these signs at different times.  What a great idea, and the cost of doing this is very reasonable.

There are many web hosting sites that will allow a church to have a simple web site at no cost.  You won't have a fancy site, but it will allow you to give basic information about the church and some of your ministries. Other sites provide web sites for less than $20.00 a month that will allow you to post even more information about your church. People do look for information on the Internet about churches, and there is no reason why every church doesn't have a presence on the Internet.

Marketing your church can be as simple as having voice mail on your church phone that gives the callers the times of your services.  Many small churches do not have someone at the church office during the week.  If this describes your church you are likely missing phone calls which means you are missing ministry opportunities.  It amazes me that many churches do not have even an inexpensive answering machine, and some who do fail to give the caller the times of their services.

Church marketing does not have to be 'in your face."  Just these simple steps can let more people be aware of your church and help them feel that you sincerely want them to check you out.  Why not try at least one of them this year and see if it makes a difference in your ministry to the community?