Best Church Advertising and Promotion

I was recently asked, "How can I best promote our church's upcoming fall program? What's the best means of advertising and promotion?" There are many promotion methods, and we've all used most of them over the years; but there is one method that is far and away the best of them all. It works all the time in all places. It works almost immediately upon being put into action, and it continues to work over long periods of time. It takes little preparation and no training. It doesn't take a committee working on it to put into action. There's no need for record keeping. And best of all, it's completely free — no cost to the church! If a church implements this plan of promotion, there's no more need for ads in the newspaper or on TV. Forget about littering the neighborhoods with church signs. Don't spend time composing and sending out press releases or trying to arrange for media interviews.

Here's the plan: every person in the church — child, youth, and adult, church member and staff — tells someone outside the church family about the church and invites that person to visit. It must be every person. Members can't elect NOT to do it, thinking that others will. It takes EVERY person's commitment. Do it once a week, every week. Pick a new person to talk to each week; and after a period of time, follow up on a person you've already talked with and do it again. That's it — one person talking to one other person once a week. Invest sixty seconds per week in the future of your church.

I'm not talking about a heavy-duty door-to-door witnessing campaign or a Bible-thumping, end-times street evangelism program. I'm simply talking about a one-minute conversation with a friend, neighbor, co-worker, supermarket check-out clerk, postman, friend on the playground, teammate on the Little League or bowling team, someone you sit next to on a bus or in a restaurant. Don't make an appointment for the talk; just work it naturally into the converstaion. Tell the person briefly about one good thing that's happening at your church — the choir, your Sunday School class, the new bell choir, summer camp, youth retreat, after-school day care, the Christmas musical, a mission project, remodeling or new construction, the pastor's sermon. Just share one good thing in three or four sentences and invite that person to join you the following week. Don't push. Don't demand an answer. Extend the invitation and move on. If the conversation allows for it, say more about your church, what's good about it, why you attend. This is not dishonesty or manipulation. It's not plotting and scheming to ambush your friend or neighbor. It's a friendly and honest conversation. It's also the most powerful and effective means of advertising and promotion the church can do. Word-of-mouth promotion, community spin, personal endorsement and recommendation . . . all these are better than anything you could pay for. A church that benefits from this kind of outreach is a church that is probably strong, vital, growing. It's a church with a reputation in the community that draws people to it.

And a second benefit from this kind of witnessing congregation — the people are transformed. In the act of telling and inviting others, people become more committed. They are more faithful in their attendance. They increase their giving, and the church is enabled to do more. Outreach projects multiply. They create more opportunities in the church for worship, education, training, nurture, and evangelism. They take better care of their facilities. And we hope that all of that takes place so that new people become new disciples of Jesus Christ and all people grow in their faith.

Start with an "open-hearts-open-minds-open-doors" sermon by your pastor. Encourage adult and youth Sunday school classes and groups to talk about it one week. Ask parents to talk with their children about it at home so they can understand and perhaps invite a friend to come to church or choir next week. And on a low-key but regular basis, keep it before your people, encouraging them to make it a regular part of their week's activities outside the church building.

The problem, of course, is that this is not flashy. It doesn't bring everyone together all at once for a high-energy emotional gathering followed by a church dinner. There's no applause, no door prizes or drawings, and no ribbons or rewards for being the best. But if it takes those things to get it going, then forget it. Your church isn't up for it, and it would be false advertising.

Dean McIntyre ([email protected]) is the Director of Music Resources for The United Methodist Discipleship Ministries