Growing Your Church by Meeting Their Needs

Vince WilliamsEvangelism Practices

People in your community have needs. Those needs, or unmet needs, are what drive people to buy things, to get out and socialize in bars and clubs, and to choose habits that are destructive to their lives. Those same needs are also the reason someone attends a local church. So, how do we speak to people’s needs in our evangelism efforts? And how do we do it with a resounding truth that will stir them to action?

People are designed to take care of their own needs. Ephesians 5:29 says ”After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—.” This verse seems to be at odds with the faces of the public we see every day. It appears that so many of the people we meet truly don’t care about themselves at all. The truth is they have bought into a lie: that their needs can be met through the idols of this world. If we are to offer them a rescue plan, then we need to speak to those same needs that have driven them into their current dilemmas.

There is a hierarchy to human need. People cannot concern themselves with a deeper need until they have resolved the more primal ones. The most popular model on this hierarchy is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Although this theory lacks a Christian perspective it does outline the needs people are aware of in their lives. We know the answer to all of these is Christ’s love, but we cannot simply say those words and expect a consistent response. We are to be the hands of Christ (meet the needs of the broken) in order for people to turn their eyes to the heavens.

Using Maslow’s Hierarchy as a framework, let’s look at the basic needs of every human:

Physiological Needs: These needs are all about the physical nature of man. These needs include food, water, sleep, and shelter. If these needs are not being met then a person is incapable of concern about their higher level needs. In the eighth chapter of Mark, Jesus illustrates this perfectly as He feeds the masses.

Safety: This is the need for security. Secure employment, resources, health, family all need to be addressed at this level. Many people today stay focused on this needs level. Church communication that focuses on Safety can be very successful.

Love/Belonging: This is where people become aware of their need for companionship. Love, friendship, and intimacy all fall in this level.

Esteem: This need is primarily derived from our feeling of value from others. It is also where people assess their own value.

Self-Actualization: This is where Christianity and Dr. Maslow take a strong parting of ways. His version of self-actualization involves developing the self. As Christians we understand the opposite to be true. As it is written in Philippians 2:3-4, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” However the outcome is in many ways the same: focus on interest outside of self, respect for others, ability to discriminate between good and evil.

Although this template of human development is not perfect it does illustrate the keys to reaching people in your community. But in order to better understand its application we need to first look at the problem.

Where do we stand?

Before considering the needs of others, let’s first look at our own needs. All of us have unmet needs that we are attempting to give up to God, but for the most part church leaders have grown to a place of self-actualization. We are working toward growing our relationship with God and learning to focus on things outside ourselves. This is good. This is why we have a heart for the lost, because God has rescued us and demonstrated how he can meet our needs. The challenge is that this leaves us far from the people we want to reach. Our needs and theirs are no longer the same. How do we learn to focus on the needs of our community without supplanting our own needs into the communication?

First, create a needs profile. The community surrounding a local church may fall into a specific need level. Assessing the needs of your local community, you can create a “needs profile.” Developing one of these is a great way to determine how you want to communicate with the families in your area. Work through each of the levels of needs to determine which one requires the most assistance in your neighborhood.

Second, articulate the need. Each community will be unique, so it is important to be specific when addressing the need. By tapping into specific needs you build trust that you can help fulfill the unmet desires of people’s hearts. For example, if there is a lot of financial turmoil in your area due to a closed factory, mention the closure and address the fear that people have lost their security.

Third, point to the solution. By addressing a need you show that you have the potential to understand the solution. The better you articulate step two, the more successful you will be building trust in the solution.Remember, the solution must stay focused on the present need. If you jump ahead to illustrating the solution to our need for esteem, self-value and God’s presence, you may lose some people still focused on their current pain.

Following this process can lead to clarity in your ministry opportunities. If you live in a low-income area, then physiological needs will be a major focus of your outreach. You can also combine various needs to hit a large range of people. For example, families spend a lot of their energy on physical needs. People need food, shelter, and clothing to live. Adding a meal to an event is a great way to up attendance by offering a solution to a base need.

Needs-based outreach is only one tool in reaching your community for God. But remember, Satan uses this same approach to stealing the hearts of the people in your community; we can use it to win them back.

Vince Williams is Vice President for Marketing at SermonView. He ran his first direct mail campaign 20 years ago, and enjoyed it so much that he has been involved in sales and marketing work ever since. For the last 8 years Vince has dedicated himself to helping churches communicate better and market themselves more effectively. Vince lives with his wife in Vancouver, Wash.

7 Lessons from 10 Years of Ministry

Larry WitzelLife Lessons

Ten years ago, my life changed.

Back then I had big plans for my life. I had tried pastoring early in my career, but found it stifling. (I was also pretty bad at it.) So after working in public relations for a few years, I earned an MBA and went to work in high-tech product marketing. I worked for a Fortune 500 company, as well as some little Internet startups with big plans. My goal was to hit a home run, retire young, and go start a church plant.

God had other ideas. And ten years ago, almost to the day, instead of just letting me pursue my own plans, he drew me into a job where I got to serve pastors and local church leaders. I loved it. And out of that experience, SermonView was born.

As I reflect on these last ten years of serving local churches, here are some things I’ve learned:

1. Effective is more important than innovative.

There are always better ways to do something. The world around us is constantly changing, so we have to continue to innovate in order to keep up.

Personally, I enjoy innovation, and in the beginning I pushed churches to do things in more innovative ways. But I came to realize that the ultimate goal is not innovation for its own sake; the goal is effectiveness. Just because it’s a new way, doesn’t mean it’s a better way. Maybe I’m turning into an old fuddy-duddy, but I now believe that if something is working, don’t change it. Especially when you’re dealing with volunteers running ministries on a weekly basis, there had better be a good reason to make a change. If it’s going to make you more effective, then make the change. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.

Similarly, I had some ideas for marketing evangelism meetings that were really innovative. But we tested some of them, and they didn’t work as well. I never in a million years thought I would ever say this, but if the beasts of Daniel and Revelation on the cover of a mailer are effective (and for some prophecy seminars, they really are), then use them.

That said, you must continue to innovate, or your effectiveness will drop over time. But I no longer innovate for its own sake; the goal of innovation is effectiveness.

2. Problems are God’s, not mine.

God is a whole lot smarter than me. It took me a while to figure it out, but when I let God work through me to do His work, things get a whole lot easier.

A few years back, I read about an encounter someone had with Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. As the story is told by his son, a reporter from a Christian magazine asked him, “Dr. Bright, share with us a problem from your life that the average Christian could relate to.”

“I don’t have any problems,” Dr. Bright replied.

The reporter pressed, “Don’t over-spiritualize this. We all have problems.” The reporter repeated the question several different ways, to the same response.

Finally, Dr. Bright looked him in the eye and said, “Young man, you need to understand something. I am a slave of Jesus, and a slave doesn’t have problems. It is not the slave’s responsibility to be successful, but simply do what the Master asks. When you understand this, you realize you don’t have problems. All that’s left are opportunities to see the Master work.”1

That idea continues to transform my life. SermonView is God’s ministry. It allows me to really live the words of Paul: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand” (Phil. 4:6, 7). I don’t need to worry about anything, because God has already worked out solutions to the challenges we face as a ministry. I just have to obey.

3. Money follows ministry.

God has access to financial resources I can’t even dream of—and I have a pretty good imagination. As God said through the psalmist, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10). If I’m doing the work he is asking me to do, then He’ll take care of paying for it.

Early on, we had some pretty dark days, as we grappled with the financial needs of SermonView. And a couple of years ago, as the global banking crisis caught up with us, we lost several key lines of credit all within a few months. My instinct as an MBA is to focus on the financials. The fundamental purpose of a business is, after all, to make money, and I was trained to look there first.

But I had to quit thinking like that. It was only by focusing on our ministry to local churches that we were able to push through these times. Yes, we had limited resources, but we looked at how we could use them to maximize our impact on those we serve. And God has blessed. Oh man, has He blessed. The last 18 months especially have been an absolute rocket ride, because we focused on the ministry, not the money. We don’t ignore financial issues; they just weren’t our primary concern. And I can testify that in my experience, money follows ministry.

4. Growing churches invest money in marketing.

By marketing, I don’t mean the sinister lies of materialism and vanity propagated by Madison Avenue. I’m simply talking about systematically communicating with the people around your church.

We began to shift the focus of SermonView toward printed visual communication when we saw how big an impact it can have on the life of a congregation. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, because we’ve written many previous articles on the topic. And if this sounds self-serving, then don’t use SermonView if we’re not meeting your needs. But please, do something.

The churches who are really committed to reaching the lost—and who are most successful at it—use every tool at their disposal. I’ve been surprised at how effective bimonthly postcard mailings can be for a local church. And for major evangelistic events, I’ve seen that a complete, coordinated marketing plan, including handbill mailings, posters, banners, and tactical media advertising, can really bring people through the doors.

5. Persevere.

My best friend in high school used to say, “My hobby is starting hobbies.” I was right there with him. I wasn’t really known for sticking with something and finishing well.

That has changed. When asked the secret of his success, Andrew Carnegie said, “Put all your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket.” Well, for me SermonView is that basket. It wasn’t until our 5th year that we really hit our stride, and I’m so glad we didn’t quit when it got hard.

Peter included “patient endurance” as one way we respond to God’s promises. Then he wrote, “The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). It is only by persevering through adversity that anything of substance is accomplished.

6. You can’t do it alone.

Halfway through our first year, we decided not to fill an open position to save some money. So for about 6 months, I handled all our shipping. At first, I was pretty good at it. But after a while, I was barely functional. I would get a headache thinking about coming in to do this job. I was cranky. No one wanted to be around me. One day, after I exploded over some little thing, Vince took me aside and said, “Maybe it’s time to bring in someone to handle shipping for us.” Good call. I was so stuck in the mire, I was blind to the fact that I’m not wired to do shipping every day.

This team that God has brought together at SermonView is simply amazing. I love the work our design team does. Our customer service team actually cares about our customers. Vince’s sales and marketing leadership is exactly what we need. Each one brings unique gifts and talents that together are far more than the sum of our parts.

Beyond that, it deeply moves me to think of all the people who have supported this ministry in the last ten years, from pastors who champion what we do to my family and close friends. There’s no way we could be here without them.

And every time I see someone else doing shipping, it makes me happy.

7. I love pastors.

I have always had a desire to support pastors in ministry, but it wasn’t until I was actively serving them that I discovered how much I truly love pastors.

Bill Hybels has said, “The local church is the hope of the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders.” I agree. Jesus called every local church into existence to be His body, to share His love, to tell His story. Without believers regularly coming together, He can’t do that. And without leaders, there is no coming together.

We founded SermonView to help pastors communicate more effectively in a visual world, both with their congregations and with their surrounding communities. I have such deep respect and admiration for these men and women who get up week after week to preach, who are interrupted daily by needy people, who can only do what they do because they let God flow through themselves as broken vessels. When I think of all this, I feel my heart burning with a desire to help, to take something off their plate, to use my gifts to serve those who serve so selflessly.

If you are a pastor, I just want to say this: THANK YOU! Thank you for everything you do. And thank you for letting my team and me be a part of your ministry. I’m humbled and honored by the trust you put in us, and it is my true delight to serve you.

It’s been a terrific ten years. I can hardly wait to see what the next ten will bring.

Larry Witzel is Founder of SermonView. A former pastor, Larry has 18 years of marketing and public relations experience, and for the last 10 years has used his gifts to help church leaders communicate more effectively. Larry earned his MBA in marketing from the University of Washington, and lives with his wife and two children in Vancouver, Wash.

1Brad Bright, written in the forward to Bill Bright, My Life is not My Own (Ventura, CA: Gospel Light, 2010), p. 11.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Is Every Day Direct Mail right for Churches?

Vince WilliamsMarketing Tools

Mail is a powerful tool for reaching people in a church’s local community. The challenge is that costs and complicated postal regulations can make mailing a big challenge for churches inexperienced in the inner workings of the postal system.

Recently, the US Postal Service has introduced a new program to simplify the maze of paperwork and procedures required for mailing, called Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM). While it is not a perfect fit for all outreach efforts, it is a great way to save money and time for certain church mailings. Here’s a look at this new program.

What EDDM is
Every Door Direct Mail is a new service from the US Postal Service that allows a local organization to mail flat-sized mail pieces to every home in a neighborhood for 14.2¢ per mailer.

One advantage to EDDM is that a mailing permit is not required. A mailing permit costs hundreds of dollars per year, and adds a layer of complexity to the standard mailing process. Because no postal permit is required, EDDM mail can be taken into your local post office and given right to a postal worker at the front counter.

The post office has supplied a pretty effortless online system for determining the number of addresses in a given area and instructions on the forms you need for the mailing.

This new program can save a local organization substantial time and money on their mail pieces. However, it also has restrictions that make it limited in its value, especially to churches, primarily because it does not offer any additional benefits for being a non-profit.

What EDDM is not
EDDM is not an open ended way to reach your neighbors at the lowest price. First, EDDM has multiple restrictions: your mailer has to be a “flat” size (minimum 11-1/2 inches long and 6-1/8 inches wide); you can’t mail more than 5,000 pieces in a given day; mailers have to be bundled in groups of fifty; and the mail piece must go to every home in each selected carrier route.

In other words, if you want to mail an 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ postcard, or an 11″ x 17″ trifold mailer, you can’t use EDDM. Nor can you use this new service if you want to mail more than 5,000 time-sensitive pieces, or mail to select addresses in an area.

Furthermore, the post office offers better discounts to non-profit organizations wanting to saturate their area for a large outreach event or evangelism campaign, with postage as low as half the cost of EDDM. These discounts are not as simple or manageable by a local church, but are certainly more cost-effective.

When EDDM is right
EDDM is perfect for saturating smaller areas of a community where the ease of paperwork and lack of permit will be a savings over the lower rate of postage you get using the traditional non-profit discounts. For example, if you mail 1,000 jumbo postcards to a neighborhood for your summer VBS program your cost using EDDM would be $450; versus traditional direct mail at around $550. However, once you get into a larger campaign volume, like 10,000 pieces, you would spend around $300 more to handle the mailing yourself than to have someone like SermonView handle it for you.

In the end, even with the new program church mailing can be confusing for churches. And many smaller print shops and mail houses are not familiar with the unique requirements for non-profit mailings. For years now, SermonView has worked exclusively with local churches. We understand how to save money on mailings from just 500 on up to 100,000 pieces.

Don’t be confused by the various options. Just know that the post office is working to make direct mail even more effective for you, and SermonView will continue to watch the maze of ever changing policies to get you the best deals on your mailing campaigns.

Vince Williams is Vice President for Marketing at SermonView. He ran his first direct mail campaign 17 years ago, and enjoyed it so much that he has been involved in sales and marketing work ever since. For the last 5 years Vince has dedicated himself to helping churches communicate better and market themselves more effectively. Vince lives with his wife in Vancouver, Wash

Evangelism Lessons from Super Bowl Sunday

Vince WilliamsEvangelism Practices

It’s time to love American made. At least that is the message Chrysler paid $9 million dollars1 to tell us last Sunday during the Super Bowl. And whether you are an American car lover or not, the ad had impact. In fact, most Super Bowl ads do. But why? Is there something that churches can learn from these over-priced ads to help us better reach people for God?

Let’s take a look at three of last weekends Super Bowl ads, and see what we can glean. (You can view these ads here at the Wall Street Journal Super Bowl ad site.)

1. VW “The Force”

According to the Wall Street Journal online survey, this ad is the overwhelming favorite. This is not because people love Star Wars, but because people resonate with the heart of a dad for his son.

As a church, we have to learn to speak the language of the heart. Jesus uses feeling language throughout His ministry to help people understand heavenly issues. He didn’t describe heaven; he told people what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Today, the name of Jesus may not mean anything to someone in your neighborhood, but the story of the lost sheep speaks to the heart. Make sure to communicate in universal ways that pre-believers can relate too.

2. GoDaddy.com “Girl” (don’t watch this)

Go Daddy’s Super Bowl advertising is well known for crossing the boundaries of good taste. Some might argue that these ads are more about the ego of Bob Parsons, the company’s owner, than about good marketing practices. But I think there are two things we can learn from these ads:

First, the ad is just a step in the process. Every Go Daddy ad starts with some ridiculously provocative scene, and ends with the line, “See what happens next at GoDaddy.com.” Their goal is to get people to the website, and it works. People hooked by curiosity take action.

The Church is too often afraid to use curiosity as a tool in evangelism. Here at SermonView, we see too many handbills trying to give too much information. You’ve got to pique curiosity, then ask them to take the next step. We need to create a compelling offer, and then let people search their hearts and decide if they are willing to take action. Those that do will be more committed to investigating the truth when they attend your church.

Second, don’t be afraid to offend people in order to reach your target. Every year there are a few ads that are ranked near the top of both the best and worst ads. As of this moment, Go Daddy’s “Girl” ad was ranked 6th best and 3rd worst in the Wall Street Journal online poll. Some love it, some hate it. The ad evokes a strong response, and Go Daddy is willing to offend some in order to reach others.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24). He also spoke of “the offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11). Jesus himself offended people (Matthew 15:12). Clearly, the gospel has always offended some.

Here’s an example of putting this principle into practice. We’ve worked with churches to send out mailings with images of apocalyptic beasts on the cover, and we regularly hear from offended recipients. Yet those very images intrigue others, leading them to learn more about Bible prophecy and more deeply commit to Christ and a community of faith. We don’t want to be intentionally offensive; but we can’t be afraid of offending some in order to reach those who are ready to hear God’s message of hope.

3. Audi “Release the Hounds”

This ad was another favorite this year. Its single goal was to change your perception of Audi and its place in the luxury car world. Without attacking Mercedes directly, it clearly said Audi was better.

The media increasingly portrays the Church in a negative way. Well, it is time that we set the record straight. We have solutions to many of today’s most pressing problems. With the Bible as our guide we are experts in marriage, healthy living, job ethics, and so much more. We are witnesses to the miraculous power of the Spirit in our own lives and the transforming power of a relationship with Jesus.

It’s time we invite people to hear from the Creator of this life on how to live, instead of letting Hollywood tell our story for us. Our communication should simply focus on the facts. We don’t need to say the world is bad; people know it’s broken. It is about pointing to a better way of life.

Super Bowl ad success is not a fluke. Wieden+Kennedy, the company that produced the two-minute Chrysler spot and several other Super Bowl ads this year, have spent millions of dollars and endless hours to discover how to reach people with a message that connects. Their expertise has led them to create some of the best and most memorable commercials of this decade.

Yet without a single focus group or market survey, Jesus told this story that has connected with hungry souls for thousands of years:

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:4-7 NIV).

Now that’s a moving story. Let’s see a Super Bowl ad hold up like that for two thousand years.

Vince Williams is Vice President of Marketing for SermonView. He is passionate about using his 17 years of marketing and business experience to help churches find effective ways to communicate in their local communities. He lives in Vancouver, WA. with his lovely wife April.

1 http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20110207/FREE/110209919

Scripture quotations  taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Four F’s of Church Marketing

Vince WilliamsMarketing Practices

Almost every week, as I talk with church leaders about their upcoming evangelism efforts I’ll hear this phrase: “Mailings don’t work.” And it’s true, mailings don’t work…unless they’re done properly. Firing off a mailing without a good plan is a waste of church funds, but by using some proven principles that have been honed by direct marketing professionals over decades, you can effectively reach interests through the mail and start to see new faces coming through your doors.

Your church mailer needs to accomplish two goals with each home it reaches:

1. It needs to get read.
2. It needs to elicit a specific response.

Additionally, it also needs to be cost effective, and must represent the truth in an uncompromising fashion.

These break down into the four principles of an effective mailing: frequency, function, funds, and faithfulness.

Frequency
The first glaring variation between a professional’s approach to mailing and that of the local church is frequency. Frequency is the cornerstone to any successful marketing program. A recipient is unlikely to take any action on your invitation the first time it is seen. When weeding through mail it is easy to ignore anything that doesn’t immediately catch your attention, and frequency helps your brain to say, “Oh, this is familiar.”

When I worked in secular marketing I was hit with the same concerns and objections that I hear today from local churches. Funds are low so we’ll just make one quick attempt and blame the medium when it doesn’t work. We want to do just enough to say we tried. This philosophy isn’t shared by large companies, or large churches for that matter. They understand that consistent communication increases response. The human brain is wired to distinguish between things that are familiar and things that aren’t. You definitely want to be on the familiar list.

Try sending a mailing to a smaller radius every month for six months. You can change the mailer, but keep consistent with the logo, the general feel, and the call to action. You can send one per sermon series, or just a general invite focusing on different aspects of your church.

So if consistent messaging is so powerful, why can’t you just send a card with nothing but your name on it? Well, the answer to that falls under the next point…

Function
Frequency has gotten households to notice that you have something to say. Now make sure you say it well. Remember, the goal of your marketing is to incite a response. Here is where many churches fall short. They assume the message is either:
• Jesus loves you; or
• stop by and visit.
Both are great messages, obviously, but the reader is unlikely to care about either without more information. You wouldn’t care if you got a mailer that said Bob loves you or stop by my no-name store. You wouldn’t care unless you knew Bob or knew what was waiting for you in the store.

Although the message of Jesus is always our primary goal it will be hard to explain his divinity and love in one simple postcard, therefore I believe churches should focus their attention on the invite. The key to a good invite is to let people know what they are going to find. A good birthday invite lets you know you will see friends, have food, have a little fun and most likely eat cake. The same is true for a church invite. Are there friendly people there? Are there kids? Is the music good? Is the message applicable to life today? Is there something unique about your church family that people will find endearing? These are all good components to a church invite.

Here’s a sample of a card we recently printed that I think hits the mark.
Postcard_sample

Funds
As a church, making money is obviously not your goal. But money is just as clearly necessary for a church to function effectively. So how do you fund this kind of consistent marketing? Well, God has a plan. He knows it is going to take money to move the message of the church forward, and He established a system for its continued financial growth: tithes and offerings.

On a practical level, mature disciples support the church financially. As God works through a church to grow maturing disciples, He funds the work through these gifts. That means that as you draw new members into an environment that fosters spiritual growth, these new members will add to your financial base. From a purely financial perspective, effective outreach funds itself.

Example: If a church sends 10,000 cards out to a neighborhood every other month for a year, they can expect to see 100 families walk through their door over the course of that year. Assuming just 1 in 5 families stay you will have acquired 20 new families. Based on standard tithing and offering rates of American families today,1 contributions from the new families alone will cover the mailing costs within 8 months. In business, you would call that return on investment. In ministry, we’ll call that effective evangelism, and once you have that engine running your outreach will fund itself.

Again, the church should not be focused on making money. But I know that God can and will bless your outreach efforts, both spiritually and financially.

Faithfulness
So you have a solid plan. You have planned for frequency, created a functional outreach tool, and set aside initial funds to start the campaign. Is the mailer telling the truth in an uncompromising fashion?

This is where a lot of church committees run aground. Some members of the church want to do something that is completely post-modern with no mention of anything biblical, while others want to just put a picture of Jesus on the cover of the card. I believe the answer lies firmly in the middle. Biblical truth is as relevant today as it has always been. But truth isn’t defined by our internal “Christian-speak.” Truth is universal, and there are always ways to communicate it clearly within today’s culture.

For example, I recently passed a church displaying a banner that said, “We love you! But not in a weird way.” Now that is uncompromising truth with a fun modern feel. It is also a church that is growing and reaching new people. In the end, that is what it’s all about.

By taking into account these four F’s your church will be able to reach people more effectively for less money, and with more success.

Need help creating a church mailing campaign?
We’d love to help. SermonView has a team of designers and marketing experts ready to help you get the most out of your next mailing. Give us a call at (888) 336-3048 and see how we can use our expertise to serve your church.

1 http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/18-congregations/41-new-study-shows-trends-in-tithing-and-donating?