What’s your question about communications?
Church branding has become a more popular than ever. But what exactly is it?
What is a brand?
- it isn’t a logo
- It isn’t a product
- It isn’t your most successful ministry
- It isn’t the quality of your outreach
A brand is made up of those things, but at the end of the day, a brand is the entirety of someone’s perception of you from their perspective. This perception is what drives how someone decides to behave.
Who contributes to a church brand?
Congregation - the way that those in your church family live their lives outside the wall of the church has heavy influence on the perception of the church. Interestingly, it also informs the perception of the capital C church. And even Christ.
This is is why pursuing Biblical instruction when it comes to the function of the ministry of the church is so important
Church Staff - You are being looked at more closely on all these things
Every decision you make says something about what you value.
Church Leadership - Your decisions are modeling the behavior that the Christian in your church thinks they should model. You need to be making decisions that are biblical, and that move your congregation to recognize that scripture is what defines their direction, not just to you. But they will look heavily to you and the decisions you make!
How do you define the brand?
- Defining what your church is known for isn’t really up to your preference–it’s up to scripture
- While we aren’t in complete control of the brand, we can encourage people toward something.
- Scripture tells us where to point them!
Some keys:
The church is about Christ, not the senior pastor, worship team, local outreach, social impact, look and feel, design, student programs, kids programs or facilities.
It is about Christ. - 3 John
Making disciples, baptizing them - Matthew 28:16-20
Unity - Romans 14:19
Humility, peace filled - Romans 12:16
Restoration, Peace - 2 Corinthians 13:11
What you may notice in this is that any church’s brand will be defined by the believers that are a part of your body, not by things you control. And it should be. Your church should be pointing people to Christ.
Whenever I have conversations about branding, I can’t help but think of James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
No logo, mission statement, tagline or ad campaign can overcome the impact of a congregation that is not living in line with the biblical mandates that have been placed on their lives.
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Lunchtime Heroes exists to help you build a healthy creative ministry. Here's how:
Join the Christian Creative group on Skool
Learn how to bridge the gap between creatives and leadership with the book, Watch Your Language!
Get in-the-trenches help for critical seasons with Interim Communications Leadership.
