miletwo::network

I just finished reading David Alan Black’s latest post titled Confessions of a Missional Greek Prof wherein he relates his thoughts about living as a Missional Christian.  One quote in particular made me think about this site, its purpose, and my mission on earth.

If we really believe in the Gospel, what should we be doing to advance it? What is the church, and how can we help it transform society?

I think the reason this spoke to me so much is that lately I’ve been wondering what I’m doing here… I mean right here, on this site.  Am I writing for myself or for others? I know people are coming to the site (thanks to Google Analytics) but I don’t know if anything I’m writing is having an impact on anybody? I carried these emotions all the way down the page as I read words that echoed a sentiment I’ve been feeling myself.  Paul labored to instruct churches, encourage missional thinking, and promote the spread of the gospel.  I believe I’m working toward a similar goal.

A recent missive by marketing guru Seth Godin reminded me of the importance of establishing a marketable brand in our communications and marketing outreach efforts. I think it’s the reason why churches with names like Mars Hill, Rock Harbor, and The Open Door are succeeding in reaching the community in ways that First Baptist of Lalaland never will. It speaks directly to how unmemorable names with common english words are, using words like: community, zone, church, first, whatever.

Today at my church (Grace Community Church in Gresham Oregon) our worship pastor Ben Sadler spoke on our identity as Christians and the concept of “living to die.” Gerry Breshears was teaching out at Hillsboro Community Church and Jay Messenger and his wife Jamie were sitting at the table next to me so apparently it was Ben’s time to share. He mentioned at one point the various components that make up the person: DNA, career, family, social environment, etc. and it got me thinking about how we market Jesus.

Much confusion exists in online marketing circles on the value of social networking tools, sites, blogs, yada, yada, yada… which begs the question, “How do you build community?” Seriously. So, the social scientist quadrant of my brain takes over and I begin to digg into this deli.icio.us question and see what the rest of the online community has to say. I’m sure if the information is out there, by now I must have reddit.

In the wake of the recent slide, no… avalanche of real estate price drops I’ve begun to wonder what effect the current economy might have on church vitality, growth, and attendance. The question: “To what degree does the failing economy affect church marketing, attendance and giving, and is there anything we should be doing in response?”

Let’s look at the various factors below and see if I’m just a nut job or if there’s something here we should be thinking about.

Attendance

This one has been hard to locate any statistical data for but I wonder, when hard times hit do more people go to church or find faith? If so, it’s reasonable to assume we should be gearing up for an onslaught! I know from personal experience that there are many factors that drive people to the savior. Many times a personal awakening is triggered by unfortunate circumstances so be ready with the gauze and bandages. If you read this article and are a pastor at a church, let me know if you’ve seen attendance numbers affected by economy.

I read today in Seth Godin’s blog about a new site by the folks at Squidoo who just built a promotional tool that lets you become the central expert on all things in your area. Mayor of your zip code is a way to start a discussion group/info page about what’s happening in your slice of the world. You become the single relevant source of information on your community. That said, if you only spend a few minutes on it and then move on, it’ll fail. But, if you were to budget a significant portion of your time or those in your organization on working on your page, what do you think would show up in Google searches? What sort of interactions would you start having with people thinking about your little part of the world?