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.

The boys at CreativeMYK have done it again. They have long been a favorite go to spot of mine for free church graphics and free Christian photos but now they’ve gone crazy and jumped on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, sporting new social networking features like discussions, ratings, and critiques of artists work.

I sat in church on Sunday, the awesome day of His resurrection and all I could think about was Lost. Now before you start thinking to yourself how un-spiritual I am (even though you’re probably right, I am an idiot) allow me to explain. As I surveyed the crowd gathered together on this day when we as believers fully recognize and are overjoyed at the gift of our salvation made possible by Jesus death, I couldn’t help but notice the scattered pockets of those in our midst who were clearly not along for the ride. I wondered at where they were in their journey to find Truth and if what we were doing together in that room was helping them, or were we pushing them backward?

I’m a little late in getting this out, but this installment in the series is probably one of the most important. Think for a moment with me if you will; if you plan to take a trip somewhere you’ve never been before and it’s far away… I mean FAR AWAY. How do you go about finding your way? Obviously a map comes in handy in these cases. Now after plotting your path and figuring out how you’re going to get there do you just jump in the car and go? Umm… hello, how about a change of clothes and a toothbrush?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we (the church) differentiate ourselves from the church of old and the world that has been pulled over our eyes, especially in this postmodern day and age. There’s quite a bit of interesting and controversial data on the topic that is certainly relevant to our church marketing efforts. As I always say, you have to know the audience before you can speak to them.

So what do Christians expect online?

The first thing I was mildly surprised to find was that more people use Christian media than attend church. According to my buddy George (okay, I don’t really know him, but his firm is brilliant):

The Internet is the only mass medium … whose audience share has grown during the past decade. The proportion of the population using the Internet for faith purposes has increased by two-thirds since 1998.

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.

Where was this information yesterday?  I was in a meeting yesterday with a local church pastor discussing attendance trends related to a new web project and he commented on the cultural trends of church attendance and how many postmoderns are choosing no attendance, home study only, or other means than a traditional church experience.  The stats on the subject were old and outdated, UNTIL TODAY!

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.