We have a mission!...Now what do we do?

The most genuine Cause Branding (what corportations call it when they link themselves to a "good" cause) is the aligning of internal resources with a higher purpose.  As churches, we don't need to link ourselves with a "good" cause.  Well, we are the good cause.  

But aligning our internal resources with the higher purpose of being and making disciples of Jesus Christ is an intentional process.  

First: Identify your church's unique mission.  (See my previous blog, Creating a Mission Statement You Can Actually Use, for steps to do so.)  

Second: Once your mission is carefully crafted you must find ways to act it out.  This involves three divisions.  We'll look at each as they might play out in a church:

 1. Communication: the Talkers.  

These would be pastors, staff people, or leadership lay people.  However, it's important to make just a few of these people the information conveyors to the wider audience.  Rather than having oodles of communicators, a smaller number can insure the consistency and quality of information being conveyed.  Having less people as Talkers also enables more people to function as Do-ers.  Talkers all convey information consistent with the same mission.  So preaching, announcements, bulletins, website, youth pastors, children's ministers...all are Talkers, but their message must originate from the same prior chosen mission that represents the brand of the church.

 

2. Fundraising: the Askers.

  Very different than asking for a handout, fundraising is asking for money to carry out the mission of the church...to make step three possible!  Askers have to understand this idea and be passionate about it!  It's equally important that these people convey the same message that the talkers give to the wider audience to those they ask for support.  The Askers need preparation time and frequent contact with the Talkers in order to ensure that the message is consistent and the remains ethical.

 

3. Mission: the Do-ers. 

 Hopefully, by this point, the Talkers and Askers have gotten the church to a point where everyone can fall into the category of Do-ers.  This process is cyclical so as the process repeats itself at reinforcing the mission of the church more and more people become involved in caring out the mission.

 

All three are equally important to the process of branding and all three are ongoing.

 

Creating a Mission Statement You Can Actually Use

Flowery words, church-speak, and politically correct mission statements sound nice.  They present well to Administrative Boards and generally look really good on paper.  But that's where their effectiveness ends.  Frustration with mission statements and the gross misuse of them is that they don't translate meaningfully into the lives of the people they are meant to represent.  

Janel M. Radtke, in an article for a prestigious trainging program in how to write grants and excel at conveying the core message of an organization, wrote instructions on how to create a mission statement. 

"Every organization has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being.  Often the mission is why the organization was first created--to meet a need identified years ago.  Sometimes, the same problems that the organization initially tried to address continue to haunt generation after generation.  In that case, the organization's purpose doesn't change--although how it does business has probably evolved.  Other times, even 10 or 20 years can change the landscape so markedly that the original mission must be updated, altered, or changed dramatically in order to address those new realities.

That your organization's mission is current, alive, and well, however, doesn't necessarily mean that the organization has translated that purpose into a clear, concise mission statement.  A good mission statement should accurately explain why your organization exists and what it hopes to acheive in the future.  It articulates the organization's essential nature, its values, and its work."

However, this is where Radtke and I part ways a bit.  In this age of instant information and more importantly, short attention spans, mission statements are exponentially more meaningful when they have less words in them.  For example, I am currently observing a church as they go through the joyful and painful process of branding themselves.  We'll just refer to them as First Church.

First Church's mission statement used to be:

"The mission of First Church is to invite and enable increasing numbers of our neighbors to make a world of difference in Christ's name. "

Good, not too wordy, but how long had they been using this statement?  Maybe it accurately represented First Church's mission at one time but the church experienced difficulty in getting this statement to be a meaningful part of the lives of their congregation members.  It seemed like the language was speaking to the congregation like they were "completed" as follows of Christ and the focus was just on getting other people to become followers of Christ.  The focus of their mission seemed to be just on other people.  In that way the mission statement reflected the church's desire to make a difference in the world, it especially highlighted one of their core desires which is to do physical mission work in their community and in countries all around the world.  However, their mission statement left out spiritual growth, Bible study, spending time in prayer, supporting one another in Christian love, and worship.  So First Church spent almost a year coming up with a new mission statement.

The new mission statement is:

"Love God.  Love others.  Change the world."

This new statement encompasses all the areas that First Church considers to make them a unique community.  

What to do during those darn meetings:

1. Brainstorm!

Write down, draw, tell stories, and generally think about the character of your church community.  Remember the things that you all enjoy together.  Think about the reasons you keep coming to this church and what you look to do or be as a result of being part of such a community.

What things do most people participate in?

For First Church the biggest things are worship and mission work.  In this church, worship attendance is the highest attended ministry they offer, with a surprising number of people regularly attending multiple services.  

Make a list of the smaller, sub-ministries in your church.  (These are things like Children's Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Community groups.)  What do they all have in common?

At First Church they found that every specific area of ministry in the church also has some sort of mission focus.  The youth do multiple service projects a year as well as a mission trip each summer.  The children's ministry raises money year round as well as special mission projects throughout the year.  The same things are true for adult ministries from families participating in all church serving days to community groups who regularly schedule ways to give time and resources to their wider community.

What makes your church different than other organizations that your region offers?  (i.e. What makes you different from the Boy Scouts or Lion's Club?)

This involves thinking theologically about your Christian faith.  The Boy Scouts might exist to give young boys practical skills or to promote healthy self-esteem.  Specifically, what is it that your church can give people that is more than a place to be every Sunday morning or a reason to dress up once a week?

What makes your church different than other churches in your city, town, or zip code?

If you're part of a denomination, you may want to include some of the theological differences you have with your neighbors.  Think of unique ways that the people of your church think about God and live into a Christian message.

Make a broad picture of your geographic location, economic status, cultural identity, age demographic or other quantitative factors.  

They could play a role in how you see yourselves or enlighten you to how outsiders might see you.

2. Let it sink in.

The collection of this information is what gives you an understanding of who you are at your core.  The list above will help you know what things really matter to you and hopefully allow you to let go of the peripheral stuff especially as you think about wording your mission statement.  Think about including people from all different areas of your church in this mission crafting process, especially inviting people that will help represent the areas you identified in your quantitative factors compilation.

3. Form the words.

This process cannot be rushed, as I'm sure you already know that most things won't be in churches.  Try many different phrases.  Use words that represent the passions and emotions of your church community.  Focus on those things that get people excited.

For First Church this meant being brief and concise.  In doing so they were able to broaden their mission just enough to include the areas that really excited people.  In fact, "Love God. Love others. Change the world." seemed very stark to them at first.  However after stepping back they realize that each short sentence represents areas of their Christian life.  In fact the phrases actually make a mathematical equation:  Love God + Love others = Change the world.

A very important aspect of this mission for First Church is that people can remember it!  As you craft your mission statement, please remember that whatever you come up with must be something that each person can carry around in their back pocket.  If your church wishes to offer faith in Jesus Christ as the centering love for people's lives, your mission statement will be just the thing for you as a community of disciples to whip out to help you all refocus over and over again.

Branding in Churches: What's So Different?

A brand is more than just one thing, for instance, a logo.  A logo is only part of the brand, it's not everything.  Some brands are short term, some are long lasting.  But the biggest distinction I'm interested in is how branding is different for churches.  Kristian Darigan, Vice President and Talya Bosch, Director for Cone Marketing spoke to a room full of religious communicators, telling them that they were indeed very different than any corporation.

Like we didn't know?  

Every person in the room faces the constant struggle of communicating values so central to human understanding that they are tied to every aspect of life.  Every chair was filled with someone who scrimpts and saves their budget each year because non-profit organizations like theirs are constantly battling the bottom line...while also accounting for each penny in a way that upholds the core values of their faith...in accountability to every member of their organization, not just a boss, but many, many bosses.  

But what we didn't fully realize is that those very deeply seeded values that make our religious group special are the same ones that make our "brand of branding" special as well.

McDonald's, Wal-mart, Chili's, Best Buy...they all have to work at taking their profit building business and linking it to actions that do more than make money, but save lives, improve life, and connect with the most precious values of humanity.  (Some call this Cause Branding) While corporations have to attach themselves to a more meaningful cause, in non-profit arenas we are the more meaningful cause.  This makes branding in a church deeply authentic, when the brand truly represents the deepest values of the church members.  But when presented flipantly, this can also make church branding hypocritical and fake.  

William McEwen wrote an article for the Gallup Organization called, "Getting Emotional About Brands."  Consumers care very much about where they spend their money as well as where they invest their other resrouces; time, emotions, and devotion.  Consumers are evaluating companies according to what they are willing to support and promote to their friends and family.  Consumers, or rather potential followers of Jesus Christ, listen to a message because they are actaully looking to support something and wanting something to hold onto that gives deeper meaning to every area of their lives.  

Here's where the problem lies for most mainline protestant denominations today.  Church go-ers are looking for something to support, to follow, to invest time and money and energy into...but churches are not giving them something solid to grab onto!  The Christian church is over 2,000 years old.  Throughout that time, followers of Christ have had to find ways to understand God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as they make sense in the world they live in.  Today is no different.  The message of Jesus Christ must make sense to people.  Otherwise it means nothing.  The responsibility of Christian communities is being clear and direct in conveying this important message.  

Whether you have one already or not, as wornout and overused as this approach may be, it's true...

The first step is making a mission statement.

Ordained Ministry in the United Methodist Church: Update or Same Old Thing?

The United Methodist Church is currently studying Ministry.  OK, you United Methodists out there stop your snickering.  Just because we've "studied" ministry almost every quadrennium since what seems like the Christmas Conference, doesn't mean that this quadrennium's study is insignificant.  Again, stop snickering.

Recently, very recently, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in conjunction with United Methodist Communications published a video about ordination in the United Methodist Church.  As the world wide church is looking to this representative body to lead a discussion of what ordination means in the UMC, this video is inviting people to consider ordination in the UMC. 

Are the two connected?  

To start with, the video focuses on the actions that ordained persons do.  It doesn't ask questions about what work is more important than others.  However, the makers of the video have taken special care to include an even mix of elders and deacons, chaplains and other positions.  They have obviously tried to represent a diverse voice by paying attention to gender, race, and geographical location.  No doubt this video has consumed great attention from GBHEM.

While I agree with the video and its aims, I wonder at its methodology.  In particular I am leery about how it presents ministry to the world.  Non-religious people make up the fastest growing group of religious affiliation in our country today.  This has long been the case in Europe and now the United States seems to be joining them as a nation spooked by Christianity.  I don't critique this video to be picky or negative.  I critique this video to incite conversation about what it means to be a Christian leader in a dying church.  Our current Commission on the Study of Ministry faces this same challenge.  In a country where most people don't go to church, what is the role of a minister?  This video with its soft music, faded and gentle background, and soothing explanations of the ministry each person does seems better fit for past generations than it does for the present.  I do not discount the fact that its probably the first of its kind and is even available on You Tube.  These are positive steps that the UMC is taking in communicating through media that is meaningful for most of our society.  

But how can we now work on the real meat of our communication: the content.  Yes, it takes many forms.  And thank you for taking us into the lives of these clergy.  But why doesn't it seem real?  Is it too calm?  Does it fail to show the many sides of any sort of ministry?  What makes ordained ministry great is so much more than the peaceful or happy moments shown on the video.  Let the chaplains talk about a hard day.  Let them talk about how meaningful days like those are.  I want to hear deacons talk about the long hours of serving a primary and secondary appointment.  These things should not seem scary.  Ministry is challenging and that's what makes it so wonderfully exciting!  I say let the medium convey the message as well!  

What does ordination mean?  How does media genuinely convey that message?

I invite you to watch it.

The risk of being authentic on Twitter.

How many times a day do I hear this word or its new verbiage..."Twitter" "I tweeted" "saw your tweet last night"?

When my church decided they MUST Twitter (see Anthony Coppedge's e-book Reasons Why Your Church Must Twitter), I had no idea what they were talking about. I'm no slacker when it comes to new age stuff. I'm on Facebook, I'm obviously a blogger, and somehow I've become a kind of go to person when it comes to media and the church. But Twitter? Rather than admit my ignorance I shut up lest anyone know my secret, I had no clue what they were talking about.

I read the book, I signed up for my own Twitter account. Coincidentally it was time to change cell phone service providers and I was able to work in an unlimited texting plan meaning I had no more excuses not to "tweet" with my church.

This new communication is supposed to keep our large church better connected in the time between Sundays. And our tweeting is focused. We tweet about the ways we serve in Christian faith throughout the week. This can be connectional, just staying up to date with what's going on with our church community. But it can also be inspirational. Seeing that someone else found ways to actively follow Christ can motivate me to do the same. Its purpose was also to demonstrate just how integrated our faith should be with Every action, Every sacrifice, Every moment of our lives. (wink, wink to Every one of you WSC folk ;)

So does it?

Weeelll...it depends on who you ask. While Twitter has taken off in some circles, it's still limited by technological availability and the lifestyles of the congregation. In a congregation that already worships mostly in contemporary style and mostly made up of already high tech connected folk, I think the church leaders expected it to be a bit more effective than it has been. For those people already using other 2.0 technologies, this was right up their alley. That's where most of the activity has come from.

But those people who may have cell phones and may even be avid texters, Twitter may not work for them. In fact over time the frequency of tweets has diminished. Was it a novelty? Has Twitter served its purpose as a short term promotional technique in our church? How can it be revived, emphasized, relevant again?

Another significant debate especially for those concerned with the theological use of media is how can Twitter be used as an authentic voice? It's perfectly fine to send out positive or neutral statements via Twitter. But in asking churches to use it as a tool to enhance and communicate faith, are we asking people to only talk about the happy part of faith? Are we intentionally creating the expectation that only the good times and the perfect Christian image of faith is acceptable?

Faith is not simple. Real faith is something that Christians seek to live into in EVERY circumstance, even when circumstances are hard. During this time of economic instability, lost jobs, wages, and investments the fear of not knowing what is coming next is overwhelming. I'm not sure that it's socially acceptable to post something like, "lost my job today, why did God do this to me?" or "just watched my coworkers leave the building for the last time, how can I be so lucky and they're not?" Will the church members' responses try to smooth over the rawness of the moment? Or is the church ready to lament with these constant, instantaneous updates on people's lives?

Advancing Your Brand Through 2.0 Technologies

This was a great workshop, a bit of a review, but I learned plenty.

First thing, what are 2.0 techniques?  It's all those new internet tools, mostly FREE (yay!), that you can use to enhance your organization.  Think Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, Podcasts, GoogleDocs, Wikis, RSS Feed...

Second, you do not have to be under the age of 30 to use 2.0 technologies!  

The best part about using 2.0 techniques to advance your particular brand is that they can not only be effective, but COST effective.  You may have already found that print advertising whether through direct mailings, newsletters, brochures, etc...they just don't deliver the impact you'd expect from the cha-ching coming out of your bank account.  

The bottom line that mainline protestant denominations today have been avoiding is that people have MANY choices today.  Marketing, once thought of as antithetical to our faith, is absolutely necessary.  When it comes to religions, our society has a plethora of options.  In most urban areas, Christian church-shoppers could attend a different congregation each Sunday for several years and not exhaust all options.  How can a genuine seeker, looking for meaningful depth of faith and others to share that with, how can a seeker differentiate one from the other?  Marketing.

The goal of your church in marketing is dependent completely upon your unique mission.  This cannot be stressed enough.  Nothing, no website, 2.0 technology, new worship style, cell group minstry....nothing will make an impact if there's no core meaning behind it.  For instance, the United Methodist Church's mission statement is "Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."  Take into account the platform's identity and how your identity interacts with it before using it-but don't be afraid to change your mind.

Please see my posting on Branding Therapy to get more direction on how to go about defining your church's unique mission.

Once your mission has been defined, the task is deciding how to express it throughout all your interactions as an organization.  In my humble opinion, this requires a tightening of the reigns.  No more publishing a bulletin or newsletter or email just because "we've got to get it done."  The best option is to distribute less material to your congregation and community that aligns with your mission.  The easier, but much less effective mode of operation is just haphazardly sending out information that does not clearly align with your mission and muddies the waters of communication between you and your community.  

Caution: while 2.0 technologies are free, not all 2.0 techn ologies will be effective for your mission.  Here are some questions that will help you decide which technologies are for you:

1. Who wants your information?  

2. Define your target audience for each medium you're looking to use.  Does it reach young or old?  New or long-term members?

3. Where can the information for this medium come from?  Does it have to come from the church staff or will it be more effective if the medium is fed by volunteers?

4. And the most important question:  How does [insert 2.0 technology] communicate [insert your mission]?  For example:  How does a Facebook page for the United Methodist Church communicate Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?

A word about protecting your brand.  After putting so much into the careful crafting of your brand, it's insulting and extremely detrimental if someone outside or even from within your organization begins to claim your brand.  This usually happens innocently, perhaps even from one of your enthusiastic members trying to be helpful.  For instance, during this workshop the speaker put several grabs from blogging websites up on the screen.  She had googled many religious organizations looking for "official" blog sites.  Shockingly, none of those she had grabbed were recognizable to us--the people responsible for what would be the "official" blogs of our organizations!  Looking at the grabs she had taken, the authors behind them were not consciously trying to sabotage the organization's brand.  In fact they were trying to enhance it!  However, more harm than good is done when information, look, and mission are not communicated consistently through all "official" forms of the organization.  Take care to work with members of your group.  If someone is interested in hosting a blog or Facebook, this could be an awesome opportunity for faithful work!  Just make sure that the mission is clearly given to that person so that they can effectively communicate as a part of the organization.

The brand must constantly be lifted up.  The mistake that churches sometimes make is getting sick of the brand and throwing it out just as the wider membership begins to grasp it.  The staff and core leadership of the church will be SICK of your brand long before the rest of your church will be!  Keep with it!  A brand must constantly be repeated in order for it to be grasped in the consciousness of your congregation.  If it is not consistent, it does not exist.  Your brand simply gets lost in a web of other messages and is not differentiated from any other message.  Repetition of the same is what makes your brand important.

What do you think of all this?  Useful?