Every few weeks I get questions about doing consulting with churches. The short answer is yes, I do consult with churches from time to time. But because my first priority is to be the Senior Pastor of Calvary Fellowship, I am very selective as to whom I consult with and when I consult.  1. It has to be a church that is serious about the issue they're bringing me about. If they just want me to "tell them what I think" and "take it under advisement", I turn it down.   2. I accept less than 10 consulting opportunities a … Read More

Too many times, churches promote their services or an event and they fail to see results for one reason: they were unclear as to what they wanted the recipient to do.  People reject things are unclear or irrelevant. So above all, we must be clear.  Here's what I recommend: Ask yourself, "What do I want this person to do: visit our website? Attend our church? Call our office?" Whatever it is, start there and work your way backwards.  Build you case in your copy so they feel they're missing out if they miss the opportunity you're providing.  It's great to … Read More

I recently got a church direct mail piece delivered to my office. . It said the name of the church, the service times, the directions and the phone number. There was only one thing missing: they never asked me to attend.  Sometimes we expect the people who get what we send to them to decipher what we send to them. If you're going to take the time to buy a billboard, do direct mail, or get the church to invite friends using invite cards – tell the recipient exactly what you want to them to do.  Do you want to … Read More

I mentioned yesterday that as leaders, sometimes we can forget the importance of writing good copy in our promotional pieces.   Today I want to talk about another factor that we can miss and can kill the effectiveness of our church promotions – that's forgetting to speak the language of the people who will read our marketing pieces.  If you're a younger leader, I know what you're thinking – "I don't write terms like 'washed in the blood' or 'sanctification' in my direct mail."  Maybe not, but do you use terms like "worship" in your promotions? Guess what?  An unchurched … Read More

There's a lot written about design and distribution in church marketing, but little is written about the copy. The truth is, it doesn't matter how pretty your postcard, billboard, or invite is. If you don' have relevant and compelling copy, your promotion isn't going to do much.   So what are the elements that make for good copy? Here's one: #1 – It has to be relevant to the person you're trying to reach – don't misunderstand: I'm not talking about mentioning that your band is cool and your worship leader has a faux hawk. Instead, relevant copy is a … Read More

– Today was amazing! – It felt so great to be back in the saddle!   – Church was packed! The 2nd service was slammed!  – It felt good having me teaching and Mark leading worship. Like all was right in the world 🙂 – I taught Revelation 20. I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left in Revelation.  – We started this series back in February and 25 studies later, we're almost done 🙂 – I truly believe that teaching books of the Bible is the best way to ensure a healthy congregation. It forces you to teach … Read More

This question came up recently, and it's one that I get a lot from church planters, so I thought I'd post my answer here:  "Do you use Roberts' Rules of Order in your board meetings?"  Great question, and the answer is yes. We use Roberts' rules to run our board meetings. While this may seem corporate or stuffy to some, it's a very effective way to have a meeting and get through agenda items effectively.   If you're unaware of what Roberts' Rules are, it's saying things like, "All in favor" and making motions and seconding those motions to pass … Read More

I got this question recently, so thought I'd post my answer:  "I see that you guys reach a lot of unchurched people. How do you help them take the next step after conversion?"   First, this is a fantastic question. It's the question that we should be obsessed with getting better at answering.  There's more than one issue here, but I'll give you a couple of important points:  1) Define what the next step is – People will generally follow the steps if you lay them out in a logical way and only share the steps one at a time. … Read More

In the final installment of this week long series of posts, I wanted to post some stats that might encourage you to delve into the world of sending out direct mail for your next big Sunday at church.       85% of people sort, process and open their mail everyday.  75% of people say they are examining their mail more closely for coupons and other special offers and events.  55% of people say they receive greater enjoyment opening their snail mail than their email (and this includes the 18-39 age group, by the way).  40% of people say they tried a … Read More