Minister’s Workshop: Advertising Your Church

Let’s face it: there is nothing duller than the typical church newspaper ad. It serves the need of the motivated reader who is thinking of attending the church and wants to know the address or service times or sermon title. But its chances of attracting the typical newspaper reader are woefully slim.

Nowhere in the Scriptures does it say, “Stay put. I’ll bring the people to you.” We are told to go out into the world, proclaiming the Gospel. When we send out missionaries, we try to prepare them to relate to the people of a foreign land, and the first thing we do is teach them to speak the language so that they can communicate effectively. Should we do less in the unchurched wastelands of America? Hardly!

We are told to go out and bring the people in. They may not come to us on their own. One way to get people to come to your church is to advertise.

We need to speak to our friends and neighbors in a way they’ll understand. Advertising is one way. But if we’re going to invest in advertising, we should strive to make it attractive enough to encourage the unchurched to enter into His sanctuary.

Three years ago a church in Kirkland, Washington, began an advertising campaign that has met with very favorable community response and is yielding a high number of first-time visitors each Sunday. The ads change weekly and depart from the traditional. A bold title proclaiming “Who in Hell Cares?” hardly goes unnoticed in any publication, least of all in the hometown newspaper. “Datsun May Set You Free, But Make No Mistake About It … Only Jesus Saves” has a similar effect of standing out on the religion page. And the combined effect of a cartoon and an eye-catching headline engages lots of readers. This is the basic tenet of advertising—present an ad in such a manner that people want to read it. The church has based its ads on this principle, and the results have been dramatic. Since July, 1974, when the ad compaign began, church attendance has grown from 520 to over 1,150. The pastor says enthusiastically, “We paid for all the ads the day the first soul was won for Christ. We consider these ads to be a part of our evangelism program, and we use them to witness our faith and beliefs to the community.” Judging from the response, the witness is working. Many people came to the church because of the boldness and freshness they saw in the ads. And they stayed because they liked what they had seen and experienced.

Writing an effective ad doesn’t require a special talent. Most of us know what is appealing, and it’s simply a matter of applying that understanding to a given subject. All of the first 120 ads run by this church have followed one or more of the following precepts:

1. Adapt slogans created for other advertisers. For instance, a local bank advertised for months: “Come to Life.” A public transportation slogan was: “Take Me, I’m Yours.” Another advertiser said repeatedly: “Accept No Substitutes.” All these expressions fit into the church’s ads.

2. Use well-known terms and phrases not associated with Christianity. For example, “Be a Sport,” “You Bet Your Life,” “Soul Food,” “How’s Your Love Life?,” “Roots,” “Who in Hell Cares?,” “Pssssst,” “We Go By the Book,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

3. Make clear the position of your faith.

4. Make only one point per message.

5. Use the same title with more than one message.

6. Take maximum advantage of color reversal (white on black, black on white). It costs no more, but the eye appeal is greatly enhanced.

7. When artwork is used, make certain that it is not amateurish.

Church ads can be positional: “Here’s who we are and what we believe.” They can be provocative: “Don’t Send Your Children to Sunday School. Bring Them!” Others need to inform: “There’s going to be a musical at our church tomorrow night and we’d like you to come.” Or they can simply share a thought: “Peace Is Seeing the Sunset and Knowing Who to Thank.”

A church advertising campaign is more like a cartoon series than Madison Avenue. Who would read and heed it if the ad were repeated two weeks in a row?

There are arguments for and against repetition. Good (and bad) ads are repeated over and over again by the nation’s advertisers with good results: their products sell. But a church advertising series is much like a cartoon series. The appeal is its freshness each time. It would lose its effect if the same ad were repeated two weeks in a row. Of course, if an ad is repeated a year or two later, probably no one will notice the repetition.

A catchy advertising series will gather a continuing readership (“What are they going to say next?”). It can establish the image of the sponsoring church. It can proclaim the Gospel and make valid, vital points about salvation, God’s plan, and many more life-saving topics. In today’s world, an advertisement can be the means by which a person first encounters the Christian message. But to do this, it must have pull.—C. NORMAN NOBLE, president, Nobel International, Bellevue, Washington.

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