Going Against the Planting Grain of Marketing
Ah marketing and models. In my planting efforts I was having so much fun going into diners and bars and bowling alleys and street corners (literally) and getting to know people and talk to them about Jesus and LifeBridge and what church is not and what it could be and what they wanted it to be. Then I was made (I suspect unintentionally) to feel compelled to design flyers, gather volunteers, and "canvass the neighborhood" with these four color door hangers. I was told that this would define who in my core group meant business and who didn’t. This would show who was willing to work for this and who was not. So not only was it marketing, but it was some kinda weird test of dedication for my new friends. My new friends were, like me, walking into bars and bowling alleys and diners and street corners and having the time of their lives meeting people one on one and talking about life. When I told them about the door hanger plan, they looked at me and could not understand the logic. I related with them and told them that this was not my idea and when they asked if it was okay if they did not take part in this because it felt commercial, I told them they did not have to.
I went and passed out the flyers and felt dirty the whole time. I was conflicted and this was the opposite of what was in my heart. I was told that behind every door was a story and that story had hearts and needs and I was asked if I wanted to know that story? Hell yes! But I get to know that story when I meet them, not when they look at a four color graphic with a clever slogon that looks no different than any other church marketing ploy. Not one person came in from those flyers and if any of you are reading this, I am so sorry. I hope you at least recycled the blank side for notepaper or something.
That same day was the day that I found out that music was not only about worship, but it was also about marketing. See, this was a scant few weeks prior to the first service and I did not have all my ducks in a row to the satisfaction of my mentor for worship music. I was fine with it because I knew the community that was forming and the direction we were heading. But I was told, and I quote, "Do not underestimate the power of awkward music to drive people away from your church. The last planter underestimated the music and he failed. Your pulling the trigger here and you are not taking this seriously." Oh, I WAS taking it seriously. As far as our music, a year later I will tell you that it is okay and decent from a technical standpoint, but everyone there likes it and it is ours. Sometimes *gasp* we do not have music. This last week, my singer got sick and could not make rehearsal and then on Saturday, my guitarist got sick. So we did not have any music and we still worshipped God without song, but with sincere hearts and NOT ONE PERSON MINDED!
So what do you do different? This first year was based mostly on word of mouth only. Our numbers started strong, around April many people left as more and more youth came in with messy lives and tripp pants and our numbers now are less than what they were that first week. Our money is almost non existant. What do we have? We know who we are and what we are and we can now know WHAT we are inviting people to becuase we have an identity as opposed to a rpepackaged plan. We will use some stickers, we will use you tube videos, we will use tools, but we will use them honestly and without "zing" and wow factors. We will be simple and honest and the power to spread the invitation still happens on the road because someone has to hand someone a sticker, give a link, and talk about it. But we waited a year before we even considered a sign.
