Today’s guest post is from Kathy Leonard of Church Initiative. The ministry’s original purpose was to equip churches with resources to help people recover from the pain of separation and divorce, also to help couples remain together or reconcile whenever possible. Kathy shares a unique tactic one church has used to help get people in the door to its ministry programs.

A blip in the church bulletin. . .
An abbreviated pulpit announcement. . .
A spot on the church calendar. . .

How well is your church getting the word out about its programs?

And are people in your community even aware of the help available for them?

Lazybrook Baptist Church in Houston has gotten the attention of nearly every person driving by their church: “Do you relate to Jon and Kate?” reads their marquee. I can imagine the drivers doing a double take, then thinking “Yeah, I can relate to that.”

Although reality TV isn’t reality, it deals with real issues that people are facing. It’s one reason people tune in. That’s why it can be a great starting point for promotional efforts.

For example, Jon and Kate’s reality TV breakup hits close to home for people facing their own broken marriages. And Lazybrook’s new DivorceCare support group program aims to reach the separated and divorced in their community.

Using hot topics from reality TV as a church promo tool can relay a variety of messages:

• “God has something to say about the things you’re thinking about.”
• “What you hear on TV isn’t the final word about [relationships, parenting, sex, etc.].”
• “Church is a place where people can find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.”

Pop culture is a vehicle your church can use to go straight to the heart of people’s problems. And you can be creative in expanding your ideas beyond marquees and reality shows!

Let’s draw people into our churches by:

* Connecting the spiritual with what they are already thinking about
* Making them aware that God has a something to say about “Hot Topics”
* Using messages that grab the attention of large numbers of people

What do you think about hooking into reality TV and other tabloid headlines in order to get people’s attention for the church?

The essence of the Gospel & Great Commission is not to be a church marketer, but rather a call to become a Godvertiser!  The end goal is not church, it is God!

The above line was my recent response to two different people.

One said they are not into church marketing because they don’t believe in advertising, gimmicks, and using marketplace tactics to draw attention to their church.

Another talked about how their aim was to increase their church marketing activities so that if they were successfull, *everyone* in their town would know exactly where their church was located, who was the lead pastor and what types of programs they offered to the community.

I personally believe churches need to look at and increase competency in church marketing tactics.  This includes knowing how and when to use them effectively.   I also believe that the intention and mission of a church will determine how you view and use “church marketing” to further ministry goals, not just attract people like you would to a grand opening or a super-duper clearance sale.

In a way, Godvertising is taking church marketing and using it to produce a specific idea virus - one about supernatural healing and shines a light on the ultimate healer.