Will Mancini

The Church Unique Visual Summary has been a fun little project for me and the team at Auxano Design. I hope it helps you engage the concepts of Church Unique by way of review or for the first time, if you have not yet cracked the cover.

Check out the Visual Summary  full screen version in the reader below or download the PDF for free.

Who do you know who might benefit from the Visual Summary? Thanks for taking a moment to pass it on!

One mantra I love is “Words create worlds.”

As both a supporter of the message of Church Unique and a great practitioner in the area of vision, Steve Wells, the pastor of South Main Baptist in Houston, passed along this video along today. Enjoy.

What are you saying these days?

Troy Gramling is the creative visionary of Potential Church, formally known as Flamingo Road Baptist Church. I met Troy shortly after Church Unique was released when his leadership team attended a Church Unique Workshop. In the years following, Troy continues to lean into their uniqueness and pushes the envelope with bold creativity and shock-and-awe vision.

Here are four  ways that that Potential Church models the principles of Church Unique:

#1 Potential Church let’s their Kingdom Concept shine through their mission. The big idea is unmistakable as it is repeated clearly and boldly everywhere the church speaks.  The church’s mission is to partner with people so they can reach their God potential. In addition, on 10-10-10 the church made the single word of their Kingdom Concept the church’s name—Potential.  If you had to fill this sentence in with one word for your church, what would it be: “Our church exists to glorify God and make disciples by _______________.”

#2 Potential Church communicates vision visually. The pink seed is their defining symbol. The seed is a picture of potential as the video story (below) of their name change  and vision communicates. The pink pulls from the “Flamingo” of their heritage as Flamingo Road Baptist Church, and sets the tone for creativity and the unexpected in worship. A few highly creative and uber relevant sermons series that Troy has done include: The Bed, RationaLies, and a very edgy series called Spin The Bottle. How many churches have dealt with questions like, “Is it okay to watch porn with my wife?”

#3 Potential Church keeps their strategy simple. Actually for a gigachurch (over 10,000 in attendance) it is one of the simplest you will find. In addition to worship at one of six campuses, you will find only “three doorways” for further involvement.. The most important is Connect Groups. In addition to groups, they have a monthly event called Next Step and Volunteering. Check out their guest brochure here.

#4 When you cast vision, stretch minds with audacious faith. The mind-stretch is one of the six elements of a simple and dynamic tool called the Vision Casting Spider Diagram. Potential Church has raised the bar here. Just when you thought a gigachurch was big, how about going terachurch!  They are looking to a day when 100,000 people attend worship. Specifically its the 50-100-150 vision; 50 campuses with 100,000 people with a 150 million dollar budget.

Don’t get distracted with the size. Go back to the one word. What’s your potential? What’s your one word?

Is it time to close a program in your church? Many leaders will tell you, “When the horse is dead, dismount.” But this classic advice rolls of the tongue  much easier than it plays in real life.

As a leader in ministry you have no doubt faced ministries that just ought to go. Like sour milk, they live past their shelf-life. But for various reasons, you just can’t do it. Maybe there is still a group of precious saints being served by the program. Or maybe the decision-making culture of the church just requires more time to process.

The question becomes, “What are the strategic alternatives, to cutting a ministry altogether?” There are three I recommend regularly.

#1 Combine the ministry with something that is working well

Combining ministries is like creating an internal merger. Look for the similarities to something that is working. Talk to the leaders about leveraging the momentum of one with the other. Seek the win-win with diligence and you might be surprised. If the merge works, then you have cut the duplicate work of promotion, communication and  leadership training for two initiatives into one.

#2 “Contributize” the ministry

Before you make fun of my poetic license with the word “contributize” listen up! Think of a ministry that is only trickling with effectiveness as an opportunity to redirect that trickle into a more effective stream. In other words, turn the program into a contributory for a more strategy ministry. For example, what do you do with that monthly men’s prayer breakfast that’s been dwindling in attendance for the last 3 years. Rather than shutting it down, ask the leader to integrate a promotion for immediate and urgent opportunities for service in the last 10 minutes of the morning.

#3 Cage the ministry

Caging is close to just cutting the ministry, but with one big difference. You essentially make the ministry “dead to the world” with regard to promotions, communication, staff-time allocation and new funding, while allowing the ministry to exist. Think of it as a strategic way to allow a ministry to die with grace. Sure you may have some hard discussions or even some battles to fight. But its easier to fight for not publicly promoting a ministry  than it is to shut it down.

In the end, the predicament of change-resistance is not a programming issue or a people issue, it’s a vision issue. Use these three strategies to solve the clarity problems of yesterday. But walk into the future with a clear vision that will keep people emotionally connected to your direction and values, not your programs.

Sometimes conversations that mix marketing and ministry don’t go well. In this post, I will not being dealing with a biblical basis of branding or marketing, but I will discuss the biblical integration with one branding tactic- the development of an effective tagline.

TAGLINE BASICS

What is a tagline?

It is short, compelling phrase that makes a promise about your ministry to people both inside and outside of your ministry. Other words people might associate with a tagline are a motto, slogan, jingle or catchphrase. Historic examples range from Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” to Nike’s “Just Do It.”  Recent examples from the 2011 Superbowl ads include Coca Cola’s “Open Happiness” and Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit.”

What a tagline is not.

A tagline is not your mission or vision. In almost every vision session or marketing consultation I conduct, people are confused about the difference and appreciate constant reminders with clear definitions. Mission and vision language are for your internal ministry audience only. A tagline is for both your external and internal audience, with a special emphasis on the external- people who don’t know about your ministry.

What does a tagline do?

A tagline positions your ministry based on a promise. When marketers use the word “position” they are referring to both the “position” in someone’s mind (How do people file your ministry in their brain?) and the position relative to other ministry offerings. (How does our ministry compare with others?)

Do I have to have a tagline?

No, but generally it is an opportunity that can be missed if you don’t.

How long does a tagline last?

Depending on what industry it represents, taglines can change every 1-2 years or may last generations. BWM’s tagline, “The Ultimate Driving Machine” has endured for over 40 years. I think a church should be consistent enough to stick with a good tagline for 2-5 years. The key is to stay consistently consistent while remaining fervently relevant.

HOW TO DEVELOP A TAGLINE

Here are the steps required to develop an effective tagline. Each step has a page with further information and tools.

Step #1: Revisit your vision. You will want to first clarify the identity and direction of your church. Use this tool to assess your clarity.

Step #2: Decide on a gospel-centered promise. Use another tool, developed by Auxano Design,  to decide on what gospel promise your ministry best fulfills.

Step #3: Brainstorm many possible taglines based on your promise. The key is more. Follow these steps to make your list big enough.

Step #4: Review taglines from other ministries and competitors. Make sure your voice and message are unique.

Step #5: Reduce your list to the top five taglines. Don’t make the decision to quick. Follow some simple steps over two weeks.

Step #6 : Test your tagline with people outside of your ministry. Here is a quick way to test your external audience for free.

Step #7: Make a final decision. Take the ultimate test for your decision.