It’s one of the most frustrating things in the world of church marketing. The people around you, maybe it’s the church administrator, maybe it’s the church board, or even the pastor, don’t understand the impact of marketing and excellence in communications. Some may even think it in poor taste, I recently had a conversation with someone who called it heresy that we promote words on a screen instead of the “sacred hymnal”. Of course I reminded him that Christ never sang out of hymnal.

Changing these opinions is not a matter of taking the blue pill vs. the red pill. There isn’t a way to explain it that will make the clouds part and the light of understanding shine upon them. People don’t have to be stuck, but it’s a process and it takes time. It is important to understand why some drag their heels. Here are 3 reasons I’ve seen.

1. They are happy where they’re at.

This is the most difficult situation. Truth is they aren’t going to move until they see, and experience, a better way. They need to be spoon fed new ideas, creative approaches to outreach. Ask them if you can try one thing, you’ll take all the responsibility, you’ll do all the work.

I worked with a pastor who just didn’t see the need for sermon branding, he had heard from God as to what to preach and the preaching of the word was all that was needed. I reminded him that God gives us WHAT to say but He also gives us HOW to say it. (john 12:49). Now that he has seen sermon branding in action and how it didn’t shadow the preaching but brought a new dimension to it, he now calls me and gets involved in the process.

2. Great ideas are rare in an atmosphere of fear.

The pastor that I spoke with that considered powerpoint heresy was speaking out of fear. Maybe it was fear of losing tradition, maybe fear of the reaction of others, quite possible it was simply fear of something new. It’s important to find out where the fear is coming from. One size does not fit all. What we do for one church with great success may bomb in another church. Celebrate the fact that each church has its own flavor and instead instead of trying to change the flavor, find ways to add some spice to it.

Realize that change is difficult. If you’re frustrated that someone doesn’t get the power of church marketing realize that you most likely have that sown in your identity. You’re most likely an early adopter, you probably get bored with the same thing day in and day out, you’re different than they are. Find a bridge, find ways to connect the two and not only will you both be happier but the end result will be much stronger.

3. They are not stuck, they are cemented.

This group is either so happy, so afraid or possibly unable to see outside of themselves that they are simply bound in cement. They aren’t going to change. You may very well be in the wrong place. Sometimes this person has some issues that they should work through, but that’s their issue, don’t make it yours. Others can just be called to a different way of ministry than you…and that’s ok.

What walls are you running into? How have you managed those that aren’t on the same boat as you?

Tags: change, church, church board, fear, pastor, resistant, stuck

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under originality . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.