Get a Blackbelt in Ministry Outreach
by Chris Forbes
Free tips for getting the word out about your church from the Ministry Marketing Coach
Ever watch the old martial arts movies and wonder, “How can those guys kick so high?” They are able to do some pretty amazing things. Some of the things they do seem impossible, yet they can do them. None of the black belts in those movies were able to do what they do overnight, they built up to it through flexibility exercise training. If you want a black belt in ministry outreach, you’ll have to do the same thing.
Flexibility may not sound like a marketing tool. At the same time, learning to be flexible can be a key to marketing your ministry.
By learning to be flexible and thinking about your ministry in different ways you will see opportunities you never noticed before. You will also help your ministry speak more meaningfully to the people you want to reach. Someone once said, "If you don’t like change you’re really going to hate irrelevance." Having the ability to be flexible on the non-essential things to the faith will help you become more creative than you’ve ever been.
Many times ministries are so locked in to doing things the same old way they become resistant to trying anything new. They are so inflexible and unchanging, they soon become irrelevant. Churches are among the most rigid when it comes to accepting changes. It’s been said that the last seven words of the church will be, “We never did it that way before.” Ministers may like to think of themselves as change agents who are not as bound by tradition as some of their members. Often, however, they also are resistant to changes that could improve their ministry.
Many of the principles you can learn from marketing will take you into new territory. You will find you need to grow into new habits and learn new skills. Do yourself a favor. Be more flexible when it comes to the ways you think about doing ministry communication. Opportunities are out there to help you reach more people. But you will have to change.
Think of the definition someone gave for insanity, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." That should never be true of you and your ministry. If you want to become good at ministry marketing and outreach to your community you’re going to have to become more flexible and willing to accept changes.
Action Point!
Develop an attitude and spirit of flexibility as much as you can. One way to do that is to break your routine that you normally have through out the week. For instance, you might want to choose a different route home. Maybe you’ll read a book in an area that is completely unrelated to your normal interests. The point is, try to break routine, to do things differently to develop the flexibility you need for an effective ministry marketing mindset.
