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Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact Culture and Others Don't

I had the opportunity to attend several sessions with Phil Cooke at a conference this past summer and became an instant fan. Phil is a Hollywood producer/director who also happens to be a devout Christian. He also does consulting with various Christian media organizations to help them push past the various obstacles that keep them from growing. He has a blog that addresses issues of media and faith at www.philcooke.com.

The book itself explores the culture in which the church finds itself wrestling for influence and ways to harness the power of media to accomplish our goals. Phil spends most of the book making a case for the ways in which branding helps churches and nonprofits reach a larger audience.

It’s the whole issue of “impacting culture” that has me interested in what Phil has to say. I have observed that many of the churches that I’ve had relationship with in the past few years have been great places of worship and teaching, but have lacked the kind of influence that impacts individuals in the community, let alone the culture of the community at large.

Among other points, Phil argues that design (visual arts) is the language of this generation. I see this in my own experience and preferences as well. The thing that stuck in my mind after reading this was the ways that people navigate through information. When I’m looking for music in my iPod, for example, I like to navigate through the cover flow (a tool which displays album art that you scroll through like flipping pages of a book) but my wife prefers to scroll through the title list. My way is visual, hers is textual. It’s not surprising, since I’m a lot more plugged into media and internet than she is.

The concept of branding has some real detractors in Christian circles and is sometimes seen as a “wordly” way to communicate through subtle manipulation. As a result, the book spends a lot of time building a case for branding ministries and churches. He also acknowledges the pitfalls of misusing and placing to much “faith” in our marketing. He points our Jesus’ own method of welcoming people while simultaneously teaching hard truths that often thinned the numbers. In short, marketing and branding gets “butts in the seats” but it is the truth of the Gospel that changes people’s hearts.

I would have enjoyed a more practical book, with specific methodologies for branding… and I suppose those are out there. The purpose here is to challenge and support Christian organization and leaders to communicate more clearly and specifically to the media driven culture that we live in.

You can purchase Branding Faith from the WOP bookstore by clicking here.

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Turns out, one week featuring our “Give Back” philosophy just isn’t enough… This week, we continue to feature the mission work of Jack Fairweather in the Philippines, with “Street Kid Stories” and  some thoughts on “Purpose,” inspired by conversations with Jack…

And in case you missed any of last week’s articles, here’s a quick recap:

Give Like Jesus… by Tim Jones
Jesus did a lot of miracles.  When he encountered a person in need, his first response (with a few exceptions) was to meet the need.  This is certainly an example that he intended us to follow.  But these two miracles were special… he did something a little different… the question is, WHY? (read more)

Missionary Slide Shows… by Tim Jones
We’re artists: photographers, graphic artists, media designers, filmmakers, songwriters, indie bands… The visual and emotional flash that these missionaries need to engage their audiences, hold their attention and get help for Joe and other kids like him… it’s just a “doodle” for us… (read more) 

Initiating Contact… by Tim Jones
There are practical and spiritual reasons that artists should initiate contact with missionaries… (read more) 

Interview with John Prichard and Jack Fairweather… by Tim Jones
I hooked up with student filmmaker, John Prichard, and missionary, Jack Fairweather, to talk about Jack’s work with street kids in the Philippines and the short film that John is making about the mission there… (more)

Arise! Mission Video… by John Prichard
Pre-release of John Prichard’s short film featuring missionary, Jack Fairweather. (watch it now)

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"I want to tell you a story about Joe. He's the little boy on the right... the one looking at the camera... can you see him?"

Bring a missionary with a compelling story into my church for a presentation and I am almost instantly reduced to a blubbering wad of tears and snot… It doesn’t matter if they have slides or media or authentic costumes… I am drawn into the stories.

I am the exception… not the rule.

Most people, especially in the US, are over-stimulated by media.  So, if the presentation is dull or too long or not visually engaging, they check out about 45 seconds into it.  And we’ve all seen that mission trip picture: underexposed foreground that makes the 4 African children playing in the street 100 feet away look like tiny, black specks.  

Take a quick look and go back to text-messaging your girlfriend… and totally miss the amazing story of Joe (third speck from the left) and how he came in dying from malnutrition and malaria three years ago…

Great stories + lousy media = boring presentation.

So, in the minds of church-goers there are basically 2 types of missionaries: interesting and boring.  The interesting ones raise lots of money and the boring ones struggle to get the support they need to make ends meet.

Ironically, the interesting ones often get the support of a couple of rock bands who end up raising money for them so that they can keep doing the work of their ministry… But the boring ones tend to spend a third of their time going from church to church asking for support which comes in the form of pathetic, little love-offerings.

The sad thing is that the boring ones almost always have a great story to tell.  They just need a little help in telling it. 

And that’s where we come in…

We’re artists:  photographers, graphic artists, media designers, filmmakers, songwriters, indie bands… The visual and emotional flash that these missionaries need to engage their audiences, hold their attention and get help for Joe and other kids like him… it’s just a “doodle” for us.  Seriously, a day of pro-bono work from you could make the difference for a ministry that provides food for street children in India or an orphanage in Uganda.

Next:  Why artists have to make the first move…