The Parable of the Master and Servant is a parable told by Jesus in the New Testament, found in Luke 17:7-10. The parable teaches that when somebody “has done what God expects, he or she is only doing his or her duty.”
Posts tagged: evangelism
Church Marketing and Why Nobody Likes Doing It
Last night at our monthly Bishop’s Committee meeting, the topic of updating our sign came up. We have a run of the mill church sign that lights up on both sides with black plastic letters. Once a week, someone has to go out and knock off the old message and put up the new one. I have done it many times and it takes about an hour start to finish. The reason it came up last night is that because it takes a bit of time to organize all the letters, take the old ones down and then put up the new ones, no one wants to do it. It is currently falling to our vicar and that’s not really fair to him. He has plenty to do and sign duty should not be added.
My friend who brought it up, wanted to get a newer sign that has scrolling text. These signs can be updated from within the church office and do not require someone to go outside. Not only that, but it is much faster to update. The only problem is the cost. Somewhere between 10-15K.
Not surprisingly, there was some discussion and disagreement. Now, we are fortunate to be in a family neighborhood, literally right next to an elementary school with a high school a block away. We get a lot of foot and car traffic in front of the church. No doubt the sign will attract attention. The real question is whether or not this is a good choice for advertising. Personally, I have mixed feelings. I can see where it would benefit us. The only thing worse than having no sign, is having one that does not get changed often. As I mentioned, we suffer from the latter.
So, what are the alternatives in today’s marketplace? Well, you can still purchase print advertising. Even with the decline in readership, our church demographic would still be targeted by newspaper or neighborhood newsletter advertising. But, that only gets the older members of our community that do not use the Internet or prefer traditional methods of news gathering. In order to reach younger, web-connected persons, you will invariably end up advertising on Google or Facebook. Their reach into almost any online news source or social networking site can not be ignored. After using Google to successfully market events on our campus, I know their reach is powerful. My suggestion is to use a mix of traditional and online advertising to reach a broad and diverse audience.
$5 Training for Youth Ministry
I have already signed up for the local training offered at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Anyone interested can sign-up here.
2010 5 Dollar Training Video from barefoot ministries on Vimeo.
5 Dollar Training – it’s better than a free high five!
Via CNN.com: More Teens becoming ‘fake’ Christians
I just read this article about “More teens becoming ‘fake’ Christians”. As a youth minister, I couldn’t disagree more. We aren’t raising “fake Christians”. Most kids can handle both substantive and deep conversations about salvation, Christ and God. Few of them want watered down recitations of our faith. The fact most youth want to help make the world a better place should be used to help them understand this facet of our beliefs. Youth ministers and members of the congregation should feel comfortable telling the truths about Christianity to kids with little fear they are unable to digest superficial meaning.
While they may not be able to delve too deep without additional help, that is really the case for all new members of Christianity. Trust them with the truth and don’t be surprised when they grow up and lead the church with a fuller understanding of our mission as Christians.
Via CNN.com. Author: More teens becoming ‘fake’ Christians
12
Spread the Word
