So - today I have a request from any and all of you. I have volunteered myself to be the "unofficial" PR person for my church. What can I say? I'm out of a job - there are no job prospects in sight (even cashiering at Payless, Walmart and the local grocery chains - turns out - my job WASN'T so bad.) and I have to do SOMETHING productive. So, since my major WAS Public Relations - I figured, I could try to help out with the promotion of my little church.
Little Church is one of our biggest problems. Our membership has been declining the past couple of years and we'd obviously like to build it back up. We have lots of fun things going on at the church, i.e. Movie Nights, Spaghetti Dinners, Musicals, Brunches, etc. but the problem is: ATTENDANCE.
I think the root of this problem is the ADVERTISING - or lack there of. Do any of you belong to a church that has these kinds of activities? If so, what kind of attendance do you have and how do you get the word out? Of course - we'd also like to advertise our church services as well - I'm sorry to get ahead of myself - I'm thinking of all the "activities" and not the important part - the service and fellowship.
Also - does your church have a website? We do - but it needs "tweaked" and that's what I'm hoping to do. If you have a website - are any of you in charge of it or do you know who does it? I'm new to web programming -but have a lot of time on my hands now to learn (that's supposed to be funny - given that I don't have a "paying" job right now)
Any/all help suggestions that you could offer/share with me would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Shopgirl!!!
I don't really attend church anymore, but the church I grew up in got a local radio station owner to do 15 second lead ins on for them. It said, "God Loves You. This is Andy Taylor from Trinity Fellowship." And Andy told me it did worlds of good.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. I know you will rock it.
A church near us did a free Cookout for the neighborhood - they had a band and games and a ton of food. They set it up in the park and put flyers in the mailboxes with the mail - instead of the door (people just throw that away). They even put NO SERMON, come and EAT FREELY. It was a nice time. I'm a big fan of free, even though I go to another church. Does your church have a billboard? Or host Girl Scouts, AA, or some other organization that reaches the outside world. You can call into any radio station and get on air - just listen before hand and don't preach. Unless it is a Christian station. Human advertising - T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc to any new visitors. Pantene supports locks-of-love and you can host a location for many to contribute - again no preaching. Once you get people in the door, the more people will participate in the in-house extra-curriculars. You could also have a mini-coffee shop in the foyer of your church and offer a free coffee to visitors. Sorry if this is way off base, just thought I would throw some ideas your way. Hope it goes well.
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