Book Review - Church Marketing 101

I like Richard Reising's "Church Marketing 101". The title made me a little skeptical but I tried it anyway. This book is not ten easy steps to advertise and grow your church. In fact I loved that Reising wrote that some churches shouldn't even promote themselves! I've worked for a few of those. Now some people might say the church shouldn't be in marketing but I would say they don't have a clear understanding of what marketing is. Reising says, "There is not church in the world that does not participate in marketing; there are just those that do it well and those who do not."

I highly recommend this book to pastors because of the questions he asks. They have made me stop and think. I will be discussing this book for a while with our church board and staff as we seek to continually create environments for people to experience God in a fresh way.

Several of the questions that hit me were...
* What do people in your community think about your church?
* What do different types of people in your church think about your church?
* What do you want them to think
* What are you doing right now to change that?
* What things in your service might be a stumbling block for a non-Christian?
* What can you do to help ensure an unbeliever is not distracted from the apparently to hear the message of Christ?

There are tons more! Buy this book it will stretch you!