Trend #3. The Back Story: Sharing why you sell what is you sell is more important than what you sell.
If you look, you will see many retailers returning to their roots and telling their creation story to emotionally connect you to their brand. Johnston & Murphy wants you to know they have been making shoes since 1850 and, it just so happens, they are the shoe provider for U.S. Presidents.
While we see this all the time with creative upstarts and social entrepreneurs, more and more big for-profits are going there.
The simple lesson for the church is that values are important — a practice we are constantly trying to help church leaders advance at Auxano.
This trend should be the church’s constant centerpiece, at least with regard to the biblical ideal. Why we do what we do is the heart of any ministry.
The relevant application of this is pushing your ability to articulate — and then integrate — how your unique creation story and ministry values help people see, experience and engage the vision. The first step is to communicate the difference. Why does your community need your church anyway? (And don’t give me generic answers.) Here is an article just posted on the Vision Room that will help.
Trend #4. Store within a store: Speak to specific segments within your tribe.
Stores like JC Penny or Best Buy are leading the way. At Best Buy, you can make a purchase at several different stores within the big store. For example, you can buy standard cables for your new TV in the standard Best Buy aisles or you can go to the Magnolia section, with a distinct in-store look and feel, and pick up higher-end cables. You will pay more, but you will also get customized service, like a follow-up phone call, to see how your TV installation went.
This is a harder point of application for churches because of the pre-existing problem of fragmentation.
In other words, if your church already has too much stuff, creating another subministry logo won’t help. (Here is a post on that challenge.)
The best way to apply this principle is not with a subministry program in the traditional sense, but with an equipping feature in the “tools and resources” sense.
For example, Mountain Park Community Church has a “Home Team” area in their lobby with tools for families based on specific family issues and life stages. The resource center does not clutter the church’s programatic offering, but provides a “value add” to certain segments of their congregation.
The key question is, “How can you add specific value to specific groups in your church?”
