by Heath Rogers
Synopsis: As Jesus said, we must let our lights shine, so that God will be glorified (Matt. 5:16). Yet, principle and precept matter more than perception and popularity.
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, or concept is created for an established company or product with the intention of making it more attractive to customers. This often involves radical changes to a brand’s logo, name, image, and/or advertising themes.
As with many other worldly practices, rebranding has crept into religion. Church rebranding is a real thing. In his online article, Warning: 3 Things You Need to Know Before a Church Rebrand, Mark MacDonald writes, “It’s all the rage. And it’s a great trend. In fact, if you haven’t branded or rebranded your church in the last five years, you should budget for it in the next year. Why? Because an effective rebrand will help you: evangelize better (it’ll reconnect you to your community), increase membership (your members will improve word-of-mouth promotion), strengthen participation (members will have more ownership of ministries).”
Churches rebrand to make themselves relevant to the surrounding community. It is often done in the name of “evangelism.” However, effective rebranding involves more than designing a new logo or creating a gimmicky new name for a church. Successful rebranding requires a church to change what it offers to the community to accommodate the demands of the marketplace. In another online article entitled Ten Steps to Rebrand Your Church, step two reads:
Have staff and elders complete 200 community-wide door-to-door surveys which ask the following three questions: (1) “Do you attend a church more than two times a month?” (If yes, tell them thank you and move on. DO NOT FINISH SURVEY). (2) “If you were to consider going to a church, what kinds of things would they have to offer to get you to attend and come back a second time?” (3) “On any given week, what things do you and your family members participate in?” (Do not hand them anything at this point. Or invite them to church. Nothing. Trust me on this. Just say “thank you” and be on your way.)
Church rebranding is not about trying to be the Lord’s church doing the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way. It is about offering the community the church they want for the sake of numbers. Those who are promoting this innovation have already acknowledged its failure. According to MacDonald, a church needs to rebrand itself every five years. Why? The whims of the community change. If a church is community oriented, it will have to change to meet the demands of the community. However, if a church is Christ-oriented, it will never have to rebrand itself.
We are all concerned about saving lost souls and increasing the membership of the local church. However, the Lord’s model for church growth involves every member letting their light shine (Matt. 5:16) and sharing their faith with others (Acts 8:4; 19:10).
Let’s leave the rebranding to the denominations. They are doomed to failure, anyway. Instead, let’s be content to be the Lord’s church doing the Lord’s work the Lord’s way.
Rogers, Heath. “Rebranding the Church.” Knollwood Reminder. Beavercreek, OH: Knollwood Church of Christ. Vol. 25; Num. 20 May 30, 2021. http://knollwoodchurch.org/yr2021/e04_rebranding_church.html
Jones, Brian. “10 Steps to Rebrand Your Church.” ChurchPlanting.com, April 24, 2019. https://www.churchplanting.com/10-steps-to-rebrand-your-church/.
MacDonald, Mark. “Warning: 3 Things You Need to Know before a Church Rebrand.” MultiBriefs.com, October 13, 2020. https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/warning-3-things-you-need-to-know-before-a-church-rebrand/religious-community.
