Collide Magazine

Facebook Killed the Direct Mailer

Sam Mahlstadt - Originally posted Monday, April 13, 2009 -

Often when a new church sets up in a town, the leadership team scouts out the demographic and takes the pulse of the local church scene in order to develop a unique identity. After all the preparatory work has been done, the launch team that will drive and support the vision of the church is formed. I see a danger in this fairly common, albeit hyper-abbreviated and simplified timeline. This form of building can lead to a disconnection of the leadership team from the very people they are serving. The leadership team relies on the launch team to support and drive the mission of the church and their effectiveness is hindered when they aren’t brought to the table until after the ground has been broken.

Engaging the community before the church opens its doors is essential for a church plant to thrive. No matter how much you tell someone you care about them and want to walk alongside them, they want to see it first. Without having made connections to the population you are pursuing, the process of creating and developing a genuine community is slowed drastically. This is not as much of a problem for church plants whose leadership is rooted in the community, but for those who are moving into town to start a church, this can be crippling. In order to establish a community before the church even holds a service, the leadership must utilize their networks in whatever format they exist.

We see time and time again in the book of Acts people getting together in homes as a result of the community in which they belonged. In 21st-century speak, I would say that people formed churches around their networks, not the other way around. I am aware that we live in a different culture than the early followers of Christ, but the concept still applies. It would have made sense for Jesus to use the influence of the local synagogues and temples to build teams and drive his movement. After all, the Pharisees worked alongside the Roman Empire, who controlled and dictated society.

But sometimes a new movement requires new blood. Even though the Pharisees maintained peace for the Jewish communities being governed by Rome, Jesus chose a handful of kids who failed to reach religious prestige. The logical process of developing leaders would have been for Jesus to reach out to the religious elite. It would have made more sense for Jesus to choose respected rabbis or students who were studying the Tanakh, not those who were learning their father’s trade. He chose the misfits and those who didn’t cut it and began developing relationships.

Practically speaking, it is much tougher to approach a local talent and convince them to join the team with a simple, “Follow me.” What leaders often overlook, however, is that there are many people following them already, using technology to stay connected. Twitter even uses the terms “follower” and “following” to describe relationships in the community of users. Leaders have unprecedented access to an audience that completely usurps the traditional style of mentoring and discipleship. Through Twitter people have followers who are being notified instantly every time someone in their network sends an update. The relationship between speaker and audience is changing drastically with this generation because of the unparalleled connectivity to one another. Those who follow ministry leaders want to gain understanding, not just into ministry, but into the minister. Much like the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, our culture is comprised of individuals who want to join the conversation and have dialogue with those they follow. Twitter’s website invites its participants to “join the conversation,” which may be the reason it is one of the fastest growing social networking tools in our society. People are looking for a way to simultaneously join in dialogue with the change agents of our society and carry on a conversation with a friend. With social networks such as Twitter, this is not only feasible, it’s common.

You may not have 12 devoted followers that are willing to drop their nets to join what God is up to, but then again, maybe you do and simply aren’t looking in the right places. Perhaps you don’t currently interact with those who are committed to your core values and mission statement. Maybe the next great leader God has brought to you already follows you on Twitter, or is a Facebook friend, or subscribes to your YouTube channel, or follows your blog. These online social networks are a great place to evaluate your audience and get a feel for how people respond to the ministry vision God has given you. Facebook groups are an easy, free, accessible way to rally people around a cause and create a viral effect with information output.

Church planters can succeed or fail based on the amount of buzz they generate about their new church. Because of this, many new churches pour their resources, time, and talent into developing advertising campaigns such as door hangers, yard signs, and billboards. Even well-designed marketing pieces do little in the way of generating buzz. Because of the wide use of Internet community spaces, however, a much larger audience can be reached online. A Facebook group can generate more buzz than a billboard because people ask their friends and direct networks to look at it and join the cause. If a friend suggests that I check something out, I am more likely to give it my time than I am to investigate a random sign in my neighbor’s yard or a card in my mailbox.

Too often, ministries attempt to create networks using their churches as the source. This is possible, but it takes an inordinate amount of time, energy, focus, and attention, all of which could be used to rally already existing networks around a cause. When the source of a movement is commonality and passion, a revolution ensues—driven and built by the networks of the original members. When we bypass these networks, we are cutting down our audience exponentially. Direct mailers can be sent, billboards can be designed, and commercials can be aired when all along a potential congregation is online browsing through their social networks.

We need to embrace a paradigm shift that begins with an examination of our networks. We need to realize the power behind leveraging these existing networks in order to create a movement. People have a visceral desire to belong. The question is not who would want to join a movement that makes a difference, but rather, are we communicating our vision to the people who are listening to us? Everyone has an audience, and it is our responsibility to recognize who comprises our audience.

People see the yard signs and notice the doorknob hangers and glance at the postcard before they throw it away, but those messages tend to communicate a culture of consumerism and competition. They fail to communicate that we are all called to be members of Christ’s body, and that we all have a place. Traditional marketing fails to communicate that I need you and you need me, and that together, we can be apart of something new that God is birthing. But a more relational kind of communication can grow a community, generate buzz, and launch a movement.
 

Sam is a graduate of the University of Iowa, and recently moved with his wife to Winston-Salem, NC to help create a new community called One Church. He is passionate about seeing the local church living in genuine relationship and maintaining a global mindset. You can read his blog at sammahlstadt.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sammahlstadt.