Previously, we’ve discussed the possibility of using Facebook.com for advertising your ministry. And now one church finally has.

Guts Church (Tulsa, OK), pastored by Bill Scheer, has always done their best to advertise their college & career group, Sub30. In fact, they have had a MySpace account for some time now. But I particularly enjoy what they have done to spread the word online about their special event this weekend, Tulsa Fight Night 2006. Catering to local college students, the event offers free food, live music, DJ battles, and boxing for anyone who wants to put on some gloves. To advertise, Sub30 created an event page and bought advertising on Facebook.com.

They also set up a MySpace profile for the event to help spread the word.

So if you are in Tulsa for the weekend, check it out and enter the ring. And if you are part of your church’s college & career group, consider using online social networking to advertise your next event.

How well do you know the people you want to reach? Chief Marketer highlighted a fascinating excerpt from the new book The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille. The excerpt tells the story of the early days of a Danish toy company named Lego, which as many of you know is famous for their interlocking Lego blocks. Strangely, Lego experienced great success in Germany but was surprisingly disappointed in their considerably weaker impact in the American market.

What happened? Well, culture happened. German children were raised in a culture of, as Clotaire Rapaille puts it, “perfected bureaucracy,” and therefore, they loved Lego’s innovative instructions and wanted more sets that offered new challenges. Across the Atlantic, American children expressed much more of an independent creativity and only needed one box of Legos to satisfy their needs.

Culture is everywhere. It comes in all sorts of groupings, levels, and lifestyles. It can be as precisely defined as one individual, or it can be labeled as broadly as eastern or western culture. If you are a pastor, your church is located in a community full of culture. What works for one church may not work for your church. It all depends on the cultures you are needing to reach. So how well do you understand the culture of the people you want to reach? And what do you do to learn more about them?

A popular discussion topic in recent years has been how generation gaps are shaping the workplace and creating problems. Yet these discussions can often seem exaggerated and leave readers wondering just how bad these generational issues are.

However, last week, Tony DiRomualdo of the Wisconsin Technology Network published some interesting findings from some a self-conducted survey.

Positives include:

• 61% frequently & 37% sometimes observed workers of different generations working effectively together
• 43% frequently & 46% sometimes observed workers from different generations learning from each other
• 61% frequently & 37% sometimes observed workers of different generations working effectively together
• 24% frequently & 52% sometimes observed perspectives of workers from two or more different generations balancing one another
• 21% frequently & 69% sometimes observed better quality of work due to variety of generation perspectives
• 21% frequently & 51% sometimes observed intergenerational mentoring - formal and informal

Negatives include:

• 19% frequently & 37% sometimes observed conflicts regarding acceptable work hours between workers of different generations
• 15% frequently & 52% sometimes observed communications breakdowns between workers of different generations
• 12% frequently & 39% sometimes observed employees stating that co-workers from other generations are over- or under-reliant on technology
• 10% frequently & 34% sometimes observed employees taking co-workers from different generations less seriously
• 9% frequently & 30% sometimes observed employees feeling that co-workers from other generations do not respect them

It is good to see a well-rounded report on the topic. Church HR departments should be sure to focus on encouraging the positives of an inter-generational workplace while trying to prevent the negatives.

Read more about generational issues at:
Reuters - Generation gaps shape workplace choices, conflicts (July 2006)
Church Relevance - What Makes a Millennial Tick? (May 2006)
Church Relevance - The Next Generation (April 2006)
USA Today - Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude (November 2005)

Coming this September, the makers of the highly affordable stock photography site, iStockphoto.com, will be launching stock video counterpart called iStockvideo.com. Stock videos will be available for purchase at prices ranging from $5 to $50. It has potential to be a great resource for church media.

You may remember our post about promoting your church with M&Ms. Now you can promote your church with ketchup.

Yes, that’s right! Heinz has recently launched myHeinz.com that allows you to create personalized labels for ketchup and mustard. Choose from 20oz, 14oz, and 2.25oz bottles.

Obviously, the face value of this feature is novelty, but don’t completely disregard the concept of personalized bottles of condiments. Save it in your idea rolodex.

As with anything your church does, ask yourself: “What is the best way to reach people with our message?” It may mean you have to create or do something that never has been done. If a bottle of ketchup is the most efficient and effective way (time, money, & resources with consideration to results) to communicate, than use that bottle.

One thing is for sure, the first people to use this will certainly be remembered.

UPDATE: Jason Britton from StudyCorner.org learned that Heinz will unfortunately not let users create labels that have religious connotation such as mentioning God. I guess this means that your church may have to be a little creative to use this idea.

Greg Atkinson of MultisensoryWorship.com just launched a new blog called Church Video Ideas. If you are involved with the worship or visual media parts of your church, check it out.

You’ll enjoy the frequent posts and useful resources and ideas.

Trend Hunter recently reported on a new advertising campaign by Yell.com that will equip twenty-five buses in New York City with GPS advertisements that change depending on the location of a bus.

If this advertising technology catches on, imagine how effective your church could be in reaching the diverse subcultures in your community. The zip code where 60% of the households are single parents could have a message tailored specifically to their needs. College campuses would have a message tailored for their needs. Imagine advertising your church on one bus route but being able to reach every subculture along the way.

Neat stuff.

Wow! It is turning into a busy summer for church web design. We reported earlier on Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY) and Church on the Move’s (Tulsa, OK) new online looks. But they are not the only churches unveiling new websites this summer.

Vineyard Community Church (Cincinnati, OH), pastored by Dave Workman, recently launched a much awaited new website design.

 

 

 

 

Tommy Barnett’s church, Phoenix First Assembly (Phoenix, AZ) also launched a new look this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the nation, Ronnie Floyd’s First Baptist Church (Springdale, AR) also launched a new online look.

All three websites do an exceptional job at making their enormous megachurch content easy to navigate. Take some time to check them out and look for features that might be good to implement in your church’s next big website overhaul.