How do I brand my ministry well?

 

1. Promote an identity, not a product

The best brands in the world do this; brands like Coca-cola, Apple and Nike.  Nike’s motto isn’t “use incredible athletic gear”, it’s “just do it”.  They’re promoting a lifestyle, an attitude, an identity, what it says about you if you buy into their brand.  

A photo by Liz Weston. unsplash.com/photos/PJzc7LOt2IgSo, practically, how do you do this?  Branding is simply communicating about your identity and inviting people to participate. Your identity is what makes you unique, your DNA, who you are, your story. Try getting in a room with some of your key leaders and making a list of words that define you.  Use this time to describe your current identity, not to try to brainstorm about who you want to be.  Unless you have the help of branding experts, branding is usually done best when the goal is to reinforce your identity, not to try to reinvent it.  

One reason you might want your branding to be shaped by your identity, instead of your product, is to avoid promoting a consumerist church culture, where people attend because of what they can get, not because of who they are.  One way you can do this is by communicating more about who you are and less about what you have coming up.  If your website, emails, social media, lobby signage and announcements are inundated with communication about events, classes, and upcoming series, but don’t include core beliefs, mission statements, or defining characteristics, consider changing that. Announcements are important, but don’t allow that to be all you communicate.  

In my student ministry, I made a rule a long img_6095time ago that I was going to take less
photos of special events and on-stage elements, and more photos of our students.  I want the photos we post to communicate more about who we are as a community, and less about what cool things we have to offer. Using genuine photos of people in real interactions communicates identity, not product.

2. Be consistent

Reinforce your branding by coming up with a look and feel, and sticking with it… for several years! Choose a font or two, a color scheme, a style, and a few key phrases, then build all of your communication out of that framework. Slapping your logo on something does not mean you have “branded” it. Building your logo and all of your communication from the same design scheme, a scheme that is informed by your identity, does mean you have branded it.  If you work hard at getting it right in the beginning, this will actually save you lots of time and creative energy in the long run.

A new series or upcoming event can be a challenging exercise in consistency.

 Sometimes we want those things to be fresh and totally different, but think of them as branches of the same tree.  A new series or event should have some consistency with your current branding, but can break a couple fullsizerender-8of the rules as well.  Our brains are wired to make associations. So being consistent allows people to begin recognizing your brand, and making associations to other times they’ve encountered it.
For a great example of this, follow @shereadstruth on instagram. Every time an image of theirs pops up in my feed, I know it’s from them, even before I look at the profile name.  

 

3. Stay Current

Is this something I really need to prioritize?  The gospel doesn’t go out of style, right?  We know that God doesn’t become outdated or irrelevant.  But even Jesus contextualized His message.  He understood the culture and He referenced it frequently to relate with people.

Especially if you are working in student or college ministry, trends are important, and here’s why.  We want students to feel like our ministry is a place where they belong, where they can be accepted, where we get them.  I’ve seen it a bunch of times in our student ministry.  When a new leader walks in who dresses trendy, knows current song lyrics, and uses some of the slang their students use, they win automatic relational points. Students often open up quicker, and are able to be more vulnerable with these leaders because they feel understood.  For older leaders, staying up to date might be a little harder, but let others help you.  Use social media, pinterest, blogs, and your younger friends to influence you. Here’s a list of resources I use for inspiration.   Be yourself! Don’t be the leader who’s trying too hard! But, as genuinely as possible, try to keep an open mind as you allow the pulse of culture to inform your approach.

4. Be inclusive

We want students to know that being a img_6089Christian means they are a child of God,
adopted into His family and given the opportunity to participate in the redemptive work He is doing on earth. They should feel like they’re part of a family, they belong, they aren’t going to be overlooked. Social media has the ability to make them feel very included or very excluded, depending on how it’s used.  Use photos of students, photos of leaders, and photos of the prep you are doing throughout the week to make them feel like they’re part of it all.  Invite them to participate, to be heard, to contribute. Be personal in your wording. Use the words, “I” and “you”.  

The goal is for students to go from using phrases like “I go to Mosaic Students” to “I am a Mosaic Student”, from “I go to church” to “I am a son or daughter of God”.

DIY Blinder Tutorial

Here’s a step by step tutorial on building blinder lights. The total dimension of each of these is 1’ x 8’ with six 8.5” lights on each. But, you could easily adapt this to use 5.5” lights or a different number of rows and columns (i.e. 4×4 grid instead of 1×6 row).

 

View More: http://mosaicchurch.pass.us/camp-2016

SHOPPING LIST:

  • Plywood (19/32 Pine Sanded Plywood, 4’ x 8’) – cut to 1’ x 8’
  • Black matte indoor latex paint
  • Hole saw drill bit
  • (6) Bayco Clamp Light with Aluminum Reflector (make sure reflector isn’t dented)
  • View More: http://mosaicchurch.pass.us/camp-2016

    Lights at 100%

    (6) Warm Incandescent Light Bulbs – 60W (If you’re not planning on having dimming control, 25W would be better. I have these blinders hooked up to a DMX controller, so I used 60W because I wanted 100% to be very blinding, just for crash out moments and effects in high energy songs.

    View More: http://mosaicchurch.pass.us/camp-2016

    Lights at 40%

    Typically, I keep the intensity at about 30-50%)

  • 6 outlet power strip
  • Assorted zip ties

DETACHABLE FOOT:

  • Plywood (19/32 Pine Sanded Plywood, 4’ x 8’) – cut to 1’x 2’
  • 2×2 Furring Strip, 8’ long
  • Wood screws

TOOLS USED:

  • Drill
  • Sander
  • Paint roller or paint brush
  • Staple gun (not essential)
  • Miter saw (for support foot only)

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL:

img_38601. Cut plywood into a 1’ x 8’ board. Many hardware stores will do this for you, although their equipment doesn’t allow for super-precise measurements.  If you need an exact size, cut it yourself, but a rough cut worked perfectly for me.

2. Mark center for holes at 1’ apart. Top hole should be 6” down from top edge of board, and centered left to right on board. Each of the following holes are 1’ away from each other. (This left me with an extra 2’ at the bottom end of the plywood. I needed this extra length img_3857but you might consider starting with a 1’ x 6’ piece of plywood if you want the lights to be equally dispersed on the board without extra length at the bottom.)

 

3. Drill holes.

 

 

4. Sand down surface of plywood, being img_3855careful not to take away too much of the material around where the holes were cut. I sanded around the holes too much on some of them and it ended up causing my lights not to screw together tightly.

5. Paint plywood black on all sides.

6. Unattach clamps from lights and unscrew the aluminum reflectors. Put light socket through the back of the hole and screw the reflector onto the front until tightened.

img_41367. Once all 6 lights are in place, attach the power strip to the back by stapling 3 or 4 long zip ties to the back of the board and tightening the zip ties around the power strip to hold it tightly against the board. Plug all of the lights into the power strip then use the same zip tie and staple method to organize and clean up the cord to each light so that cords aren’t hanging, visible from the front, or prone to snagging on things.

8. Screw in light bulbs.

(After this step, I wrapped each reflector in bubble wrap because I was planning to transport them in a trailer to an event and I didn’t want the reflectors to get dented or the bulbs to break).

The next step is building the feet to stand the blinders up in.  You may not need to do this, if you are planning on hanging these, or attaching them to a truss.

img_39239. Cut the 2x2s in two 1’ sections. Then, cut two more 1’ sections with a 45 degree miter on both ends.  Measure the center of the 1’ x 2’ plywood and attach the 2×2 verticals in the center of the board (leaving a little more than enough space to slide the plywood from the blinder in between).  Screw in the diagonals (keeping a spacer in between the verticals). Paint the foot black. I kept the foot unattached from the blinder so that everything could be broken down and transported easily, but if this is a permanent piece, you may want to screw the blinder into the foot.)

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Summer Camp: How we planned a great, weeklong off-site event

1. Be intentional with atmosphere

First impressions are a big deal.  Putting some effort and creativity into the atmosphere at your event can have a huge impact. Even a couple of well-designed banners or some string lights draped from the ceiling can tell your audience, “We care about the experiences you will have here”.

View More: http://mosaicchurch.pass.us/camp-2016

2. Think about the experience you want people to have

Start with a goal for what kind of experience you want to design for your audience (i.e. fun, contemplative, challenging, rejuvenating). We wanted our camp to be high-energy and impactful. We made several decisions that were specifically intended to set them up for that kind of experience.  We hired a super energetic, young, worship band from a local Christian university.  We made a no-cell-phones rule, but, in an effort to make that a positive thing, we made sure we jam packed the camp with fun things to do and captured great photos for them all week long.  We made sure even the sometimes ‘boring’ aspects of camp, like the speaking and the devotional book, were supported with creative elements, engaging stories and fun design. We took the expected, free t-shirt to the next level by offering a full store with 5 different items in a variety of colors and styles. We made sure to give students lots of time in small groups to process what God was doing in their hearts that week. All of these decisions contributed to a fun and impactful summer camp.

3. Don’t let your creative and production elements be an afterthought

Everything I just mentioned that we did to plan an incredible week for our students didn’t happen overnight. I personally tackled one camp task every two weeks for 6 months prior to camp and our team met regularly. Planning a big event like this takes foresight, budgeting, creativity, collaboration and lots of time! 

Planning things like merch, videos, and atmosphere from the very beginning can help you design a more cohesive and impactful event.

4. Help students make memories and bring the camp experience home

Making lasting memories was a high priority for our team.
We used photography, video, and a devotional article to help them take the camp experience home with them. 
We set up a trendy photo spot, brought in quality photographers, made daily recap videos (using animoto.com), and distributed all of our camp photos to students and parents (using pass.us).  These intentional decisions helped our students focus more on engaging with others and God. They also helped our students take the camp experience beyond just that week.

5. Don’t be afraid of hiring and renting

Hiring a worship band or renting lighting equipment can seem really intimidating! But, being willing to expand your resource pool beyond your own church can give you so many options.

EVERS @weareevers

We hired SEU Worship band from South Eastern University, Slap Happy Comedy (an
improv duo we once saw at a conference), a guest speaker, Scott Frazier, (from a church we have a great relationship with) and an up and coming local band (Evers) for a concert.
We also rented audio equipment, lighting, a Penske Truck, and a TV.  It might seem like a lot of money and logistics (which it is), but with good planning, making some strategic hires and rentals can really help you elevate the camp experience for your students. Doing these things made our camp feel very special and set apart, compared to a typical Wednesday night.

6. Think about reusing resources

You can be a lot more efficient View More: http://mosaicchurch.pass.us/camp-2016with a tight budget if you consider reusing things for multiple events.  For this event, we reused banners, blinder lights, string lights, Ikea lamps, a photo booth frame, some tubs for merch display, and lots of cables. We would have spend hundreds of dollars more if we were always buying things for one-time use only.  What bad stewardship that would have been!

I love giving our students the best experience for their money.  Even if you have a giant budget, stretching that budget to include as much as possible can really glorify God.

Creativity: For Glory and for Beauty

In Exodus 28:2, God tells Moses “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.”

Genesis

The epic story of the gospel contains poetry, songs, architectural design, ark plans, textile design, and stories about people who made their own idols to worship. Scripture tells us a lot about what kind of creator God is and what kind of creators we should be.

Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created us “in His own image”. But, that doesn’t mean we’re exactly like Him. Some of His characteristics He passes on to us (intelligent and relational), some are unique to Him (omnipresent and omniscient), and still others are imparted to us through our restoration and sanctification (righteous and patient). One aspect of God’s character that I think about a lot is His awe-inspiring creativity. This is a character trait that we have the amazing privilege of receiving from Him.

Throughout scripture, we see that God creates, He designs things for man to create, and He allows man to honor him by creating. In Genesis 1-3, God creates out of nothing (the Hebrew words “ex nihilo”) as well as forming pre-existing things into something functional or beautiful. We can only forming pre-existing things.  As artists, designers, craftsmen and musicians, we often have the feeling that everything has been done. Nothing is new. Solomon, in his great God-given wisdom said  “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc 1:9) Humility is good and part of our nature as created beings, but we can reflect God’s character to the world by forming existing things into something beautiful that glorifies God.

What the Bible has to say about honoring God through creativity:

1. God cares deeply about design and expression.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-American Modernist architect said “God is in the details.” When I read the detailed plans God gives Moses for constructing a temple fit for God’s presence to dwell, I realize that God is a very detailed and intentional designer. In Exodus 24 & 25, God invites Moses up to Mt. Sinai, where the glory of God dwells and he tells Moses to let the Israelites “make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and all of its furniture, so you shall make it.” (Exodus 25:8-9). God goes on to tell Moses to assign certain projects to “all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill.”(Exodus 28:3). During this conversation between God and Moses in Exodus, we see that God cares deeply about the dimensions, materials, colors and craftsmen of this project.

Elsewhere, in 1 Chronicles 28, we see God again, specifying who should be part of building His dwelling. King David tells his people,

“I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.” (v. 2-3)

”It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.” (v. 6-7)

Sometimes I wonder why God would go to such lengths of specifying exactly who would work on certain projects or to describe in such detail the materials, colors and dimensions of the Tabernacle and its furniture in Exodus 25-30. But, then I realize… as a designer, I would care. I have a Master’s Degree in Architecture, so I have spent years studying buildings, thinking about buildings and engaging with buildings. I know that proportion, spatial layout, materials, colors, light, sounds, smells can all drastically shape a person’s experience of a built space. I’ve read books, written papers, sat in seminars, built models, drawn meticulously detailed plans, watched documentaries and traveled around the world to learn about architecture and how it can move people. I consider some of the best architects to be geniuses, who deeply connect with the human experience. I’ve heard several of my architecture professors suggest that psychology is a field strongly tied to architecture.

So, as talented and experienced as the best architects are, how much more does God understand how people will interact with something He’s designing? It makes perfect sense why He would be so concerned with each minute detail. He gets how humans operate. He knows we have senses and we experience so many thoughts and emotions that are informed by our surroundings. And since we are talking about the meticulous detail of the design of God’s own dwelling place, I wonder if some of His design decisions were also for His own experience? So, as we express creativity, we should always have a humble reverence to the one who inspires and allows all creativity, our Maker, the only one who totally understands how everything in the universe operates and connects.  

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” -Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)


2. Our creativity is for His glory.

Everything we create communicates something about what we believe. Creating is an opportunity to display to the world that we serve a glorious God. As image-bearers of God, we are given the opportunity to create things that are worthy of a great God. But we are also simply God’s creation, who should regularly humble ourselves and give credit to our Maker for anything we create.

In 2 Chronicles 2:4-7, Solomon says,  

Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.”

What Solomon knew is that we have the opportunity to glorify God by dedicating our work to Him, by striving for greatness, by humbling ourselves, and by collaborating with skilled partners.


3. Work is something God intended for us even before the fall and He is honored when we do it diligently and excellently. 

“‘Let us rise up and build’. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” -Nehemiah 2:18

In the book of Nehemiah, we read about a man whose passion to demonstrate God’s glory causes Him to take on a giant task. Jerusalem had been torn apart by war and the walls of the city were destroyed. Nehemiah was so heart broken about this because God had chosen these people and this city through which to display His character to the rest of the world. A city in ruins was a disgrace to God and the destroyed wall left God’s people unsafe, scattered and belittled. The book of Nehemiah describes the people’s willingness to work diligently to restore God’s honorable reputation.

“For the people had a mind to work.” -Nehemiah 4:6

“Each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.” -Nehemiah 4:17

Throughout this wall reconstruction in Nehemiah we see lots of hard work. But, we also see many moments of God’s provision and protection as the people pray and rely on Him. A lot of times we see prayer and faith as an opposite strategy to hard work and drive. We either rely on God’s provision or our own diligence, right? I think the book of Nehemiah suggests a different way. We read that God is most glorified when we work hard and have faith in God’s provision.

When I read Nehemiah 3 where the whole chapter is dedicated to a detailed, section-by-section description of the work and names of each worker, It makes me wonder why so much detail is necessary.  I think it is because God sees this effort as worshipful work on His behalf. There is an inseparable connection between what we put our hands to and to whom our hearts are devoted.

The Shakers (a sect of Quaker Christians in colonial America) had a motto, “Put your hands to work, and your hearts to God.” This meant that as they worked hard in the fields or mills, they were to devote their hearts to God as if the work of their hands was worship. Consequently, the Shakers were known for some of the most excellent craftsmanship, architecture, crops, and textiles. They were also known for working long hours but having a very peaceful, spiritual countenance. As Christ-followers, if we all put our hands to such skillful work and put our hearts to such passionate worship, what a beautiful picture of God we would display to the world!  Let’s strive to be more and more like that in our work everyday.


4. God takes it very seriously when we dishonor Him with the things we make.

“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!” – Habakkuk 2:18 (ESV)

Some of the most harsh reprimands in scripture are to men who decided to craft their own idols to worship. Something deep within God is enraged and hurt when we betray Him in this way. Just sit down, take a deep breath, and read Isaiah 44:9-20 sometime. Wow! When I read words like that from God, I remember that we should treat Him with the absolute highest of respect, awe, and fear.

True, most of us in modern western society aren’t regularly tempted to form an idol with our hands and bow down to worship it. But, we still should be just as careful to keep more subtle versions of idolatry far from our hearts.  So often, we skate through life, flippantly rearranging priorities to fit our comforts, forgetting that nothing should ever take God’s place or fill a role He should have in our lives.  

Throughout the New Testament, we see the vastness of God’s power playing out in the Israelites’ story. As God is teaching them what it means to be His people, He uses strict rules to preserve their relationship and His glory. Some of the most serious laws are concerning the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. God required holiness and reverence from anyone who would come near to His dwelling place. So when Israel began taking the Ark of the covenant into battle with them to ensure victory, wrath was imminent. They had lost their sense of awe of the presence of the Lord. Eventually, the Ark was captured by the Philistines, who consequently experienced seven months of plagues everywhere it went until they returned it to the Israelites.

Likewise, it is healthy to have a dose of reverence while imaging God through creativity. In scripture, we read about men like Solomon, Ezra and Paul realizing that God deserves the credit for anything we put our hands to (whether ministry or tasks; whether grand or modest). During Paul’s ministry and during the temple constructions of Solomon and Ezra, we see humble men who realize that success is only through the provision of God, and that as created beings we owe everything to our Maker!


5. Created and built things are not just for this world.

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” – Revelation 11:19 (ESV)

The fact that Revelation describes what seem to be tangible, real built objects and structures is so fascinating to me. Sometimes I wrongly think of design and artistic expression as something we superficial humans vainly place too much importance on.  But the fact that there are designed objects and buildings in Heaven makes me think that the way humans sensuously experience our environment is more of a soul thing than a body thing.

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – John 14:2-3 (ESV)

So, as we seek to honor God through creativity, let’s recognizing His absolute magnificence as a designer on Earth and in Heaven.  As creative people who image Him, lets endeavor to make things worthy of a great God – things that display to the world that we serve a God of beauty and restoration. And let’s humble our hearts as we worshipfully work on His behalf, always giving credit to Him.