Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

Part of Emerging Spirit's work is to help churches communicate effectively with their communities. Emerging Spirit is not the only church-run program helping congregations market themselves, however. The United Methodist Church in the U.S. has a program of its own that it is running to help its congregations communicate and reach out to their communities.

The United Methodist program takes the form of a thorough, five-step online tutorial -  including PDF downloads, action steps, worksheets, and, yes, homework - to help you formulate a marketing plan for your church. The five steps outlined in the tutorial look at the values and vision of a church, perception and needs, strategy, implementation, and finally evaluation of the plan and how to make adjustments if it isn't working.

Commenting on the tutorial, Kevin Hendricks (a blogger for Church Marketing Sucks) said, “This is a meaty resource, ideal for any church that wants to get serious about marketing (and no, you don't have to be Methodist). The biggest downside is that it's entirely online, so you're on your own.” If you're looking for ideas, or just curious, have a look at the program for yourself by clicking here:

http://www.umcom.org/site/c.mrLZJ9PFKmG/b.5160951/k.54F3/Church_Marketing_Plan.htm