Marketing the Church?

Does the Church need a marketing strategy? This was a question I posed to a Catholic working for a successful marketing company.

Marketing is a buzz word today. A company or business entity cannot succeed without marketing. Working in communications, I know how marketing and advertising are important for modern enterprises.

It is not uncommon to find other Christian communities boasting about the miracles performed in their healing services. You find such advertisements on the subways and at entrances into residential areas. Some desperate people fall for such enticements. Is it not time that the Catholic Church embarked on a similar strategy?

“My honest answer would be no!” she protested. I was surprised by her response. She argued that as Church, we are ideally supposed to walk the path that Jesus walked, humble, poor, full of unconditional love and compassion, open hearts and open doors.

She says if the Church were to introduce a marketing strategy as part of its ministry, the nature and mission of the Church could be affected adversely. In other words, you would have to turn the Church into a product to be sold! In addition, it takes a huge budget or huge sponsorships to be able to roll-out and execute that sort of plan. It then all comes down to money! Spending huge sums of money and making huge sums of money. In the long-run the Church would have created huge amounts of unnecessary stress. “Then we would be like the ‘Evangelists’ marketing the Word at every opportunity.”

However, she suggests that we could look at it in a different light maybe and try adopt the “Whoopi Goldberg concept” of uplifting the image of the Church and doing some extensive charity drives. Nevertheless, that takes extreme commitment and lots of time.

My friend thinks that nuns and priests need to be “more visible”. Nobody sees nuns and priests around any more unless you go to church or to a convent, my friend says. She knows that there is a shortage of priests, but she is convinced that we should be doing a few drives or campaigns around “Bringing Out the Catholic Church” and/or “Breaking Down Perceptions of the Catholic Church”–something like that to show the world that it is actually fun to be a Catholic.

“Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:43-47).

My friend suggests that nuns should wear their habits and veils, and priests their clerical shirts and collars. Priests and religious, she says, should be allowed to witness according to the charism of their calling. Lay people can evangelise better.

The example of the early Christian community is the best marketing strategy the Church has always adopted. Encourage human beings to be witnesses of the Gospel message.

We do not need to deceive people to fill our pews. We only need a few committed Catholics to preach the Word by their example. A commitment to participate at the Sunday Eucharist; taking care of people living with HIV/Aids; volunteering for a worthy cause; standing for justice and peace; becoming a family that prays together ending up staying together.

Being proud to be Catholic; the willingness to admit that the pilgrim Church is sometimes weak and vulnerable. The marketing strategist and the journalist should try to be genuine witnesses.

Is this not the Church built on Peter the Rock?