As Jeff Bezos has said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Branding is way bigger than your logo. It’s how people experience your church, how they are affected by your mission, and what they actually think about you when you’re not around.

So this week on the podcast we’re connecting with Kem Meyer, Founder of Less Chaos. Less Noise., to uncover just how important branding is, even in a small church.

Whether you’ve been following Kem for a while or not, she has so much to share with church leaders. Every time she speaks, wisdom just pours out. So I highly recommend listening through this conversation when you have a chance — I think it will challenge you in some important ways.

Here are some key takeaways:

1. Does what’s most important to our church come across clearly? Once we define who we are as a church, Kem says we then have to start “calibrating and making sure that you’re not excluding what you say is most important.” So often it’s easy to say we’re about families or young people or evangelism, but how people actually experience our ministry doesn’t line up with that aspiration.
2. Before people encounter Jesus, they meet you. Before we fulfill the Great Commission, before we make fully devoted followers of Christ, whatever our mission is, people meet us. So when they meet us, what is their experience?
3. Defining our brand is actually part of equipping our people. As we mention a lot around here, our job as pastors is to equip the saints for ministry. By defining who we are as a church in plain language, we actually give people the permission and confidence to make decisions and live the brand out.

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

• LessChaosLessNoise.com – Great articles + sign up for Straight Talk (one of Austin’s favorite email newsletters!).

• Coffee Talk — If you download and complete this FREE exercise, Kem and her team will provide feedback and answer questions about how to turn it into a new communication compass for your church.

• Article: 3 Reasons Your Vision is Just a Concept (and why you need a Brand Cue Card to turn it into action)

• Bonus Conversation: How to Improve Your Website (Without Spending More Money)

Subscribe (and Leave a Review!)

Be sure to subscribe to The 95 Podcast on whatever platform you prefer! You can also keep up with the latest podcasts, articles, and resources by using the form below:

Your rating also helps more pastors of small and mid-size churches find this resource, especially on Apple Podcasts. Would you take a moment to share your thoughts? Just open the podcast on Apple Podcasts on your phone or computer and share your thoughts. We really appreciate it!

Episode Transcript

You can read or download a PDF transcript of the podcast by clicking here.

Support the Podcast

The 95 Podcast is a ministry of 95Network. As a nonprofit, we rely on the support of those who believe in our mission to resource small and mid-size churches and support pastors. If you have been impacted by this podcast or our ministry, would you consider supporting us?

Share Your Thoughts on Social Media

Let’s keep the conversation going! We use #smallchurches on Twitter, and you can keep up with the latest by following us on Twitter (@95Network) and Facebook.