Missouri Valley’s Church of Christ is celebrating its 125th anniversary, Sunday, May 4. Anyone interested is invited to attend any part of the events scheduled for that Sunday.
Here is the schedule:

10 to 11:20 a.m. - 1883 style worship service and children’s rally.

12 Noon to 1:30 - fellowship; browse the history display and commemorative quilt; take old time family photo (in period pieces the church will provide) and have it emailed for free; “moon bounces” for the kids and face painting.

1:30 to 3 p.m. - modern worship service (with the church praise band) and children’s “mad scientist” event.

3 to 3:30 p.m. - ice cream social.

Those wishing to dress in clothing from the 1880s may join many of the church members in doing so.

The Church of Christ began in 1883 with a group of 47 charter members who met in the Boyer Valley school house. The first minister, James Conron, was secured to begin the pastorate of this new Christian Church.

As a part of the restoration movement of the 1800s, the Church of Christ was a part of the original community church movement which sought to unite all believers on the Bible only and not on the creeds and doctrines of men.

The church grew quickly, spending brief stints in the Frazier schoolhouse, the fire hall and the Baptist Church, until the original church building was erected on the corner of Fourth and East Superior streets in 1888.

If you find another Christian Church/ Church of Christ in the news… send us a link and we may post it!

We are also pleased when we can complete a project to not only our satisfaction but especially those we do it for. In this case we had a reference to do Hoeing Supply, a family Indiana business.

If you or your ministry or business needs a reasonable website completed we would be happy to help you. The setup fee for most sites is $250 and a yearly $120 fee for webspace, domain name and email. If you have questions please feel free to contact us.

We want to thank Hoeing Supply for allowing us the opportunity to serve them.

I’m sure we’ve got at least a few readers out there who are in the corporate world and thinking of dabbling in the realm of churches. If you’re thinking of leaving a job with a profit-making company to one with a nonprofit, there are some issues you need to concern yourself with.

The New York Times writes in a question and answer article “Your True Calling Could Suit a Nonprofit”:

Q. What are the biggest misconceptions about switching from the corporate world to the nonprofit world?A. Many people are surprised to find the hours longer and stress greater than in the corporate world. Brian Olson, who left the private sector for a nonprofit in 2006, found the decision-making process to be unfocused.

“No matter how good a volunteer board is, it’s not the same as a corporate board, because everyone has a different agenda,” said Mr. Olson, who returned to the private sector a year later to be vice president for public affairs at Video Professor Inc., a company in Lakewood, Colo., that sells self-tutorial programs. “There was a purity to corporate life I missed,” he said.

I’ve been inspired by Seth today. He did a post on dumb branding strategies. It reminded me of conversations Emily and I have had in the past about business names that rub us wrong. In fact, call us small-minded, but we tend to boycott businesses that use these strategies to name their businesses:

• J & K Plumbing - People don’t care that the two people who operate your business have first names that begin with “J” and “K.”
• Town & Country Podiatrist - We get it. You’re hoping to sell your foot-fixing services to people in the city and in the country. Isn’t everyone?
• Fast Fotos - This bugs Emily more than me, but, generally speaking, we think it’s annoying when businesses purposely misspell words to get the first letters to match.
• Dress Barn - OK, that’s a real business. All I can picture is very big dresses that fit barn-sized women. You may want to consider what your name communicates before you invest in the letterhead.

In case you’re wondering, there are also some annoying branding practices I see within the church. For example…

• Churches that feel like every ministry and every event in the church needs a creative name with a logo.
• Churches that brand ministries that mean something to insiders but are meaningless to the audience they’re trying to reach.
• Churches that brand ministries ahead of the church itself.
• Churches that brand the church ahead of the teaching series they’re hoping will impact the audience they’re trying to reach.

Free Wordpress Blog Installs for Church Leaders

56% of you pastors out there haven’t started blogging yet, according to a super scientific poll done by the Church Marketing Sucks Polling & Research Department. Now, a lot of you might be interested, but you have no idea where to start.

A friendly congregation in suburban, cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic Northern Virginia, near U.S. capital, seeks experienced senior minister to join elder team in leading us in spiritual/numerical growth. Goal: Carrying out Great Commission in community/world with emphasis on equipping saints + youth/children + missions. Solid leadership in place. Debt-free, with building fund and 10 acres for future expansion. Open to candidates’ recommending youth/associate/music minister to serve with them as team. Send resume, statement of faith, ministry philosophy, writing sample, and sermon tape/video to office manager (calvaryfamily.com). Contact: Jim Ray, 703-327-2571.

Brands Are Bigger Than Logos

by Scott Magdalein, Guest Blogger

If you read Church Marketing Sucks often, then you’ll see the word “brand” come up here and there. It’s used as a noun, meaning the collection of your logo, letterhead, visual identity, design guide, etc. It’s also used as a verb, as in the action of standardizing all those things mentioned above.

Here’s another point-of-view: If traditional marketing is dead (not yet, but almost), then you’re going to have to move beyond the traditional view of branding, which tells you to get a good logo and plaster it everywhere. Your brand needs to become more built-in, natural and part of everything you say, do and think — not just everything you publish.

Church Marketing Lab: Welcome Displays, Bulletins and More

As the Church Marketing Lab nears 2,000 members, we want to remind you that anyone can take part. Whether you’re a designer, a person with a question or someone with an opinion, it’s the perfect place for you. And if you prefer the non-cyber world, check out the Local Labs. Here’s a taste of what’s been going on in our Church Marketing Lab this week.

Open dates available for 2008 Faith Promise Program speaking engagements.

Missions Work:

21 years at Mountain Mission School, Grundy, Va., served as teacher, athletic director, principal, Vice President for Academic Affairs and public relations. Have spoken for dozens of Faith Promise programs around the country both as a missionary and minister. I currently serve as Senior Minister of Christ’s Church, Ocala, FL.

Education:

Ed.S. Curriculum & Instruction, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
M.S. English, Radford University, Radford, Virginia
B.A. English, University of Virginia Wise, Virginia
B.S. Sacred Literature, Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, Kentucky

Contact Info:

Jim Thompson
jim@ccomc.org
352-598-9202

Churches as a Media Platform

Veggie Tales founder Phil Vischer has been blogging about his big dreams for his new company, Jellyfish (if you’re not familiar with Vischer’s departure from Big Idea, you should read his book, Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables). So far he’s blogged about two problems:

• “Problem #1 – we need to raise a generation of Christians who know what it means to live out the Gospel.”
• “Problem #2 – Christian kids media is dying for lack of a platform.”

He’s gone on to talk about a platform to address these problems, which he called the “world’s smallest TV network.” God speed, Phil.

But I’ve got another idea: Why can’t the church be the platform?