I asked all of my friends on Twitter & Facebook recently how they thought The Courageous Church should craft an upcoming marketing/publicity campaign. I got a ton of very creative responses and think we will actually use some of them. Here is my favorite idea and I’ll tell you why:
Serve a quality FREE breakfast every Sunday morning to EVERY person that comes to the church.
That’s it. That’s the whole idea. Simple I know. Let me tell you why I like it so much.
- Our Creative Team hosted a meeting @ IKEA this past Saturday morning when IKEA was giving away a FREE BREAKFAST for the first two hours the store was open. 100s of people were standing outside, in the rain, for a long time, to get a free breakfast. It was pretty doggone shocking and was certainly a sign of the times.
- We are in a recession. People are struggling. A free meal is tangible way to spend our money that would also help people. For the cost of a very small mass mailing we could feed 1,000 people.
- Jesus regularly ate and dined with people. It’s a good way to get to know people and share life with them.
- Our team is already hungry on Sunday’s anyways. We get there early and stay late and could use some good food.
- It worked HUGE for Denny’s.
It’s not a slick flyer or a clickable website, but something in me tells me that a free breakfast would garner a lot of publicity during these tough times. What do you think? Should we go for it?
{ 31 comments }
right on, Shaun. Would love to hear the other ideas you got ;)
I think it is a great idea. It is next to impossible to get simple eggs & bacon anywhere after church. We used to have a small church, on an island, with limited food and boats. When my kids friends came over we always fed them after the service. Some of the most special conversations came up then & would never have happened without the meal!! Like you said, Jesus did it first!
Almost every event that we do, as a college campus ministry, is built around offering free food.
Simple…but effective.
Brilliant idea!!! We saw how well the coffee was received last week. A full breakfast? Oh yeah! And it is so biblical… What a way to build a community in Christ!
It’s a phenomenal idea because it not only addresses a need, but meets the need directly.
Creating a giving and invitational culture is exactly what Jesus did, and the people came and many stayed.
His love was genuine and tangible.
Crazy LOVE!
I love the idea. It is foundational to Christianity to eat together, something spiritual is tied to the dining table. When meeting a need precedes marketing, it will provide genuine, heart-felt marketing that will draw people to the vision God has given you. Go for it!
I also think it’s a great idea. The opportunity to nourish the spirit and the tummy is beautiful.
I love it!!
That’s great! I love the idea…now how do we let the people who don’t already come to Courageous and/or Facebook and/or read your blog know about it?
Martin Luther King, Jr. said “everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” I believe EVERY church may be great through service as well. Do you envision the future of Courageous Church including efforts to provide more permanent solutions for those individuals who are in need? Btw, I won a french toast cook-off once ;-)
I do have one friend that did become a believer many years ago, by coming to an annual Easter Pancake breakfast at a church (I also know one that accepted Christ after sneaking in church because he thought his wife was seeing someone there since she had begun attending so often…people come to church for different reasons:)). My friend came to the breakfast event because he was invited by family members. So remember though the breakfast may be a great “icing on the cake for coming” it is relationships, prayer and hardcore reaching beyond the building we call church that get people to show up and stay.
The breakfast may make it easier for members to invite people, and for the servants to serve (this will actually be the group most thankful for it in the long run, trust me). Make sure you have a committed team in tact to take on this early morning potentially over-the-top ministry! Not only do they have to be able to make a great biscuit, but be reliable and deep (incase someone goes on vacation or gets ill). I will not complicate this long comment with the fact you will have to check the rules about food service for each facility you use on Sundays, forget that for now:)
God lead you and may you be courageous enough to follow!
Got to agree with everyone else. We offer a meal at our Wednesday night service. Our “cook” was away this weekend with us at a marriage conference. The first thing a member asked when we got back on Sunday was “you are going to be at church Wednesday night to cook right” ? LOL
PERFECT!!!
I think it’s a great idea. As a student, I know many people who attend the most random events just for free food. When I was growing up, we were members of a church here in Atlanta, but one of my father’s best friends was the pastor of a another very small church. We tithed at both churches and would make sure we visited my father’s friends’ church often. When dinner was served we always went to our friends’ church even if we had to go to multiple churches on one Sunday.
This is a God idea.
Yes!! Bacon will bring them in… or atleast it would me. hahaha Great idea!
This idea is so perfect!
I love this i believe we would draw a big crowd and not forget how much good this would be especially to all the homeless folks in the city of Atlanta.
Great idea! No skimping on the breakfast either. Make it delicious. People coming together to serve together and people coming together to eat together. Throw open wide the doors and let the people come! Nothing better than feeding the masses physically and spiritually. Let the Love of Christ be shown simply and practically and He will show you wondrous things! Good on you! “A smile confuses an approaching frown.”
This is a great tool for outreach. My church does free pizza and games for everyone after service. Trust me, if you want a cost effective way to drive marketing as well as bless the community, this is a good way to do so.
Blessings,
Pastor Lamar
hi Shaun…o.k.,coming from someone who used to be hungry,homeless,strung out and broken on the streets I feel i owe it to God who delivered me from all that chaos to comment here.It is well known in the city among the “forgotten” where you can get a free meal.the question was always “do you have to listen to a sermon BEFORE you eat?” if so,you usually didnt go.now,im not saying its a bad idea at all,in fact,i think what your gonna do feeds hungry people HERE,in this country,which so many have forgotten about.God has promted me to tell you this today and im tring to do what He tells me to do when He tells me to do it even if i dont understand it at the time.That said,I can distinctly remember thoes “church people” telling me “JESUS LOVES YOU” and I’d be all scarcastic and say “YEAH RIGHT,I CANT TELL!” looking back now that must have made thoes people sad and even possibly afraid.so maybe that little heads-up was to have you really prepare your greeters for what they may face.anyhow i hope this helps and i wanna close by saying I would do just about anything to be able to attend Courageous Church and I think you are really on to something HUGE…keep up the good work brother!
Thank you all for your encouraging feedback! We are going to run with this.
Lynnette – we will do this breakfast with no strings attached. I don’t even want people saying “Jesus Loves You” while they hand out the food. Just free food for people.
pretty cool shaun…one more thing God seems to be putting on my heart to tell you about;Here in Camden theres a place where you can go to get free clothes and shoes and coats.Its just a small room in the church where there are boxes of stuff paritioners would have thrown away or maybe the salvation army or goodwill wouldnt take because there were holes ect.,and when you came for the meal,you could also sort thru the boxes and bags and layer-up so you could face the cold.I dont know how your storage space is,but believe me when i tell you it sucks worse to be cold than it does to be hungry.it especially sucks to be cold AND hungry…so maybe if its possible at all for you to pull it off I know FIRST HAND positivly that it would really increase the numbers ALOT and it wouldnt cost the church a cent because the paritioners donate their unwanted clothing.
I agree with everyone else’s comments and thoughts. I think this is a great idea for the economic times we are in! I definitely see it as a way to build community as well! Like someone posted, I am wondering what your plans are to communicate this. I am sure you plan on putting it on your blog and facebook, but how else are you planning on promoting it? I know you are trying to avoid mailers, but I think something else needs to be done.
I agree with you Sophie. This is something that we would have to promote heavily with a mailer, publicity on radio & tv, and more.
Shaun
I wonder whats the purpose. people are responding talking about service but you as the pastor spoke mostly about publicity in which will increase church attendance. I'm not knocking it just you should be clear before approaching it. If a bunch of homeless hungry people come are they welcomed. Which usually aren't the idea members seeing how they can't give. You should think what all this will look like. Then make the decision. Then you have to think about the over all vision for the church. is it to just be known or big or is it to make a difference.
What happened to my comment. i thought this was a debate or do you just want people to see peopl who agree with you. That not Courageous to me. God Bless
Man doesn't live by breakfast alone
I am very disappointed in you sir, real talk. I have been looking at you for a while and have been saying good things about you. My first comment was taken down because i posed a question for us to look at.
In trying to figure out whats best. See i remember you with Bishop Alvarado. It makes me wonder if the stuff i read about you on these blogs are true or how many other comments have you deleted who didn't agree with you. That show signs of a weak leader. You are two months old and i want to see the church last longer. i am a church planter as well and i often ask people to help me think through stuff. All the people who have been helping you should have shared with statistics on how many churches start hot than fizzle out in less than five years because their funds are gone and they were trying to be mega the first sunday they started. The culture has changed. People want community a place where they can share their faith with others and commune with God. I know this will never make it up on here but i needed to say this because it has been bugging me. I pray what ever you do its not for the glory of you or your church but to the glory of God.
Terrel – your comment went to the spam folder. I don’t approve or disapprove ANY comments man. I automatically allow ALL comments and always have. It would have been better for you to check on that before you started popping off at the mouth talking about signs of a weak leader. Negro please.
BK1 – your comment went to the spam folder. I don’t approve or disapprove ANY comments man. I automatically allow ALL comments and always have. We are using a new spam filter. Now…why your comments go to spam is another question. :-)
I was Wrong and i can admit that. My bad. I just was disturbed that it seemed that way. So my bad. Please except my sincere apologies. Peace
We set up a similar service for unchurched harry,breakfast no music no Sunday school, in and out in 45 mins the rest of the day to yourself. Now 60% of our once vibrant church go there not sure I agree its been a succsess I feel church has been diminished. No impact through leading, no reflection through the music. True the message is still preached it seems like in our fast paced world a bible point not church in all its glorys were their to serve not be served, toast and coffee anyway something to think about.