Marketing for Congregations

My colleague in Central Midwest District, Ian Ivanson, posted a valuable interview with a marketing consultant, Mike Murschel, who has been working with some of the congregations in that district. I thought you might find it interesting. This article is available on the CMWD website: Some Marketing Basics. Mike Murschel also has created a great listing of free marketing resource for the Chicagoland Marketing Initiative for the Chicago Area Unitarian Universalist Council: Chicagoland Marketing Marketing Initiative Materials and Resources. Although some of it is specific to Chicago, most of it is adapatable to any setting.

The Value of Appreciative Inquiry in Congregations

The goal of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) according to Inagrace T. Dieetterich,
Director of Theological Research, Center for Parish Development, Chicago in the forward to Memories, Hopes and Conversations, is

• To change the conversation;
• To stimulate the thinking and imagination of congregations
• And to do this through a process that focuses on the honorable, the pure, the pleasing and the commendable.

Using AI in our congregations is a way to discover the congregation’s vision by focusing on what won members’ hearts, keeps them engaged, and what they yearn for in the future. I used this PowerPoint presentation in the TJD’s first web seminar in November 2007.

• The Value of Appreciative Inquiry - PowerPoint Presentation
• The Value of Appreciative Inquiry - PDF version