Recently, I was having dinner with a pastor friend of mine in Dallas. During the course of our conversation, I asked him how his church was growing. After all, his church is in a booming population area of more than 3.7 million people in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. Even better, the particular county and suburb where his church is located was recently sited in a census study as one of the 50 fastest-growing areas in the nation.

I was shocked by his response: “I preach my heart out each week. We have a very creative and compelling worship service. Our children’s programs and small groups are dynamic, but sometimes I feel we are still the best kept secret on Sunday mornings.” Countless times I hear pastors repeat this all-too-familiar story.

What I quickly realized is that most pastors and executive pastors do not have a clue when it comes to marketing and promoting their local church. It’s a foreign concept to many, and definitely not a class they took – or was even offered in seminary.

As a church marketing consultant traveling the country, speaking at conferences and working with numerous churches of all denominations and sizes, invariably I am asked the question all pastors are contemplating. “What is the most effective and proven method for getting people to learn about my church and to attend one of our services?”

I never answer that until I ask them what methods they have tried or currently using. The list ranges from the predictable (Yellow Pages ad, direct mailers, billboard, newspaper ads) to the bizarre (an airplane pulling a banner, free Christmas wrapping at the mall).

Let me note, all these methods have the ability to be effective with the proper execution, timing and creative attention. However, because your church’s marketing budget is very limited, as mine was when I was a communications director, it is imperative to know which methods work best.

Through personal experience in my own church and numerous surveys in various churches around the country, I can unequivocally say that the vast majority of people will visit a church for the first time as the result of a personal invite. On average, more than 80 percent of first-time visitors come because of an invitation from a friend.

Ironically, most churches ignore that staggering statistic from a marketing standpoint. Sadly, most pastors tell me, “I encourage our people to invite their friends, but in reality, most do not.”

How do you effectively encourage those within your church to invite the people they know? The best method is to provide a tool for your members that facilitates and encourages them to invite someone to your church. For example, one campaign I used was making CDs for the Christmas season. There are five easy steps:

1. Select six to nine of the old favorite Christmas songs that are in public domain, such as “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.” (This allows you to use these songs without having to pay royalty fees.)
2. Have your worship team, praise band, choir or a talented acoustic guitar player from your congregation record these songs and burn to a CD.
3. The church’s pastor records a 30-to-45-second message inviting the listener to attend the Christmas services. This recording is placed as the first track on the CD.
4. Develop a customized multi-panel CD holder that contains the following information: an invite to your church’s Christmas service; your church’s brand logo, Web site and contact information; a list of songs on the CD; and an upcoming sermon series.
5. During the last three Sundays in November, give each church member five of these Christmas CDs, one as a gift from the church for their enjoyment and the other four CDs giveaways for neighbors, friends or colleagues.

People love Christmas music. People love to give a gift to a friend. This tactic provides a compelling tool, a favorable time of year and a good excuse for your church members to invite someone to your church. Though billboards, newspaper ads, direct mail and even Christmas wrapping services at the mall can aid in enhancing your church’s branding and community exposure, it’s that personal invite that always yields the greatest results.

Lawrence Swicegood is the president of Clarion Call Marketing, an agency specializing in church marketing and communications with extensive experience in public relations, branding, crisis management, media relations and advertising. He has more than 20 years’ experience in various aspects of communications, media and marketing. In the past, he served as the communications director for Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, the fifth-fastest-growing church in the past century with 26,000 members.