Marketing the church

MARKETING THE CHURCH: While many churches scramble to embrace modern marketing tools--Web sites, podcasts, billboards and the like--a backlash is forming, at the center of which is the Web site ChurchMarketingSucks.com. With more than 40,000 unique visitors per month, the site aims to "frustrate, educate and motivate" churches into communicating effectively in a religious environment.

"If churches were doing what they're supposed to be doing, they wouldn't need advertising," says the site's founder Brad Abare. He contends that if churches were more active in the community and addressing its needs, they would grow naturally from the original form of marketing--word of mouth (RNS).

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