Image in the Church

I am writing this as a graphic designer who has worked in a church and who currently works for a private company with a communications person to help the marketing people brand the company. I am an artist and I have come to understand my role in society is to help people with the esthetic element of any given situation. The value an artist has is that he or she understands what beauty is; knows what good design is and what makes those things happen. We are valued for our ability to observe and then articulate our esthetic observations both visually and verbally. (from a talk Joan Davidow director of the Contemporary Museum in Dallas had with my Art Professor Greg Metz, UTD.) We are here to help.

Image both verbal and nonverbal is the message we “put out there” when we communicate within the walls of the church and to those outside our church and more important how we communicate to the un-churched, non-believing world. We need to communicate to membership to be effective. We need to communicate well to avoid confusion and if we do it well to promote unity. It is helpful if we are all on the same page. It helps if we have a clear concise front. If we look stylish, up to date and even slick, well… it doesn’t hurt our cause anymore than dressing up a bit for Sunday worship.

I am not advocating “airs” or a false or misleading image, but just the best image that we can muster. I think I am covered by the scripture reference “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23) How much more should we do it with all our hearts when we do it for the Lord?

Nothing insults my esthetic sensibility more than when a church puts little effort into their communication pieces be it print or web if they have the means and the talent to “make much” of the Lord and His work in their local church. Why shouldn't we make Jesus look good, when we know how to make Him look good? Why should my church do something poorly when I have the talent and training to do it well? It should not be. If I am trained in marketing and understand how to target consumers why would I not help my church reach potential member and prospects? Why should the church ignore statistics that help them understand who their neighbor is and what they think?

The local church needs to communicate. We can do it poorly and without purpose or focus, or we can do it well and help reach people and help the people outside the body of Christ understand what one local body of Christ is about. To do it well we need to do it accurately and professionally. We need to be timely in our postings and mailings. We need to check and make sure our links aren’t broken, our information outdated so when people check us out we will look like we are home. We need to communicate like we know what we are talking about. We can sing the praise of the Lord with a well written blog entry, news article or event posting. Whatever we do even if we aren’t doing something, says something. We just need to be doing it well.

But a more important question is when we communicate is what they see what they get? Do we present Jesus correctly in our communications? When people do come to our worship, Bible studies or events, when they participate in community with us do they find Christ in us individually and corporately? Chances are we miss the mark more often then we want to admit. All the more reason why the message, the image we want to present to our membership and those outside the church needs to be communicated often, accurately, articulately and in a pleasing manner.
Keep on keeping on.