Advertisers are always looking for a way to get you to buy a product. To do that, sometimes they’ll parody or copy each other to make their message more memorable. It’s amazing how well this strategy works, but does it have a place in church branding? No. Copying another church’s messaging, branding, or marketing might look nice. It might even get more traction at first. In the long run, this approach is deadly. The first reason is that you could open yourself up to legal action. Many churches trademark their branding, which means you can easily break the law if you’re directly copying their image. Even if you don’t get sued, there’s a second and even worse outcome. Many people already think of churches (especially in heavily churched areas) like desperate credit card companies: always offering new incentives for people to switch churches. I’ve heard it called “sheep stealing,” “member trading,” and “transfer growth.” While it’s not always the intention of the leaders at one church to steal sheep, it would be wrong to encourage “church hopping” for such superficial reasons as slick branding. The solution Build your church brand around your unique story and vision. It’s that simple. But wait, is it ever okay to copy? Where is the line between taking inspiration and being a copycat? That’s what I’ll cover tomorrow.

This topic is one that goes wide and deep, so I’m going to try and give a 30,000ft snapshot. A church’s identity is made up of the themes and threads from its unique past, present, and future - things which make that church distinct from the church down the road. Visual identity is the symbolic representation of that, which is why it goes so much deeper than a logo or carpet color. Turning a church identity into something visual is a tricky process, but not impossible. Here’s my thesis: Starting with your intangible identity is the only way to create a meaningful, long-lasting, and copycat-proof brand. Let’s say you hire a graphic designer to create a beautiful visual identity that’s based on your preferences and current design trends. What happens in two years when those preferences and trends have changed? By going deep on your church’s intangible identity, you can emerge from the woods with a look that actually captures the uniqueness of your church and lasts for decades. Your visual identity won’t be able to be copied or replicated, because it’s grounded in the stuff that makes your local church, "local". Otherwise, you’re probably just copying someone else.

I see too many churches missing chances for continued visitor engagement. Does this sound familiar? “Thanks for attending, follow us on Facebook for announcements!” Giving people a link to your social media page isn’t bad, but there is a much better way to encourage visitors to continue engaging with your church. Most people are coming to church with the intention of getting something deeper than what they can get online. So give them that! Instead of asking something of them, offer them something that they would be crazy to say no to. Here are the three easy and effective ways to do that: 1. Next Steps After What They Just Got This is an easy one. Offer visitors the next thing that follows from how they just engaged. Why? If they came for a worship conference or at a summer camp, the next steps are going to be activities like discipleship, Bible studies, and community. If they experienced the power of the gospel and God’s people at the event, they’re going to naturally want this. And, if you’re like most churches, these are all programs that your church already offers! 2. More of the Same Thing Offer visitors more of the same thing they just experienced. This is helpful in circumstances where the engagement is something your church participates in on a regular basis. If you have a weekly cadence of a Wednesday night Bible study for Sunday morning worship, and a visitor attends for that particular event, offer them an easy way to continue to come. This offer should somehow make attending next week even easier. 3. Something Similar But Better This one is pretty self explanatory. If a visitor is attending a Wednesday night community bible study, offer them a small group of people in your church where they’ll go deeper and get to study over a longer period of time with people they know. If someone visits a Sunday morning worship service, offer them Wednesday night worship or a prayer meeting. Following these three strategies will help you guide visitors along the journey of engaging and identifying with your church, so that they can ultimately join.

Does your church ever put on conferences, take the youth to summer camp, or organize community gatherings? Churches who do this at a high level use communication strategies to make these events well-attended, memorable, and impactful. One of those strategies is to give the event its own visuals, but when is this the right call? I could give you a decision-making tree and a process to decide, but I figured a list of pros and cons would do just fine. This way you can go through the list and decide for yourself if each item applies to your situation. With that, here are the pros and cons of creating unique branding for your church event: Pros: Gives the event a distinct identity – Makes it feel special rather than just another church activity. Can boost engagement and attendance – A fresh look can generate curiosity and excitement. Helps with marketing and promotions – Unique branding makes it easier to design flyers, social media posts, and announcements that grab attention. Allows creative storytelling – You can tailor the visuals to match the event’s theme, making it more immersive and impactful. Can attract new people – A well-branded event may appeal to those outside your congregation who wouldn’t normally attend. Cons: Takes extra time and effort – Creating custom visuals means more planning and design work. Can dilute your main church brand – If done too often, people might associate more with the event than with the church itself. Inconsistent quality risks – If branding isn’t done well, it could look unprofessional or weaken the event’s perceived value. Might not always be necessary – Some events function just fine under the church’s existing branding, and adding unique visuals could be overkill. Pro tip Using your main church logo in a subtle, tasteful way on event graphics associates the event with your church. Making a connection to your parent brand is a way to remind attendees of the mission driving you to put the event on in the first place.

Last weekend, I went hiking in the Ouachita National Forest with a friend from church. It was my first time on that particular trail, but thankfully he had hiked this trail multiple times and knew it like the back of his hand, or so I thought. I started to get nervous when he stopped in his tracks and said, “I’ve never seen this bridge before.” He crossed the bridge and ventured on a little further. “I don’t remember passing through this open area.” We figured we had missed a fork in the trail, so we crossed back over the bridge and backtracked for a mile or two. No sign of a turnoff or any other indicators of another trail. We were forced to go back to the bridge again. At this point, we had hiked nearly 3.5 miles of detour, with nothing to show for it. What would have helped us avoid that unexpected pain? A guide who had brought others along that trail dozens of times. A map of the entire trail, with a “You Are Here” indicator. The reason I’m sharing this story is: My friend thought he remembered the trail, but there were critical things he had missed the first few times. Whether you’re hiking a secluded trail or rebranding, it’s smart to get expert insights and a proven roadmap before you waste time on detours and roadblocks. Thankfully, after exploring a bit more, we realized we were on the right path after all. We ended up having a great trip.

Brands are like bodies. Everybody has one, but it takes discipline and consistency to build a healthy one. I recently saw a 15 second video that highlighted how simple something like getting in shape can really be. The three steps he lays out are: Eat 2 meals a day with 100g of protein in each. Don’t eat other stuff. Lift 3 times per week and add weight or reps over time. Put in those terms, getting in shape is simple - just eat right and exercise. Creating and cultivating a brand identity is a lot like that. It’s simple in theory, but it takes consistency and effort.

Recently I’ve been watching a sci-fi TV show called “Severance.” The show follows “severed” office workers at a large corporation who have had surgery to divide their memories between their work and personal lives. Believe it or not, I think there’s a hidden gem in this idea that applies to church branding. Hear me out. Think about the average member of your church congregation. Does he ever consider his belonging to your collective body Monday through Saturday? Are your shared beliefs on the tip of his tongue during the week, outside the walls of your church building? If not, then you might have a church of “severed” members. This naturally occurs in modern life, but it’s something we can and should counteract. In the TV show, severed employees can unify their two identities through a process called “reintegration.” The good news is, there’s a way to “reintegrate” the identity your people have at church with their identity outside your walls. The way to do this is by cultivating a healthy brand. A church brand that is sticky and memorable can remind your average member of his belonging to a local church body, even as he goes about his rhythms of daily life. What are you doing to help your members avoid being “severed?”

Finding a designer to hire for a project comes with unexpected and paradoxical challenges. Unless you have a personal connection to a someone specific, you’re judging your options based on a stranger’s published work. Paradoxically, you’re forced to make aesthetic judgments of their style and fit before you actually hire them to help with your aesthetics. The best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. The counterintuitive truth is, the best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. Okay, so how can you evaluate a designer more effectively? Here are a few ways off the top of my head: Success stories on similar projects Clearly defined process Familiarity with your needs Pricing The thing is, if you’re trying to just make something you like, the subjective approach works just fine. If you’re trying to make something that will solve a problem or communicate an idea to more people, objectivity is critical.

Tending your brand is so much deeper and wider than using your logo. That’s because a brand is much, much more than a logo. Look at the image below and tell me, do you recognize the brand it belongs to? Of course you do! But wait, there’s no logo to be found… That’s because Chick Fil A doesn’t need to put their logo on everything for you to know it’s theirs. The emotions and feelings they’ve created are more than enough to identify them. This is done with interior design, photos, colors, textures, and font choices, which are a critical part of what we call “branding.” The logo is the “tip of the spear” in a brand. The logo is the “tip of the spear” in a brand, but the other branding elements, the “shaft of the spear” are what should be doing the heavy lifting. They’ve curated a style that gives people a sense of joy, trust, and cleanliness. Here’s the question: Did Chick Fil A stumble upon their style of branding by accident?

For most churches, their brand guidelines could fit on a single sheet of letter-sized paper (if they have brand guidelines at all). However, I’ve spent enough time in the design industry to know that large companies need brand guidelines which are much richer and more complex. So, I wasn’t surprised when a tech company called Zapier released their massive, 100-page book of brand guidelines to the public. Why so extensive? Isn't that overkill, even for a large tech company? The reason Zapier has such an extensive brand guide is because they have an extensive brand scope. Let me explain. Zapuer just has one main logo and their color palette is relatively simple. The complexity comes from all of the different places that branding is going to live. Let's say you have vacation homes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Texas, and you live in each for a few months out of the year. You'd probably have different clothes you wear, a different time of day for your walk, and different for guests. The number of places your brand will live determines how many guidelines you need. If you’re printing promotional pieces, posting on social media, and creating video content, your church would probably benefit from some basic brand guidelines. This makes sure each part of your brand gets distilled with instructions and visuals to be straightforward and easy to use (even for someone with very little design experience). Do you know someone who needs a set of guidelines for their existing logo and branding? Just in the month of April 2025, I’m offering a brand guidelines creation service for just $299 to any church who is happy with their look, but needs help making it more consistent. If that sounds like you or a pastor you know, send me an email and I’ll get your church into the queue.