How to Pre-Launch Your Church Rebrand (Real-World Example)

In 2021, my wife and I moved back to our home town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and joined the church we now call home - Hope Presbyterian Church. The church had hired a Ukrainian designer on Fiverr and got a fantastic logo design (it even won an award). But there was a problem… All they had was that logo. Their whole “brand” was limited to a gold color and a couple of webp’s. While the logo was aesthetically pleasing, it wasn’t enough to help their people “get” the mission. Each billboard, banner, and invitation card was inconsistent and time-consuming, even for the creative associate pastor. The more they tried to make their branding work in the real world, the more things got messy and out of alignment. Members with design experience were called on over and over again to come in and help “fix” designs, which always ended up being a band-aid for the real issue. What my home church went through is the result of a logo design without a true brand. They needed an easy-to-use branding toolkit with theological depth - one that would represent more than just the name of their church. A kingdom-first brand would have given their congregation ownership of the vision their leaders were casting, and would have attracted more visitors who resonated with the message they preached. And that’s why I stopped designing logos, and started developing kingdom-first brands instead.

Strip everything away, give your church a generic name, and make the logo a cross. Go black and white with your color scheme. Congrats - you have a timeless brand! I’m being a little bit sarcastic, but there’s an element of truth here. Over-simplification is usually the fastest, easiest way to a truly “timeless” look. However, it’s not the only way. And for churches, it’s almost never the best way. The history of the world is timeless by definition, but definitely not simple. God’s creative and recreative work is anything but minimalistic. The way God works is simple but deep, focused but rich with meaning. So too is the story being woven together in your ministry, whether it’s 200 years old or a brand new church plant. What is God’s perspective of your church? If you want a timeless brand identity, this is the question you have to answer. Once you start narrowing it down, your logo colors and fonts become clear and easy choices. Rather than trying to become timeless by using Helvetica and no colors in your brand guidelines, you should be looking for ways to incorporate the truth of who God says you are as a congregation. Does it take more work and intentionality? Absolutely. Is it hard? Anything worth doing is.

Your logo isn’t a brand, nor is the name of your church a brand. Your color palette, word mark, fonts, and church website aren’t your brand either. These things only serve to ASSOCIATE your church with the big idea that is your message. Make this association enough times with enough people, and NOW you have a brand. Think about it like this: Branding is the vehicle for your message. It’s the wrapper! The packaging won’t change the chemical make up of the burger, but it can still make the burger taste better, and turn a meal into an experience worth sharing. So, to answer the question how much branding does a church need, the answer is none. None? Right. If you don’t have that big idea clarified and nailed down, you can design the most beautiful identity system and logo in the world and not have a brand.

Many churches when they come to me to consider doing a rebrand say something like “We want people to see that we’re a living, active church.” What better way to show that than with motion? Video is one thing, but moving graphics combined with photos are a good middle ground that can communicate a lot more than just a static image. According to the big players in the creative industry, motion is becoming more important for all brands - not just global ones. More and more, a brand’s digital presence is expected to move, breathe, and approximate “IRL” experiences. Done right, on-brand motion graphics have a high engagement potential, without the expense of shooting and editing actual video. How do you do this well? You need to know your brand’s unique personality. P.S. This is a series of posts where I’m sharing lessons we can learn from the great design agencies of today. These are firms with a massive portfolio of incredible projects for global, billion dollar brands. Their reputation has been built on sound branding fundamentals, which means something very good for us: their approach works just as well for churches!

A church rebrand can be a lot like cleaning the house: You know you need to do it, but it always takes longer than you thought. There’s not an exact number of weeks or months, but I’ve noticed some patterns that can give you a ballpark idea for how long a church rebrand takes. Here’s the formula: 12 Months or Hard Deadline / Designer Availability (1-4) + 1 week per committee member Hard Deadline This formula is part of why I encourage pastors to set a hard deadline for the launch. Without one, it’s easy to keep making minor tweaks for months, with diminishing returns. Many churches I've worked with have chosen to announce the rebrand at an annual gathering or upcoming church event. This gives you less flexibility, but it’s a great way to keep your eyes on the prize and push through sticking points. Committee Size The larger the group, the harder it becomes to schedule meetings, commit to colors, and review designs. Decision paralysis is a documented phenomenon that is amplified by more inputs. Only adding 1 week per committee member may not be enough, but it’s close. Designer Availability Using an in-house designer is going to be the most flexible and fastest way to rebrand, hands down. With a larger agency, you may be one of dozens of clients and might not get the fastest turnaround. I personally only take on a couple of new clients per month so I can focus my attention on the project at hand, keeping it on track. Transition Time Smaller churches may not have much in the way of merch, letterhead, or building signage. They may or may not have a website. In the design world, we lump all these items into a category we call "brand collateral" or "collateral" for short. For larger churches, the transition may take longer because they have more collateral to update. Building signs can take weeks to get printed or manufactured, the website needs to be redesigned, and merch probably needs to be created.

In the last post, I looked at how vocabulary contributes to a cohesive verbal identity, and can be useful for a church trying to elevate their communications. Today, we’re on to the second part of a verbal identity: tone of voice. Now with AI tools, tone of voice guidelines are even more incredibly useful. Just ask this pastor I worked with on a recent rebrand. He was writing content for a connect card they could use to gather information from visitors, and he was blown away by how helpful it was to have a brand tone of voice. “Bro, ChatGPT is crazy cool… I put in the tone description from our brand guidelines, and it gave me all kinds of good options!” Here’s the tone description he was talking about: “Our tone is bold yet humble—serious about truth, passionate about people, and always inviting others into something real. We speak with clarity, conviction, and warmth, aiming to reflect both the reverence of our faith and the relational heart of our church.” If you saw a social media post with exclamation points, emoji’s and emotional word choice, you would probably expect a passionate, informal, and loud worship service on Sunday morning. Now, what if you showed up to that church and found a conservative Presbyterian church with organ-led hymns and a serious vibe. Would you be confused? Inconsistent writing style can even leave visitors with a subtle feeling of being confused or tricked, rather than edified. In the end, looking the part is critically important, but your visuals are ultimately just the vehicle for what can only be communicated through written (or spoken) words.

In a church rebrand project, I tend to focus mainly on designing the congregation’s visual identity. However, there’s a key part of branding that doesn’t always get as much attention, which I’ve started including in the church brand guides I create. That piece is a verbal identity. A consistent writing style is crucial in church communications, and I’m breaking it down into its two fundamental parts today. If the content of your bulletin reads dramatically different from the content of your website, which reads different from your social media, then your overall message won’t land with the same impact. So, let’s look at the two key facets of a verbal identity: vocabulary and tone of voice. Brand Vocabulary The words you choose to use in official church creative work and communication should be a reflection of who you are speaking to, and how you want them to view you. Here’s an example of brand vocabulary guidelines: “In our church communications, we occasionally use words like ‘y’all’ and ‘fixin’ to identify with our main demographic of ranchers and homesteaders here in rural Oklahoma. These words should not be overused in a cliche way, but should be sprinkled in to add warmth and familiarity to our written copy.” In the next post, I’ll look at the other facet of a verbal identity: tone of voice.

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian communication theorist who coined the phrase, “The medium is the message.” In other words: how you choose to say something changes what your audience walks away with. McLuhan’s point was that each medium doesn’t just deliver your message - it shapes it and sends unspoken signals like: The value you place on the relationship How urgent or serious something is How you want to be perceived Let’s look at an example. Sending a text message says, “I want to be quick and efficient.” A phone call says, “This is personal.” The words exchanged can be the same, but the vibe of that medium changes what message actually gets received. Effective branding is effective communication, so it’s important to understand this idea! Here are a few church-specific examples: Animated sermon graphics say, “We care about looking fresh and young.” A church-wide email newsletter says, “We expect our members to stay informed.” Hand-written note cards from a pastor or staff member say, “You are known and cared for.” You have core ideas and feelings about your church that you want your congregation and community to “get.” The medium can either supercharge or neutralize the power of those ideas. If they’re not getting it, you might want to find a different way of presenting it.

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.