What is a Verbal Identity? And Why it Matters for Churches (Pt. 1 Vocabulary)

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.

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.

A good friend of mine who used to be a youth pastor just opened up the first brick-and-mortar location for his fly fishing business. It got me thinking about how Jesus made his disciples to be fishers of men (Matthew 4), which, in those days, called to mind an image of casting nets. But what about using a lure? Is it appropriate to “bait” people toward the gospel by making our visuals flashier and our colors brighter in the name of more effective man-fishing? My conclusion is no. Well, usually no. Jesus’ model of evangelism and ministry was markedly NOT seeker-sensitive. If your goal with church branding is to baptize marketing trends and tactics, you’ll be surprised at how few people stick around and put down roots in your congregation. What you win them with is what you win them to. That’s why a brand based on vision and congregational identity can last for decades, while a brand based on cultural relevance and eye candy feels like a “bait and switch.” For my friend, tying flies started as a hobby on the side. He would source exotic materials and study the quirks of different fish species to create unique flies that looked more fine art than fishing gear. These things were beautiful. It’s not wrong to build beautiful buildings, design beautiful logos, or lean into an aesthetic. Those are good things, and they can help to attract people to a church. But those people should be there for what the brand represents, not the brand itself. A well-crafted and positioned brand is a beautiful, visual manifestation of your church’s identity and mission, not a flashy lure.

For those of us that read books, we quickly find a favorite author who we can’t put down. I’m curious how well you really know yours. If I put five excerpts by different authors in front of you, could you tell which one was written by your favorite author? What would give it away? I’m a fan of sci-fi, and my favorite author is currently Blake Crouch. He writes with a unique combination of vivid detail and grungy vocabulary. I like to think I could absolutely tell when a book is written by him. This identifying power of the words we choose and the tone we use is one of the key elements in branding. When a brand is polished, refined, and bolstered, it would be a mistake to leave out defining the word choice and tone of voice that brand speaks with. Tend your whole brand, and choose a tone of voice that will reinforce your message.

If you’re one of many (or even a few) churches in your area, branding that stands out should be at the top of your mind. A lot of pastors feel guilty upping their branding game because of their kingdom mindset. “We don’t want to just attract people from other churches because of our aesthetic.” That’s a logical concern, but it’s wrong. People from the harvest (the lost, those who aren’t attending church) are looking at your aesthetics too. When they see a church that looks and sounds the same as every other church in the community, what do you think they’re going to do? They're going to dismiss you. But what happens if you have a logo breaks the mold of the “average” church logo? What if you choose your colors and a tone of voice don’t play it safe like everyone else? You short circuit that pattern recognition many people have for churches. In the sales world they call this a “pattern interrupt.” Violate people’s expectations in a positive way (positive is key here), and you’ll disarm them, making them open to hearing the life changing news of the gospel. I want to be very clear, I’m talking about your church branding and core communications. Here’s what I’m NOT advocating your church look like on a Sunday morning. This church looked different by removing everything that would make them look Christian and simultaneously infringed on a dozen trademarks. Don’t do that! But, here’s my final thought: You’re not being inauthentic by branding yourself as different from others. You ARE different from others. God is doing a unique thing in and through your congregation. So capitalize on that!

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 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.

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.

We recognize and agree that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can draw people near, sway their hearts, and renew their minds. We know that he uses means to do that. What are those means? They are anything from a meal, to a sermon, to podcasts, to graphic design, which ultimately communicate his Word. In light of that, we should ask how can we do those things in a way that will glorify God and be used by his Holy Spirit? It’s not an easy question to answer, but a powerful place to start is in your church brand. You already have the substance in your vision, mission, and values… the challenge is to create something of the highest quality to capture that substance, visually representing what God is doing in your local body. This is what I challenge myself with every time I sit down at the drawing board.