MinistryCom stuffed my brain! The two sessions I benefited from the most were “Marketing to Multi-cultural Audiences” and “Copyright Essentials.”
Fellow Louisvillian Tracey Michae’l Lewis presented the Multi-cultural workshop with complete candor. She addressed “The Great Debate” for the church: do we denounce culture or become relevant to the culture?
Her answer not only helped me as I market for the church, but it has so much personal application. We must do three things:
1. Find commonalities
Find issues or historically-related commonalities from growing up (hometown, growing up in the 80s), experiences (divorce, abuse), emotion (lonely, needing). Finding common ground helps us look beyond race to see the connections that lead to further relationships. Of course, Jesus is the ultimate draw.
2. Embrace vs. ignore cultural differences
Great danger in saying, “We don’t see color. Just come on in and serve God.” She said, “If you do not see me as an African American woman, you’re missing something great about me . . . the unique way God created me for His purposes.”
3. Overcome fears that come from assumption and stereotypes
These things create barriers that prevent us from reaching people.
Her best advice for the church – be authentic. The church’s personality will change as you incorporate principles into the church, but no need to change the core of who you are.
She gave a great example of how insincere it would be for a normally suited-up Southern Baptist preacher to come out on Sunday in complete hip-hop attire and vernacular. But if that same preacher walked out and asked a high school student to come up and explain some hip hop lyrics, that would engage the culture and start a dialogue for further connection.
Check out Evan's blog for my take-aways from the Copyright Essentials sessions.
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