Getting the good word out

These days, nondenominational and multi-denominational churches often pop up in strip malls, which provide not only low overhead but also a chance to grab the attention of people out looking for a laundromat or some motor oil. Bible Baptist Church in West Valley City uses a larger-than-life poster of Jesus to announce its presence. Members from Calvary Chapel and the Church of Scientology had booths at the Utah State Fair this fall.

As a more subtle way of drawing attention to themselves, many churches host conferences and workshops on topics ranging from marriage to finances; some churches, like Southeast Baptist Church, host concerts and Halloween parties for the neighborhood. Holladay United Church of Christ has drawn new members as a by-product of activities in the community, like participating in the annual gay pride parade, interim Pastor Jill Warner says.

Most churches also now offer "contemporary services" to draw a younger, less traditional audience. These services sometimes feature, as Southeast Baptist pastor John Primm says, "trumpets and saxophones and congas and grand pianos."

And then there's the one-on-one approach. "About 75 to 80 percent of people who attend mainline Protestant and Catholic churches," says Christ United Methodist's the Rev. Goodier, "come at the invitation of family and friends. It's by far the best way to market your church."

There's a danger to marketing yourself in "worldly" ways, says Wake Forest's Leonard. In the Christian church, he notes, "there's that old tension of being in the world but not of the world." Sometimes popular culture "comes in the back door," he says. "I can illustrate that with one phrase: Christian heavy metal."

And some advertising, he adds, "perpetuates a kind of Christian consumerism. People looking for the glitziest brochure, the newest program, the next attention-getter." There's also the danger, he says, "that some of these churches will open the doors larger than the doctrine will allow."

Openness and inclusivity is the message of more liberal Protestant churches. The Episcopal Church's tag line in a series of TV commercials is "The Episcopal Church welcomes you." One TV spot asked, "Where do women stand in the church?" and then answered "Right at the altar," a reference to the denomination's ordination of female clergy. The ad campaign resulted in triple the number of hits on the church's national Web site, says Utah diocese spokesman Webster.

The Methodist Church has a similar campaign. "Open minds, open hearts, open doors," is their tag line. "It says a lot about who we are theologically," Goodier explained. "That we're not so dogmatic that we'll tell you what to believe."