Want to woo believers? Try good branding
May 25, 2010
A story goes that a pastor in one of the outskirts of Kampala opened up a church and failed to get any Christians to attend the services. He was later advised by a colleague to change the church name to something more attractive. When he heeded this advise, the following Sunday, his church filled wi
By Dominic Muwanguzi
A story goes that a pastor in one of the outskirts of Kampala opened up a church and failed to get any Christians to attend the services. He was later advised by a colleague to change the church name to something more attractive. When he heeded this advise, the following Sunday, his church filled with people from all walks of life.
Whether this story is true or fictitious, the element of branding a church with a catchy name to attract multitudes of followers is fast-becoming a norm among Pentecostal churches in Uganda.
When taking a walk in your neighborhood, you might be startled by the names on signposts of these churches. Names like Holy Ghost Church and Devine Deliverance Church are conjured to define the efficacy of a church.
“A church is not only a place of worship. It is a money-minting palace. When you have a church, it is loosely translated that you’re rich and this is why a lot of attention is paid to the branding of churches,†says David Kiggundu, a staunch Protestant.
“There’s a wave of economic prosperity gospel in the church. For every church you attend, you will most certainly hear something to do with wealth. With this gospel, it becomes inevitable for the pastors to coin names which will reflect this on their flock,†says one, Josephine Nakayima.
Pastor Aaron Mutebi of Entebbe Miracle Centre says: “Every pastor in the Pentecostal movement is called for a different ministry; that is why you will see different churches having different names. This is unlike the traditional churches which have one particular ministry.â€
Pastor Eddie Opale of Seeta Miracle Centre says: “We (pastors) are given assignments by God just as Moses was given an assignment to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
“Our assignments are manifested in the churches we open up. For example, Miracle Church’s assignment is to perform miracles and Victorious Church’s assignment is to preach and encourage victory.â€
Opale says these churches are doing no wrong in branding their ministries and this is one of the ways they can effectively reach out to their flock — they should avoid doing it for economic reasons.
“There are churches which use these names to manipulate their flock. This is against the ministry. The principle reason for any ministry should be to serve Christians according to the gospel and not to make money. Christians should be on the look out for such unscrupulous behaviour among pastors,†he warns.
This aspect of manipulating Christians is magnified by Stephen Bwire a devout born- again Christian. He says whether a church should have a trendy name or not is not the issue, but what is more important is the reputation of this particular church.
“There have been allegations of pastors misbehaving and yet their churches are respected because of the name they carry. This throws the gospel they preach in jeopardy as many Christians will begin questioning the credibility of what they do,†Bwire says.
With a diversity of reasons as to why churches should or should not be branded, it remains to be seen if the Pentecostal church will succumb to those daunting voices, or will stick with the trend.
Until that happens, we can get used to hearing names like Blood of Jesus Church and Next to Heaven Devine Ministries, now and again.
A story goes that a pastor in one of the outskirts of Kampala opened up a church and failed to get any Christians to attend the services. He was later advised by a colleague to change the church name to something more attractive. When he heeded this advise, the following Sunday, his church filled with people from all walks of life.
Whether this story is true or fictitious, the element of branding a church with a catchy name to attract multitudes of followers is fast-becoming a norm among Pentecostal churches in Uganda.
When taking a walk in your neighborhood, you might be startled by the names on signposts of these churches. Names like Holy Ghost Church and Devine Deliverance Church are conjured to define the efficacy of a church.
“A church is not only a place of worship. It is a money-minting palace. When you have a church, it is loosely translated that you’re rich and this is why a lot of attention is paid to the branding of churches,†says David Kiggundu, a staunch Protestant.
“There’s a wave of economic prosperity gospel in the church. For every church you attend, you will most certainly hear something to do with wealth. With this gospel, it becomes inevitable for the pastors to coin names which will reflect this on their flock,†says one, Josephine Nakayima.
Pastor Aaron Mutebi of Entebbe Miracle Centre says: “Every pastor in the Pentecostal movement is called for a different ministry; that is why you will see different churches having different names. This is unlike the traditional churches which have one particular ministry.â€
Pastor Eddie Opale of Seeta Miracle Centre says: “We (pastors) are given assignments by God just as Moses was given an assignment to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
“Our assignments are manifested in the churches we open up. For example, Miracle Church’s assignment is to perform miracles and Victorious Church’s assignment is to preach and encourage victory.â€
Opale says these churches are doing no wrong in branding their ministries and this is one of the ways they can effectively reach out to their flock — they should avoid doing it for economic reasons.
“There are churches which use these names to manipulate their flock. This is against the ministry. The principle reason for any ministry should be to serve Christians according to the gospel and not to make money. Christians should be on the look out for such unscrupulous behaviour among pastors,†he warns.
This aspect of manipulating Christians is magnified by Stephen Bwire a devout born- again Christian. He says whether a church should have a trendy name or not is not the issue, but what is more important is the reputation of this particular church.
“There have been allegations of pastors misbehaving and yet their churches are respected because of the name they carry. This throws the gospel they preach in jeopardy as many Christians will begin questioning the credibility of what they do,†Bwire says.
With a diversity of reasons as to why churches should or should not be branded, it remains to be seen if the Pentecostal church will succumb to those daunting voices, or will stick with the trend.
Until that happens, we can get used to hearing names like Blood of Jesus Church and Next to Heaven Devine Ministries, now and again.