What is your church's 'Market Statement?'

In the business world, companies are adamant about shaping their 'market statement.' In other words, what does the company stand for, how are they perceived in the market. In the church world, though, we ignore that. We sometimes think it's our mission statement, which is too broad (and often too harmless) to really say who we are. This weekend, I attended a church whose mission statment was "Love God, Love Others." Great mission, but tells nothing about who they are or who they are trying to reach.

A great market statement should tell the following:

- What is our church's laser focus (evangelism, discipleship, mission work)
- Who is our target audience ('People' is not good enough, nor is 'lost people.' specifics are important here- families in their 20's and 30's with young kids, for example)
- What do we do well
- What do we not do well

Most churches, like most businesses, tend to try to do too much. This often works in the short term, because trying to be all things to all people allows you to attract people. But, in the long term, this incomplete structure will collapse on itself. As author Jim Collins says, most organizations are more likely to gorge themselves to death than starve themselves to death. There is no lack of opportunity. But people can quickly see when something (a company or a church) is not what it's advertised to be.

It's better that the leadership understand who they are up front, rather than fooling themselves and trying to pick up the pieces later. Having a market statement helps them focus on only what they can do well. This doesn't mean we leave lost people lost, it means we try to reach the ones we're good at reaching.