Church Services: A Conceptual Case for Marketing

Abstract

For the majority of non-profit organisations, marketing is a well established management activity. However for many religious organisations the adoption of marketing management activities is in its relatively early stages. This paper conceptualises the application of marketing using the following typology; namely, understanding, creating, communicating and delivering customer related values. It examines to what extent this typology can be applied to the Christian Church. In conclusion, it is postulated that church marketing is complicated in terms of brand identity, product offering, diversity of target audience, and theological dimension of conflict, in the interaction of commercialism and Christianity.