This PowerPoint by Stewardship Advocates assists Orthodox Christian parishes in more effectively conveying their message to members, visitors, seekers, guests and all people who reside in this world.

1. The Personality of an Orthodox Parish
Stewardship AdvocatesTM

2. In business and in the nonprofit community
the personality of an organization is it’s brand.
Throughout this presentation there will be references to the
“brand” of an Orthodox parish. No disrespect is intended by this use
of marketing terminology. (The Ark of Salvation is not a brand!)
Rather, it is hoped that through the use of this term and an
increased understanding of “branding”, parish leadership will gain
clarity as to how the parish presents itself to parishioners, seekers
and the larger community outside of the parish.
Every priest or experienced layperson knows that though each
Orthodox parish conveys its identity in commonly accepted content
and forms such as architecture, iconography, music, liturgical
services, etc., nevertheless it still has its own unique personality.

3. What’s a brand?
Brands are to parishes what
personalities are to people.
They can be exciting or dull.
Direct or obtuse. Smart or
dumb. Friendly or alienating.
One definition of a brand is
what people say about us
when we are not in the room
or, what people who have a
nodding acquaintance with
the parish say about it when
we are not present.

4. Biblical Word “Branding”: Some of the 45
Names Applied to the Believing Community
• Assembly of the saints - Ps 89:7
• Body of Christ - Eph 1:22,23; Col 1:24
• Bride of Christ - Rev 21:9
• Church of the Living God - 1Tim 3:15
• Church of the first-born - Heb 12:23
• Congregation of the Lord's poor - Ps 74:19
• Family in heaven and earth - Eph 3:15
• Flock of God - Eze 34:15; 1Pe 5:2
• New Jerusalem - Rev 21:2
• Vineyard - Jer 12:10; Mt 21:41
• Pillar and ground of the truth - 1Tim 3:15
• Israel of God - Gal 6:16
• Temple of the Living God - 2Cor 6:16
• Sanctuary of God - Ps 114:2

5. Some Word “Branding” of Christians in Early
Church History by Roman Commentators
• Atheists
• Cannibals
• A most mischievous superstition
• Yet another mystery cult from the East
• An abomination
• Arsonists
• Disloyal traitors
• Haters of the human race
• Those who practice incest and worship
an ass’s head

6. The Brand that Stuck
“They were first called
Christians in Antioch.”
Acts 11:26
Christians = those who
follow or belong to Christ

7. The set of experiences, impressions, memories, stories and
relationships that, taken together, account for a seeker
choosing, or an inactive Orthodox Christian choosing
anew, the Orthodox way over other paths of life.
For our purpose, the definition of
effective parish branding would be:

8. • We already have a brand, now we need to manage it:
o The gospel drives the brand
o Parishioners internalize the brand
o Strategies strengthen the brand
o Staff, the council and volunteers deliver on the
brand
o Materials and website express the brand
• A strong brand drives internal mission and aligns
purpose
• A strong brand builds external trust and credibility in
the greater community beyond the parish
Why should parishes care about branding?

9. Why worry?
Whether we want it or not we are already branded.
People will form opinions about the parish –
internally and externally.
The real question is this: do we want to shape this
perception of what we stand for, of what our values
are, of how we serve the community or do we want to
just accept the default perception or brand that is
handed to us?

10. Why is this important?
A strong, differentiated, attractive and relevant
brand or parish personality can help us…
– Gain new members to the parish
– Elevate the profile of the parish in the geography
in which it is located
– Extend the influence of the parish into the
community
– Attract volunteers from within the community
– Help the general parish membership focus more
on the primary mission or purpose of the parish
– Assist leaders to become more focused and
effective

11. What does professional market research
tell us about great brands of nonprofits?
• They have a clear sense
of who they are
• Are disciplined and
focused
• Tell good stories
• Internally and
externally aligned
• Personnel have tools
and capacity to deliver
• Consistently meet or
exceed expectations

12. Assessing our Present Brand

13. • How would the local neighbors describe you?
• How are you known in the city?
• In the diocese?
• How would the parish membership generally
describe the personality of the parish?
• Is there a signature annual event that has the
greatest impact in forming public perception?
What is the personality or brand of your parish?

14. If the brand is the personality of a parish
then what personality attributes would
we want our parish to convey through
branding?

15. Every picture tells a story and conveys the brand. If
one of the following pictures were prominently
posted on a parish website what might it possibly
indicate about the personality of the parish to the
seeker or new Orthodox family just moved to the
city?
Remember: describe how someone visiting your
website for the first time might perceive the
personality of the parish from the picture – not how
you as an involved Orthodox Christian feel about it.

30. Brands are More than Cosmetic
They make an impression and result in a perception
by the audience; they indicate the DNA of a parish.

31. Orthodox Church Logos Past and Present
What message (s) do they convey? What does it say of their values? Who is their audience?

32. Practical Steps for Shaping our Brand

33. There are five elements to building a brand
1. Words – powerfully convey basic ideas
2. Pictures – tell a story
3. FHBs (Friendly human beings) who listen, care and
respond
4. Websites are essential and are becoming more and
more important for accessing information; they are
a window into our parish
5. Programs and services directed both inward to the
parish and outward into the greater community
offer the opportunity to experience our brand or
personality

34. Short Sentences Can Tell a Powerful Story
In a wager, purportedly made by Ernest Hemingway,
he bet friends that he could tell a moving and
evocative story in six words.
These were the words:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
There is a story of deep emotion in these few words.

35. Creating a brand involves assessing the
entirety of the parish and the environment in
which the parish fulfills its mission. It is very
helpful to study this before reshaping our
brand or building it from scratch.

36. “I have become all things to all
people so that by all possible
means I might save some.”
(I Corinthians 9:22)
In all matters pertaining to
public perception and branding,
put the audience(s) – not
ourselves – foremost in our
consideration. Always be
thinking not so much about how
we, within the Church, see
ourselves, but rather, how
others see us. What do we want
them to see, to feel and to know
about us?
Reverse Perspective

37. First Things First: Perform an Audit
• What is our mission, vision and values?
• What difference can the parish make in the lives of
people in the local and the greater communities
• What do we do better than anyone else?

38. Performing a Brand Audit
1. Interviews and focus groups tell us what and why
Staff • Parish Council • Volunteers
2. Surveys tell us how much and how many
General parishioners
3. Review materials for the three “C's”:
Clarity • Creativity • Consistency

39. Identify and define our audience(s)
• Who do we want to reach?
• What are their “traits”?
• Who are the best prospects?
• What are their demographics?
• Where do they live?
• What is their religious background?
• Where might we find them?
• What do they need from us?

40. Assess the competition
• Who or what is our competition?
• What are they offering that is attractive?
• What are they offering that we do not offer?
• How are they reaching people?
• What is there to be learned from the competition?
• What elements, if any, could be offered in our
parish with modifications?

41. What are assets of the parish in terms of
shaping or enhancing the parish “brand”?
• Parish name
• Mission, vision, values
• Visual identifiers (logo, architecture, signage,
social media, social events, public service, etc.)
• Programs
• Ministries
• Services
• Leadership
• Information material
• Person of the priest

42. Common Branding Mistakes
• Four-color logos
• Believing that the logo is our brand (it’s an
indicator of our brand)
• Believing that our brand is our mission (brand
points toward mission)
• Not training the front line troops
• Mission drift
• Inconsistent experiences for viewers, visitors, etc.
• Staff, parish council members, ministry heads not
empowered to deliver on the brand

43. Checklist
 Our logo and other elements of our brand identity were
created by a well-meaning, talented but not professional
volunteer
 Our website, brochures and other communications tools
were created on an ad hoc basis and don’t look like they
come from the same parish.
 We don’t repurpose content. Every time we create new
content we start from scratch.
 Our brand is generic. Our parish looks and sounds pretty
much like everyone else's.

44. The Holy Orthodox Faith
• What are the unique features of Orthodoxy?
• How do we express these through our personality or
brand?
• How do we differ from other expressions of
Christianity?
• Why should a person become Orthodox?
• What services are we providing to the community?
• How do we convey the Orthodox “brand” to the
atheists, agnostics, unchurched, indifferent and those
openly hostile to “organized religion” (Whatever THAT
is!)
• In what way does our worship speak or not speak to
those who become attracted to our “brand”?

45. A Primary Purpose Message Platform
• Elevator share (30 seconds to share our brand)
o One or two sentences in length
o 40,000 foot view of who we are and why we
are here
o Build key messages from elevator pitch
• Limit key messages to no more than five
o Present messages in bullet list form
o Messages support the elevator speech
o Each message must be concise and to the point
• Ensure that staff, council members and ministry
heads internalize the key messages
• Remember: if brand is parish personality then the
conveyer of the message’s demeanor is important

46. The Strong Brand
• Promises made and kept... over time
• Consistency in messaging, visuals
• Experiences that move and delight audiences
• Clear sense of what the brand stands for
• Staff, parish council members and ministry
heads know how to deliver on the brand
• Not just a logo or a tagline

47. How might the graphic below help us to see ourselves? Have we ever surveyed
this, tracked it or considered how we might do things differently?

48. Contact Information and Additional
Material from Stewardship Advocates
phone/text: 347.831.1848
email: orthodoxconsultant@gmail.com
newsletter: http://www.stewardshipadvocates.org/
website: http://www.stewardshipadvocates.org
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