Before I start with part 2 let me answer a question that was posed to me off part 1. What is the diference btween a vison statement, mission statement and a postioning statement? Here's my answer. I guess my definations of the three statements are:
Vision statement is what you organisation strives to be;
Mission statement is how you will achieve it;
Positioning statement is how people see you in the marketplace.
For example with 96five:
Vision statement: To be Brisbane's prefered radio staion for families;
Mission statement: Building stronger families, connecting people to Jesus Christ, supporting the Christian community, through excellence in radio broacdcasting;
Positioning statement: Families No. 1
We don't use our vision statement as our branding statement. Our mission statement is an internal organisation message. Our vision statement says that we want to have your family listening to us. Those that already listen to us know that. People who aren't listeners don't know that. Our positioning statement is the brand slogan that helps us achieve our vision statement. Our mission statement then lets our staff now the framework for all programimng decisions.
So in a church context vision statement defines the church's position in the community, the mission statement tells the leadership and congregation how it will be achieved and the positioning statement is short punchy and tells a non member about your church distictive.
Does that help. Your church vision statement should never change - it is timeless. Mission statement may not change either but can be fine tuned to reflect the strengths of the church and the positioning tsatement should rarely change as it always takes a while for the community to actually 'get it'.
Now for Part 2.
Communicating your Distinctives
Just as important as developing your distinctives is to clearly communicate them to your audience. Often a church lets itself down by not clearly articulating what they are doing. Churches have always been guilty of using words that are not readily known by unchurched people. Churches will talk about their contemporary music. There is actually no such music genre at contemporary. Try going to iTunes or a retail music store and asking for the latest contemporary music album. They just don’t exist.
Other use phrases like we are a bible believing church. Well aren’t we all – it is a given not a positioning statement.
Sometimes we will talk about a world famous speaker coming to speak this weekend. I ask the question in whose world are they famous in. Nelson Mandela is world famous but Bill Hybels or even Julia Gillard isn’t world famous, just known in their areas of life.
Also never confuse style with relevance. When communicating you need to communicate from a position of substance not from a position of style. People aren’t looking for something stylish but for something that actually meets their own needs.
Service Delivery
Make sure you can actually deliver your distinctives or promises. Make sure you are actually friendly and engaging. If you call your self a family church do you cater for single parent families? What about singles?
Embrace other churches.
Other denominations are not the enemy or opposition. We are actually on the same team. Notice in your community how all the fast food shops seem to be in one spot. That is because they know that works in a financial sense. So if a church opens up in your area don’t panic. It is actually a good thing. Also there are plenty of unsaved people to share around. The more churches the better. Again embrace your distinctive not the other churchs distinctives and you will be fine. After all didn’t God call you to be there?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Developing your Church brand
For awhile I have been doing some research in to marketing and branding and in particular how they can help a church effectively reach their community. In the next couple of blogs I am going to attempt to summarise my thoughts and studies on this topic and hopefully give you something to think about as you see how your unchurch community looks at you.
How is your church perceived by your congregation and by the community who don’t attend. These are two distinct groups of people with different needs and different ways of engaging them. Firstly we will look at how we engage our community.
Your Church Brand or distinctive.
Your church brand is how you are marketed or perceived by all people. Good or strong brands are instantly recognised and should create an emotional connection. When you see the Golden arches logo you don’t think McDonalds but you are automatically thinking about their products and how much you enjoy them. When you see the Nike swoosh you are thinking about how it helps you run, or how comfortable their clothes are. Even the logo CE, you don’t know what it means but you recognise it as some sort of quality control.
So what is your Church brand?
How does your community perceive your church? Do they recognise it they way you do. If you closed tomorrow would anyone notice?
Successful organisations work out firstly what message they want to communicate to their community. They identify that market and then look for what are the hot buttons for that group of people. Churches need to decide if their core market is their existing congregation or is it people who don’t go to church.
When you are developing your church’s distictives (brand) you start with what your audience wants not what you think your audience wants. This would include not only programs but what time the activity or even church service starts. Which day of the week you hold it? The church is really a service organisation. The church is the only community organisation that exists for people who aren’t its members. So when you run an activity make sure the people you are running the activity for actually want it.
You need to make sure you have distinctives that actually engage people. Quick check amongst you current church activities. Who is engaged churched or unchurched?
Well who is my audience?
Our radio station has a specific listener in mind when we create our programming. She is Mary Smith 34 year old lady with two kids, one in grade 4 another in grade 1. She has a significant male partner in her life, doesn’t go to church but is not anti church. She drives a family type car, kids play sport and the daughter does dancing. All our decisions on music selection, announcer breaks, copy writing for ads all come from what engages Mary and her life. Our radio station distinctives come from Mary’s life and what would engage her as a listener and a person.
Churches sometimes make the mistake of not being able to define who their Mary Smith is. Consequently you don’t know who you are targeting in your programs or even sermons. The same for departments such as youth or Sunday school. They all should have a core person in their mind when running their ministry.
Once you know what Mary looks like then you can develop your Church’s distinctives. Also be prepared that you Church’s vision statement may change. My experience is that most church vision statements are for the congregation not the lost. Most business vision statements are for the potential consumer not the existing member. That seems to be an interesting difference. I think a lot of churches get their vision statements mixed up with mission statements. Throw into the mix that many churches even use their vision statement as their branding/positioning statement. In reality you actually should have three different statements.
Next blog will look at how do you communicate your brand/distinctives to your community. I am also keen to hear your thoughts on this topic too.
How is your church perceived by your congregation and by the community who don’t attend. These are two distinct groups of people with different needs and different ways of engaging them. Firstly we will look at how we engage our community.
Your Church Brand or distinctive.
Your church brand is how you are marketed or perceived by all people. Good or strong brands are instantly recognised and should create an emotional connection. When you see the Golden arches logo you don’t think McDonalds but you are automatically thinking about their products and how much you enjoy them. When you see the Nike swoosh you are thinking about how it helps you run, or how comfortable their clothes are. Even the logo CE, you don’t know what it means but you recognise it as some sort of quality control.
So what is your Church brand?
How does your community perceive your church? Do they recognise it they way you do. If you closed tomorrow would anyone notice?
Successful organisations work out firstly what message they want to communicate to their community. They identify that market and then look for what are the hot buttons for that group of people. Churches need to decide if their core market is their existing congregation or is it people who don’t go to church.
When you are developing your church’s distictives (brand) you start with what your audience wants not what you think your audience wants. This would include not only programs but what time the activity or even church service starts. Which day of the week you hold it? The church is really a service organisation. The church is the only community organisation that exists for people who aren’t its members. So when you run an activity make sure the people you are running the activity for actually want it.
You need to make sure you have distinctives that actually engage people. Quick check amongst you current church activities. Who is engaged churched or unchurched?
Well who is my audience?
Our radio station has a specific listener in mind when we create our programming. She is Mary Smith 34 year old lady with two kids, one in grade 4 another in grade 1. She has a significant male partner in her life, doesn’t go to church but is not anti church. She drives a family type car, kids play sport and the daughter does dancing. All our decisions on music selection, announcer breaks, copy writing for ads all come from what engages Mary and her life. Our radio station distinctives come from Mary’s life and what would engage her as a listener and a person.
Churches sometimes make the mistake of not being able to define who their Mary Smith is. Consequently you don’t know who you are targeting in your programs or even sermons. The same for departments such as youth or Sunday school. They all should have a core person in their mind when running their ministry.
Once you know what Mary looks like then you can develop your Church’s distinctives. Also be prepared that you Church’s vision statement may change. My experience is that most church vision statements are for the congregation not the lost. Most business vision statements are for the potential consumer not the existing member. That seems to be an interesting difference. I think a lot of churches get their vision statements mixed up with mission statements. Throw into the mix that many churches even use their vision statement as their branding/positioning statement. In reality you actually should have three different statements.
Next blog will look at how do you communicate your brand/distinctives to your community. I am also keen to hear your thoughts on this topic too.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Why cliches are like speaking in tongues
The other week I got sent a great link to a you tube clip showing Qld Reds captain Will Genia being interviewed by the Fox Sports commentator. The humorous bit was in the top left corner was a counter that was counting the number of clichés Genia used during the interview.
For a long time people have complained about the way sportsmen and politicians speak in clichés. They roll out the same comments week after week and will actually answer a question without actually giving us a glimpse of what the really think. The winning captain will always say ‘we always knew it would be a hard game’ ‘the opposition never stopped trying’ instead of perhaps saying we were better than they were. They hide their true thoughts and feelings behind clichés.
Well sportsmen and politicians aren’t the only ones. Check out your Ministers sermon next week or what the song leader at church says between songs. We Christians are just as guilty of speaking in clichés. We use phrases and words that are only familiar to fellow believers. Words such as redemption. To a Christian redemption means what Christ did on the cross. To our non Christian audience redemption means getting even.
Now you can start to see why to most non Christians think all churches speak in tongues. Christians use words and phrases which are great if you are already a member of the in crowd. If you aren’t a ‘member’ then sorry you wouldn’t understand.
Other examples of words that only christians know are contemporary music and youth. Go to a record shop and and try and buy a contemporary music album. Cant. That's right because it doesn't exist as a music genre. Only in church do we talk about contemporary music and the non christians wonder what we are talking about. Even the word youth is only talked about in church. What is a youth? Is it a 12 year old? Maybe 15 or is it 20 years old? Not sure.
It’s like we need to introduce a plain speaking language for church. We need to step back look at the words we use and say does the common person actually understand what I just said. Even simple words like sin really aren’t used in every day language.
Let me know your thoughts.
For a long time people have complained about the way sportsmen and politicians speak in clichés. They roll out the same comments week after week and will actually answer a question without actually giving us a glimpse of what the really think. The winning captain will always say ‘we always knew it would be a hard game’ ‘the opposition never stopped trying’ instead of perhaps saying we were better than they were. They hide their true thoughts and feelings behind clichés.
Well sportsmen and politicians aren’t the only ones. Check out your Ministers sermon next week or what the song leader at church says between songs. We Christians are just as guilty of speaking in clichés. We use phrases and words that are only familiar to fellow believers. Words such as redemption. To a Christian redemption means what Christ did on the cross. To our non Christian audience redemption means getting even.
Now you can start to see why to most non Christians think all churches speak in tongues. Christians use words and phrases which are great if you are already a member of the in crowd. If you aren’t a ‘member’ then sorry you wouldn’t understand.
Other examples of words that only christians know are contemporary music and youth. Go to a record shop and and try and buy a contemporary music album. Cant. That's right because it doesn't exist as a music genre. Only in church do we talk about contemporary music and the non christians wonder what we are talking about. Even the word youth is only talked about in church. What is a youth? Is it a 12 year old? Maybe 15 or is it 20 years old? Not sure.
It’s like we need to introduce a plain speaking language for church. We need to step back look at the words we use and say does the common person actually understand what I just said. Even simple words like sin really aren’t used in every day language.
Let me know your thoughts.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Today's Generation Gap
Is it harder parenting in the 21st Century than the 20th Century? The last couple of months I have been challenged with how little I know about the new technology that is sweeping the planet. At one stage I used to wear with pride the badge that said ‘I have never visited Myspace/Facebook/Youtube’. That was until my kids starting becoming old enough to want to dabble in that part of the web.
Now I’m beginning to understand the generation gap stuff that my parents warned me about. I used to think I was hip enough. Years of working in youth ministry and now over a decade working in the media made me believe that I was up with all the trends and technology. I knew I was relatively ignorant about computers (some would say scared) and my internet ability was limited to what I needed to use for research purposes at work. Recently I have had a cathartic moment that computers and internet are going to last longer than Amco flares or leg warmers.
I was wary because most of this internet stuff seemed to be self focussed. There was Myspace, youtube, iPhone, iTunes. I was fearful that perhaps today’s youth were growing up to be self absorbed. Even what I still call mobile phones really aren’t. They had become electronic communication devices that take photos. A lot of this web2.0 technology is certainly impersonal communication. It is less and less about personal face to face or even ear to ear communicating with people. It’s more about keeping in touch, letting people know you are around without necessarily having a conversation. Sometimes I think its more about leaving an electronic footprint that says I do exist. Prior to that I guess you could be alive on this planet but very few people would know that. Web 2.0 gives people the opportunity to announce via facebook, myspace or now twitter that yes I do exist.
So is it wrong? I’m still not totally convinced that it’s ok. I know it is not legally or perhaps morally wrong. In reality I know that my kids will eagerly embrace this technology while I somewhat unwillingly jump into this cyber maze. I do know that I still need to be vigilant in making sure my kids get enough social contact that is face to face without iPod earphones stuck in their ears. Places like church, sport and school will give them the opportunity to engage with real people away from any cyber personality they or their facebook friends have. I also need to monitor their cyber space stuff, making sure it doesn’t consume them. I also need to ask lots of questions about their cyber world and do my own research e.g. facebook/myspace is ok; MSN is fraught with danger.
And I know realise that today’s generation gap is not a battle over music or clothes like it was for my parents but is over the use of cyber technology.
Now more than ever us parents need to pray.
Now I’m beginning to understand the generation gap stuff that my parents warned me about. I used to think I was hip enough. Years of working in youth ministry and now over a decade working in the media made me believe that I was up with all the trends and technology. I knew I was relatively ignorant about computers (some would say scared) and my internet ability was limited to what I needed to use for research purposes at work. Recently I have had a cathartic moment that computers and internet are going to last longer than Amco flares or leg warmers.
I was wary because most of this internet stuff seemed to be self focussed. There was Myspace, youtube, iPhone, iTunes. I was fearful that perhaps today’s youth were growing up to be self absorbed. Even what I still call mobile phones really aren’t. They had become electronic communication devices that take photos. A lot of this web2.0 technology is certainly impersonal communication. It is less and less about personal face to face or even ear to ear communicating with people. It’s more about keeping in touch, letting people know you are around without necessarily having a conversation. Sometimes I think its more about leaving an electronic footprint that says I do exist. Prior to that I guess you could be alive on this planet but very few people would know that. Web 2.0 gives people the opportunity to announce via facebook, myspace or now twitter that yes I do exist.
So is it wrong? I’m still not totally convinced that it’s ok. I know it is not legally or perhaps morally wrong. In reality I know that my kids will eagerly embrace this technology while I somewhat unwillingly jump into this cyber maze. I do know that I still need to be vigilant in making sure my kids get enough social contact that is face to face without iPod earphones stuck in their ears. Places like church, sport and school will give them the opportunity to engage with real people away from any cyber personality they or their facebook friends have. I also need to monitor their cyber space stuff, making sure it doesn’t consume them. I also need to ask lots of questions about their cyber world and do my own research e.g. facebook/myspace is ok; MSN is fraught with danger.
And I know realise that today’s generation gap is not a battle over music or clothes like it was for my parents but is over the use of cyber technology.
Now more than ever us parents need to pray.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Just how relevant is your church?
Just how relevant is your church?
One of the biggest focus points on Churches over the last 10 years or so has been the desire to be relevant. Churches and ministers have spent huge amounts of thought, money and resources on their desire to be relevant to their community. What I have learnt is that unfortunately church has misinterpreted relevance as style when in fact relevancy is more about substance. It is not concerned with how you deliver the message but whether the message is pertinent to the target audience in most cases the unchurched.
The dictionary defines relevant as: adj; having direct bearing on the matter in hand; pertinent. It has very little to do with style. A relevant message or statement is about it being appropriate or meaningful to the target audience. It is not about whether the music was this century not last, video projector was used instead of overhead projector. A relevant message is a message that made sense to the listener.
Too often churches let themselves down by putting all their energy into the delivery of its message rather than the appropriateness. It doesn’t matter how comfortable the seats are, how many electric guitars or youtube clips you include in your sermon, if the subject is not helpful to the listener then it is useful. A drowning man is not interested if the ship is the latest or newest model, he is only concerned if it has a life buoy that can be given to him to rescue him.
Focussing on style does not make the message relevant. Focussing on style does not make the message better either. A beautiful photo is still beautiful whether it is in colour or black and white, taken on a digital camera or on a film camera. The relevancy of the photo is not affected by how it was taken but by what it meant to the viewer.
It would be an interesting if you were to survey your unchurched community about what they would think a 'successful' church might look like. Perhaps style of worship might not rate as highly as a perhaps a church that serves it's community.
As you start 2010 and you seek to be a relevant church to your community don’t worry about your style of service just concentrate on whether you are actually helping people find meaning and purpose for their life. Don’t leave them disappointed by with promises or showbiz, just give them hope.
What do you think?
One of the biggest focus points on Churches over the last 10 years or so has been the desire to be relevant. Churches and ministers have spent huge amounts of thought, money and resources on their desire to be relevant to their community. What I have learnt is that unfortunately church has misinterpreted relevance as style when in fact relevancy is more about substance. It is not concerned with how you deliver the message but whether the message is pertinent to the target audience in most cases the unchurched.
The dictionary defines relevant as: adj; having direct bearing on the matter in hand; pertinent. It has very little to do with style. A relevant message or statement is about it being appropriate or meaningful to the target audience. It is not about whether the music was this century not last, video projector was used instead of overhead projector. A relevant message is a message that made sense to the listener.
Too often churches let themselves down by putting all their energy into the delivery of its message rather than the appropriateness. It doesn’t matter how comfortable the seats are, how many electric guitars or youtube clips you include in your sermon, if the subject is not helpful to the listener then it is useful. A drowning man is not interested if the ship is the latest or newest model, he is only concerned if it has a life buoy that can be given to him to rescue him.
Focussing on style does not make the message relevant. Focussing on style does not make the message better either. A beautiful photo is still beautiful whether it is in colour or black and white, taken on a digital camera or on a film camera. The relevancy of the photo is not affected by how it was taken but by what it meant to the viewer.
It would be an interesting if you were to survey your unchurched community about what they would think a 'successful' church might look like. Perhaps style of worship might not rate as highly as a perhaps a church that serves it's community.
As you start 2010 and you seek to be a relevant church to your community don’t worry about your style of service just concentrate on whether you are actually helping people find meaning and purpose for their life. Don’t leave them disappointed by with promises or showbiz, just give them hope.
What do you think?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Has the church been hijacked or at least distracted?
History is full of all sorts of fads and fashions. Flared jeans, platform shoes, Rubik cubes and many more to mention.
There is one fad that I fear that is taking over the world and importantly taking over our Churches. It is the fear of global warming. This paralysing fear was introduced to the world by an ex politician who coincidently when in power failed to do anything but contribute to this allegedly inconvenient truth.
Now adopted as a fact by politicians and celebrities right around most of the world this fear is beginning to impact the thinking the final bastion of truth - The Church. Yes it would appear that churches are now taking their eye off the ball and what they are called to do and beginning in order to try and be popular and relevant and jump on the ‘world is ending because of global warming’.
This as a Christian I find hard to reconcile. Now don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of having tanks on houses, using solar power, better light bulbs and picking up our rubbish. I am not a fan of adopting a popularist dogma with little scientific or theological support. I’m all for making wise use of the resources God has given us but I haven’t bought into the world is ending because of what man is doing.
To buy that thinking then you must seriously accept that man completely holds the destiny of this world not God. I don’t. I believe God will end this world when He is ready not when we allegedly destroy it. Doesn’t the Bible talk about Jesus coming back to earth when every tribe and nation has heard the gospel not when the polar ice caps have melted. Also after the flood I thought God was never again going to flood the world.
For me the jury is still out. Am I sceptic? Yes I am especially when the debate is driven by politicians and celebrities – people whose success is driven by popularity not reality.
I’m not sure if we as Christians are being hijacked but at least being distracted from our real purpose on earth – to point people to a relationship with God our Creator who is the master controller of what happens to this planet irrespective of greenhouse gases and Carbon dioxide.
For more info check out Peter Janetski’s Talking Life Show podcast on 96five’s website www.96five.com
Also here is a link to checkout http://www.auscsc.org.au/archive/images/PDF/skepticshandbook.pdf
Worth listening to and a read before Australia heads off to Copenhage
History is full of all sorts of fads and fashions. Flared jeans, platform shoes, Rubik cubes and many more to mention.
There is one fad that I fear that is taking over the world and importantly taking over our Churches. It is the fear of global warming. This paralysing fear was introduced to the world by an ex politician who coincidently when in power failed to do anything but contribute to this allegedly inconvenient truth.
Now adopted as a fact by politicians and celebrities right around most of the world this fear is beginning to impact the thinking the final bastion of truth - The Church. Yes it would appear that churches are now taking their eye off the ball and what they are called to do and beginning in order to try and be popular and relevant and jump on the ‘world is ending because of global warming’.
This as a Christian I find hard to reconcile. Now don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of having tanks on houses, using solar power, better light bulbs and picking up our rubbish. I am not a fan of adopting a popularist dogma with little scientific or theological support. I’m all for making wise use of the resources God has given us but I haven’t bought into the world is ending because of what man is doing.
To buy that thinking then you must seriously accept that man completely holds the destiny of this world not God. I don’t. I believe God will end this world when He is ready not when we allegedly destroy it. Doesn’t the Bible talk about Jesus coming back to earth when every tribe and nation has heard the gospel not when the polar ice caps have melted. Also after the flood I thought God was never again going to flood the world.
For me the jury is still out. Am I sceptic? Yes I am especially when the debate is driven by politicians and celebrities – people whose success is driven by popularity not reality.
I’m not sure if we as Christians are being hijacked but at least being distracted from our real purpose on earth – to point people to a relationship with God our Creator who is the master controller of what happens to this planet irrespective of greenhouse gases and Carbon dioxide.
For more info check out Peter Janetski’s Talking Life Show podcast on 96five’s website www.96five.com
Also here is a link to checkout http://www.auscsc.org.au/archive/images/PDF/skepticshandbook.pdf
Worth listening to and a read before Australia heads off to Copenhage
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Family rituals or the glue that keeps your family together
If I was to ask you today how to define your family; what would you say? What are the things that make your family different from any family in church or the neighbourhood?
Ritual (n): activity that is performed religiously.
As we prepare for Christmas I’m struck by the many rituals families have particularly around Christmas holidays. Rituals are the things families do consciously or even unconsciously together. They can be deliberately created traditions such as always going to the same camping ground for holidays, always going to the grandparents on Christmas Eve or Dad always tells the same stories at Christmas lunch. Sometimes they happen accidentally and seem to be always repeated like promising every year to post Christmas cards on time and every year you manage to post them on Christmas Eve.
The thing about family rituals are they are the habits that define your family and become the glue that keeps your family together. If you like they are the constants in an ever changing world. They are the behaviours that help a family stay together or even over time when the children grow up and leave actually come back. They are the constants that create memories of shared experiences.
In the Bible there is no greater example than the story of the prodigal son. When the son is in the depths of despair he remembers what his family life was like and what he is missing out on. He realizes that it wasn’t money or possessions that defined him and brought him happiness but the love of a family that he really yearned for.
Resilience (n): ability to spring or recoil back after bending or being stretched.
What family rituals or behaviours do is breed resilience into the family as a unit and as individuals. Rituals can be used as places of refuge when the things go wrong. When the family unit or even one member is under pressure returning to a ritual like the family Sunday lunch can be a way of coping or gaining support or encouragement. Positive family rituals build resilience into you and your children. It helps them bounce back from adversity. These rituals become the foundations that success in our life is built on.
As Christians one of the best rituals we can introduce into our family is how we celebrate success or failure. I have noticed particularly in Australian culture people celebrate success and failure by the volume of alcohol they consume. The mark of a family of Christians is they celebrate success or failure by spending time with God in thankfulness or seeking guidance. It is that very ritual (behaviour) that builds resilience in our life and ultimately success in living a Christian life.
What rituals does you family do? I would love to hear about them. Drop me a note. I’d love to know how those rituals define your family.
Ritual (n): activity that is performed religiously.
As we prepare for Christmas I’m struck by the many rituals families have particularly around Christmas holidays. Rituals are the things families do consciously or even unconsciously together. They can be deliberately created traditions such as always going to the same camping ground for holidays, always going to the grandparents on Christmas Eve or Dad always tells the same stories at Christmas lunch. Sometimes they happen accidentally and seem to be always repeated like promising every year to post Christmas cards on time and every year you manage to post them on Christmas Eve.
The thing about family rituals are they are the habits that define your family and become the glue that keeps your family together. If you like they are the constants in an ever changing world. They are the behaviours that help a family stay together or even over time when the children grow up and leave actually come back. They are the constants that create memories of shared experiences.
In the Bible there is no greater example than the story of the prodigal son. When the son is in the depths of despair he remembers what his family life was like and what he is missing out on. He realizes that it wasn’t money or possessions that defined him and brought him happiness but the love of a family that he really yearned for.
Resilience (n): ability to spring or recoil back after bending or being stretched.
What family rituals or behaviours do is breed resilience into the family as a unit and as individuals. Rituals can be used as places of refuge when the things go wrong. When the family unit or even one member is under pressure returning to a ritual like the family Sunday lunch can be a way of coping or gaining support or encouragement. Positive family rituals build resilience into you and your children. It helps them bounce back from adversity. These rituals become the foundations that success in our life is built on.
As Christians one of the best rituals we can introduce into our family is how we celebrate success or failure. I have noticed particularly in Australian culture people celebrate success and failure by the volume of alcohol they consume. The mark of a family of Christians is they celebrate success or failure by spending time with God in thankfulness or seeking guidance. It is that very ritual (behaviour) that builds resilience in our life and ultimately success in living a Christian life.
What rituals does you family do? I would love to hear about them. Drop me a note. I’d love to know how those rituals define your family.
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