The Miami Pursuit

1st of Four Postcards Ready to Go

Blogger: Matt

I have heard several points of view from pastors who are very opinionated when it comes to "church marketing." Some say it's the most important aspect in church planting and others say "marketing" and "church" are two words never to be uttered in the same sentence. I fall in the middle on this. As a wise person says, "Marketing is about getting the message out to the masses. We have the most important message on Earth why wouldn't we want to get the word out?"

However, marketing at the expense of being out in the community is just plan idiotic. Church planters can't just hole up inside a coffee house and expect post cards, blogs, websites, and signage to attract people.

Over the past few months, The Pursuit Christian Church has been involved in several different opportunities to "be the church" before our first Weekend Celebration. We also have several more on the calendar before January 27. Can't tell you how often we've talked about how necessary it is for us to start a church that is "good news" for the community around us.

Now that we have been clearly seen out in the community being "good news" we hopefully have built credibility with people when they see our postcards. In case you are interested, we have four postcards going out over the next four weeks. Our very own Klara Estrada (artist & member of The Pursuit) designed the first card and the over all look of all four. I am really excited about the second, third and fourth. I really want to show them to you (but we'll keep you in suspense for just a little longer). =)

Here' a sneak peak of the front and back of the first one going out tomorrow.

The Pursuit T-Shirts Arrived

Blogger: Matt

The UPS man just stopped by and brought us our new shirts just in time for two community impact events this weekend. Uth Stuph is a company in Florida I have used for years in student ministry and they always do a nice job on the shirts they provide. I would highly recommend them for anyone to use.

By the way, you are looking at the back of the shirt. The front has a small, black version of our logo in the upper left area.

In Pursuit of a Church Name

Introducing: The Pursuit Christian Church!

Yes, we have a name. And we’re excited as we continue to get confirmation that this is the identity God had in store for us all along.

The name perfectly communicates what this church is all about. The pursuit . . . of a loving relationship with God . . . of living in community with Christ-followers . . . of leading as you serve.

Some of you are wondering . . . “Okay, so they’ve been operating as The Miami Pursuit all this time. Were they really that oblivious to the fact that The Pursuit could be a name for the church?”

Good question. Yes, The Pursuit was a preferred option for the church name from the beginning. But as other options were suggested, and potential challenges with translation of “pursuit” into Spanish arose, we wanted to “test” this and other names in the community to decide which name resonated best with the people we want to reach.

So, through informal conversations with contacts we’ve made in the area, along with our survey time at Wal-mart, we tested many options and were clearly led to The Pursuit.

While our research was far from scientific, we did glean enough anecdotal response to confirm that “The Pursuit” is a name that resonates with many audiences . . . young/old, Hispanic/African-American/Caucasian, Pepsi/Coke drinkers, etc. It was by far the favorite of the almost 100 people we surveyed.

Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your encouragement. Thanks for pursuing a life of Christ alongside us.

WE HAVE A CHURCH NAME!

Blogger: Matt

However, (in my best Ryan Seacrest impression), "We'll be back with the results THIS FRIDAY!"

I'm mean, I know.