Telling Your Story: Branding and Identity

A ministry establishes its identity in telling its story. Your brand is your identity and it’s telling a story. Each ministry has a story to tell. Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it?

What’s in a brand?

Your image is built on your beliefs, values, character, logo and digital “curb-appeal,” i.e. social media and web presence. How your brand is viewed comes down to content, customer service and messaging, and that includes color schemes, visual elements, font selection/usage, and making sure you have a well-developed message in the first place.

That may seem like a lot, but it all fits together in expressing who you are as a ministry. Your story isn’t just words, it’s color, pictures, and images that reflect who you are and your call in and to the world.

A good place to start in branding and identity is with your mission statement. Don’t have one? Write one. (With proper committee approval, of course.) This will serve as the foundation in everything you do as a ministry. It doesn’t have to be lengthy, but to the point. (A classic: Matthew 28’s Great Commission.)

The next step is identifying who you are through your brand, which is all of those things mentioned up top.

So why do this?

1.     It improves clarity around and understanding of your mission;
2.    It promotes a disciplined approach to ensure that everything your
church does aligns with that mission;
3.    It establishes a clear point as well as a source of inspiration and
information; and
4.     It will leave an impression on visitors.

What does this look like in practice?

At Worship Times, our mission is: To serve ministries communicating their message and mission in the world. Like our ministry partners our on-line presence is intended to express our mission clearly. For us, using a liturgical color (green for Ordinary time), our logo graphics, and the pictures and examples on our site represent our commitment to ministries and sharing your stories with effective digital communication solutions.

This is who we are and what we do, and we’ve heard from many of our members that they came to us because our website clearly reflected both our expertise and our understanding of ministry. What a compliment to our branding and identity!

What’s next?

Incorporating your logo, design, color, etc. in your other communications such as Facebook, Twitter, newsletters, etc., is a first step. Making sure your message is consistent and matches the way you tell your story throughout all your communications and how you present yourselves on-line and in person is how you continue to live into and build your brand and identity.

What story are you telling with your website? What does your branding and identity say about your ministry and call in and to the world? How does it share your story and invite others to join in your story?