Thursday, July 27

Grups, (rhymes with 'pups'), part II

     Continuing the discussion of Grups from yesterday…(NY Magazine- Up With Grups)

     Here's one thing I’ve learned…I think I'm a Grup (except that part about wearing $400 jeans). I am a 42 year old Grup. And I’m pretty sure I’m okay with that… It’s actually somewhat of a comfort. For a few years I’ve wondered if I was afflicted with 'something' because I didn’t fit into the demographic that my age supposedly cast me into.

     Another thing I’m learning…church planters everywhere talk about your target group, your ‘defined demographic’, but lately I’ve been questioning the validity of some of that discussion. I’m not exactly sure where I am at, but let me share some of my questioning…
     Here are some quotes from the short article Reaching Grups is more than Demographics
     While hypothesizing what it takes for churches to reach Grups, or any of the ‘so-called demographics’ the question is asked, “What are others doing to reach them?”

     "Advertisers are now relying on “psychographics” which concentrate on consumer attitudes and values rather than age groups as they promote products that may now appeal equally to grups in their 40's and to teenagers.
     Grups defy the traditional stereotypes and demographic profiles. As a result, advertisers are needing to change their methods to a much greater degree than was necessary for previous generations. Western culture is increasingly becoming more segmented while traditional stereotypes and demographic boundaries such as age, race, and gender are increasingly overlapping and melting away.
     What this means is that in order to reach not only grups but any specific niche of people, your church must move past generalizations and stereotypes and learn to see the world from their perspective. Learn what makes them tick. Why do they do what they do? Learn what is missing from their lives and what they feel they desperately need.
     The best way to do this is with a relationship. Talking and interacting with people is the best way to understand them. And once you truly understand them, then you will know how to best reach them.”


     Hmmm….

     Your thoughts...?


mark

Mark Nelson at 2:18 PM 3comments

3 Comments

at 9:41 AM  Anonymous said...

Obviously this isn't true because it goes against every board meeting procedure that focuses on demographics and results. Plus, aside from not really knowing people at all, demographic profiles really dig into the heart of evangelism.

Wait...

 

at 8:49 PM  Anonymous said...

carol, i don't know you, or mark for that matter, but (wadr) i couldn't disagree with you more. a generation consists of the folks alive at a certain point in time, not just the ones born between year x and year y.

mark's "market" in knoxville is super-saturated with churches. it wouldn't surprise me if church "membership" exceeds the local population. we've got all the latest flavors, too. no fewer than twenty churches have started in the past ten years promising gourmet coffee, great kids programs, relevant sermons, and on and on and on.

it also wouldn't surprise me if more beds and restaurants were occupied each sunday than church pews. it seems to me what mark is trying to do is to find the commonalities among non-church goers and figure out how to reach out to them in the name of jesus christ.

btw, jesus is capable of being all things to all people. we are called to be faithful, not necessarily "successful" by worldy standards.

 

at 4:36 PM  Anonymous said...

sorry, carol. didn't mean to flame you, but upon rereading, that's how it came across. your original post just struck me as so similar to "packaged" church solutions, tho i'm sure that's not how it was intended. best of everything to you and mark and others involved in the new thing in knoxville. -- peace out.

 

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