DON'T Give Mugs As Free Gifts To Church Visitors!

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I have to confess. I really don't like when churches give out mugs as gifts to new visitors. So be warned! This video is a hot take. Coffee pun intended. And I know many of you disagree with me. So let's talk it out.
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Table of Contents:
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0:00 - Intro
0:45 - The Values
1:25 - Why I Hate Mugs As Gifts
2:16 - Objection #1: "The gift is a reminder."
3:24 - Objection #2: "Be grateful!"
4:54 - Objection #3: "You are overthinking this."
5:52 - Objection #4: "What's the alternative?"
6:24 - Outro
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Show Notes:
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- Modern Church Connection Cards [EXAMPLES]: • Modern Church Connecti...
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Connect With Brady:
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Instagram: / bradyshearer
TikTok: vm.tiktok.com/pfArcS/
Twitter: / bradyshearer
The Pro Church Tools Show: ‪@prochurchtoolsshow‬
#ChurchCommunictions #ChurchMarketing #ChurchLeadership

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Опубликовано:

5 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 80

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

A lot of people say this kind of thing is "overthinking." To me, the DELIGHT is in the DETAILS. And the details can add up to make a big difference! 😇

@jessewang1987 7 месяцев назад

That reminds me of that Chariots of Fire quote "When I run, I feel His pleasure." I'm so glad God gifted you in this, I find videos like this very helpful to me.

@aaronmunsell6129 10 месяцев назад

I'm a pastor at a smaller church and did the mugs to do something nice. About 6 months ago, I was thinking, "Why do we give out mugs?" and I had no answer. We are almost out of mugs, but will be giving gift cards to a local coffee shop in our neighborhood after we are out. If we are going to "unleash hope" to our community (our mission), why not connect our church with a small business? The small business gets new customers and we get to give hope to the business and the guests. Thanks for solidifying this in my mind!

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

You asked the right question, Aaron! “Why are we doing this?” It’s remarkable how often we neglect that question altogether. Love the upgrade you’re planning to make.

@refugechurchlc 10 месяцев назад

Well shared. Thank you. We thought through this a few years ago and asked ourselves these same hard questions. What we came up with allows others to take ownership in preparing the gift as well as sharing our small town family DNA with our guests - a jar of homemade strawberry jam. We went from 10-20% of our guests completing a card to almost 95% of all first-time guests completing a card.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Love this. A great example of thinking through something from a missional perspective and not just following other churches based on what’s popular.

@davemansfield8653 10 месяцев назад

I wasn't initially with you when I started the first video, but you quickly won me over. Mission should lead method. Always. Thanks for the more detailed follow-up in this video.

@SamDeSocio 10 месяцев назад

Brady, you're missing the importance of memory and permanence. Of course, people give away junk that immediately gets tossed. But as a family with kids, mugs are constantly breaking, so we keep whatever isn't ugly or unusable. I've still got a mug from a church that we visited one summer we visited once, I was a pastor at a near by church and we were on vacation, we told them as much and they still offered us one. I can still recall what I thought about the room and the people when I grab that mug. Its not about the mug it is about giving people a tangible memory of a positive experience.

@chrisneilgreen 10 месяцев назад

Smoothest transition to a related video I have ever seen.

@pastoreric8283 10 месяцев назад

I agree. Now we still give out a coffee mug in fall/winter--but not with our name on it. We add some coffee or tea, candy and chocolate all with a fall/winter theme. We add an inspiring Christian book too. We also add a welcome guide to our church that focuses on next steps (a full color made like bulletin). This is all wrapped up in a nice gift bag. The welcome guide is the only branded item in the gift bag. We aim for the warm fuzzies. We trust that they will remember where they got the gift.

@gponak 10 месяцев назад

I have long said that "excellence is in the details", so I don't think you're overthinking anything. The subtleties of non-verbal communication are not subtle at all and anything that we can do to communicate You Are Welcome Here is worthwhile. Keep it going Brady!

@troymillerpgh 10 месяцев назад

Brady, my wife and I (church planters) are discussing this and you lost her at "I will never need another coffee mug in my life." 😂 We do the mugs but certainly aren't married to them. Great discussion. Previously, I was a connections pastor and I do think it comes down to the purpose of the FTV "gift" in the first place as you said. At the end of it all, you always nail it with the "mission over method" reminder. We can't just give mugs or whatever because we always do or some other church did. We need to understand the reasons and sense the Lord's leading either way. Thanks for all you do. And to show my gratitude, I'll be sending a mug to your office this week. 😂

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

“Return to sender” 😆

@jae_lgcy 10 месяцев назад

This is hilarious. I see both sides and there are no wrong answers. I just moved from GA to FL and use a gift mug from a church I love, and now miss every day. I'm also looking forward to a new mug of the church I was a part of. I think the mug should be sold like all other church merch. Or give a gift that's thoughtful. I went to a church here that gave away thermal totes. Which is very useful for beach trips. Lol

@heidiarmstrong4484 10 месяцев назад

Our church does a goodie bag with info and a mason jar of Brownie mix, chocolate chips, etc. prepared by our Women on Mission ministry. ❤️

@adamandsarahquinn 10 месяцев назад

Completely agree with you. I think churches do it because 1) others do it and 2) it's something the person making the decision would like to have. Those are both bad reasons, but the key to "SWAG" is that it's about belonging to something - that's why you use it. It's your identity. I use my church's mug because I am a part. A mug or similar logo swag makes more sense as a gift for completely the church 101 class or something than as a gift for visitors.

@CarlosBenjamin 7 месяцев назад

I went to a church many years ago that had a “food” shower for a needy family. The family had never been taught cleanliness, and as a result they had an odor. On the Sunday they gave this needy family their box… it was all soap, from bath soap and shampoo to laundry detergent and a bunch of cleaning products. Very little that they could eat or drink. The only food was several canned goods that my young wife and I provided…. I get what you’re saying about the “primary” use for the gift not aligning with Jesus’ values. The example I gave was that only on steroids.

@lukepaa 10 месяцев назад

Just arrived at a church in Southwestern Ontario, and this is one of the things that I'm changing...if you're from town and you visit our church, you're getting a gift certificate for a free pizza from a beloved pizza place in town. I've seen too many church mugs I designed for sale at Value Village and Goodwill.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Love that 🍕

@brennontouchet 10 месяцев назад

Bro, if I got socks as a first-time guest gift I would be pumped!!! This might be your greatest idea yet! I mean come on, if we are being the hands and FEET of Jesus then our socks are going to be worn and in need of replacement. On a more serious note, we give a donation in honor of each first-time guest as well as give them a coffee mug with a focus on the donation to a local charity.

@kristinnelson9645 10 месяцев назад

Our past church in Ohio gave homemade jam to new visitors and they’d share in the announcements that this was “because Jesus’ love is sweet and free.” I thought it was an AMAZING idea! And definitely stuck with me because that was 13 years ago. ❤️ The Church Next Door in Hilliard, OH

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Love some jam

@newlifeburlingame 10 месяцев назад

A church I used to be at gave out fake flowers. The pastor tongue in check said it was to represent God's "eternal love." Most flowers were returned to be reused, but joy of laughing at the silliness was a great bonding agent. (Note: not every church could get away with this.)

@DYP1 10 месяцев назад

Interesting, thanks. I’m a minister from France and honestly Church culture is soo different. I didn’t know giving mugs was a trend. I like your videos they are usefull and refreshing

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Always cool to hear from churches around the world how different cultures are

@fpcgriffin2757 17 дней назад

If I'm not mistaken, that is a NotNeutral Lino mug...I would be happy receiving one of those

@PastorAmor 9 месяцев назад

Mission > Method is such a great short form for how we should question everything we do as churches... too often the methods of our churches either gets in the way or is directly works against the mission of Jesus.

@seangajda8300 10 месяцев назад

We give out bags with a small notebook with our stamp on it, a candle with a sticker on the bottom that says “a gift to you from trailside church”, some candy, a vision guide telling about the church, and a handwritten note from me with a card. We can’t ask people to be billboards for a place they don’t feel ownership in yet.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

What kinda candy are we talking?

@pastorseangajda 10 месяцев назад

@@prochurchtools it may sound silly, but a little bit of everything. Our main thought is that we are inviting the whole family to be a part of our church, so everybody gets something. Theres chocolate, hard candy, a few lollipops, a couple gummy things/starburst... Our next step up is to do some trail mix in little bags for our sugar-conscious guests.

@jjmonty8090 10 месяцев назад

I think the same “marketing” can be done by just changing the message to something universal such as, “Jesus, the living Water” or “Have I drank from Jesus today?” …and putting a tiny logo from our church or not. When someone sees it, it can remind that those nice peeps from “ “ want me to drink from the Living Well. That works for me, even if they don’t come back.

@michaelsantiagoart 10 месяцев назад

This is gold haha. Great stuff Brady.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Glad you enjoyed it!

@kristymoore6249 10 месяцев назад

I completely agree. I truly don’t need one more coffee mug. Our church gives out gas cards. Everyone could use a little help with a gas card, especially with the ever growing price at the pump.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

A great alternative

@travisscranton1059 3 месяца назад

Fair points here. I like it. It's good to consider both sides of the coin. I love mugs. I have a mug problem. I LOVE getting them. I collect mugs, its a big part of my coffee experience. I like my mug just as much as I love the coffee, if not more. My wife on the other hand... doesn't love my mug problem. She has just the ones she likes, and if she sees a new one she wants, she throws out the old one. I could never. Our church doesn't have a mug, but I would be so ecstatic if we did though. Because I love my church, and drinking a warm bevy out of it gives me the warm and fuzzies. But there is always going to be a Brady out there who gets those warm fuzzies elsewhere :) Maybe a there can be an alternate gift to those Bradys who hate coffee mugs? ....maybe a mug with Jesus' face on it!?!! lol only jokes....

@NS38845 9 месяцев назад

When I visit a church, I really don't want to feel like I'm entering a sales pipeline. A lot of big churches give off that vibe though so apparently some people don't mind.

@njspencer79 9 месяцев назад

Yep. Same. And they don't get why you don't want to immediately just give your personal info out. And would rather listen and observe. This used to be the norm.

@lukaslittrell18 10 месяцев назад

Great content. Thank you for all your help.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

My pleasure!

@lukaslittrell18 10 месяцев назад

@@prochurchtools we currently do coffee mugs and I’ve never even really thought about it. I love the idea of making a donation to a charity. Brilliant! Taking about fostering a heart of giving and love as a first impression.

@Greg8872 10 месяцев назад

I still have the coffee mug I was given by the church i first visited 13 years ago.

@isherwoodme 10 месяцев назад

did you ever go back?

@Greg8872 10 месяцев назад

@@isherwoodme I was going to it off and on the year I lived in that area, then moved 2 hours away.

@Bob-oq5du 10 месяцев назад

I like your thinking about the donation in their name, but what if their favorite charity is in open opposition to the church's values?

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Check out this video - we talk that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pd6b7eRzmg4.htmlfeature=shared

@waynewrz 10 месяцев назад

Man, I gotta get me some church socks.

@securi-t 10 месяцев назад

I agree in principal, but I personally like coffee mugs that reflect things I like. My favorite mug is shaped like Darth Vader's helmet. I also have one shaped like Jabba the Hutt (it's my biggest mug, reserved for rough mornings). I also have Raspberry Pi, Batman, MicroCenter, and many other mugs. I do have an older mug for my church which was the first thing they gave me and I've had it in my regular rotation since. But we don't just give out the mug, we have it filled with non "branded" goodies like candy, bookmarks, pens, and gift cards for local restaurants.

@thegospelconversation 9 месяцев назад

I've never heard of that idea of giving a donation for new visitors before...that's pretty cool

@robertfairbanks8421 4 месяца назад

What if we give a cup without our info on it. Particularly if it is a cool cup. :)

@jamesstacy2662 10 месяцев назад

Lowkey Chip clips have been a huge hit for us.

@LizJoyDolan 10 месяцев назад

Agreed. I don’t want your merch if I’ll never see you again. We’ve tried gas cards with ‘gas on us’ ‘we hope to see you again’ whether they use it to come back or not. It’s free gasoline for them. We recently changed though cuz gas money doesn’t go as far as it used to. 🤣

@mariabeneteau5241 10 месяцев назад

What about a bookmark?

@johns098 10 месяцев назад

We give out mugs, but we buy blank ones. It's simply because it's so easy to go grab blank ones at a local store (and they are cheap). We put all our info in the mug. By this same principle, should we have pens with our logos/names on them?

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

That would be my position, yes.

@mevingorayah 7 месяцев назад

I mean, should a church even give gifts to visitors? Where does that come from?

@Monique_Diedericks 16 дней назад

I agree with everything you are say. Stop branding, do what Jesus would do

@ronwhited1224 10 месяцев назад

Really, what’s wrong with a simple acknowledgment from the pastor that we are thrilled that our visitors chose to be with us this morning? Add to that something like we would love to meet with you personally right after the service to answer any questions you may have.

@michaelfarmhand 10 месяцев назад

Yeah, you're overthinking it. The mug is just a gift, and it looks so much better with the church logo on it - much better than the plain mugs I have at home. In any case, the mug is just a small part of the connection process; there's the additional literature, the connection card, and, ah, yes, the QR code on the side of the mug. Works for us.

@benjaminprice3219 10 месяцев назад

lol the hate is hilarious. With you Brady. Why don't we give an appreciatioin gift of asking what's important to them or a need they might have to discover if the church is positioned to engage what's important to them or come alongside their need. Way more complicated but way better gift.

@jjmonty8090 10 месяцев назад

Hate the idea of donating to charity of their choice. I hardly ever give to anyone without knowing ALL their ins and outs. Too many folks doing stupid things with their donations. Too much effort to track down for every differing charity.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Make sure to check out the video dedicated to that idea. We have the guest select from a list of pre-approved charities by the church so that the visitor has the freedom of choice, while the church has the confidence the gift will go to a mission they align with.

@jjmonty8090 10 месяцев назад

@@prochurchtools Is there a specified amount that your idea gives? I don’t mind entertaining the thought, but even if I did have that list, I’m not sure I get the sentiment.

@uploadingjoy9120 10 месяцев назад

@@prochurchtools I was confused by this, too, and hated the idea. It seemed on the video that you were saying they could pick charity in the world. Now that you've explained that it would be choosing from a list of pre-approved charities, it's not as bad.

@rickymacdonald 10 месяцев назад

In an attempt to stay on Mission, if you text “guest” and fill out the prompts, we will donate 5 meals to the Boise Rescue Mission in your honor. Our visitor engagement improved dramatically as opposed to when we used to send them a Dutch Bros GC in the mail.

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

Love that

@peterfox7663 9 месяцев назад

When looking for new churches, my wife and I cringed whenever we visited a new church that gave out gifts, even moreso when they advertised it in the service: "we have a free gift for you"

@revivelachurch8733 10 месяцев назад

Nah - completely own it on this end. We give as a gift and we own that it’s marketing.

@PhilippeGolaz 10 месяцев назад

Churches giving free stuff to new visitors is a big red flag for me. Whether it's a mug or not, with a logo or not. It always makes me feel like they are trying to buy my adherence. If anything, the gift will make me less likely to visit again. I'd rather see a church genuinely happy to meet me who demonstrates love to each other, AND with a solid sermon. I recently saw a church's website that was emphasising how comfortable the seats were, how cool the pastor was, and how many wonderful FREE (all in capitals) stuff I would get (FREE coffee, FREE welcome gift, etc.). Made me wonder why they were trying so hard. Don't they have anything more substantial to offer ?

@prochurchtools 10 месяцев назад

It’s a sad reality. But in a capitalist culture, churches end up competing in the marketplace for attention and time. Which is how we end up with ministries relying on tactics like that. Because they probably work on a good percentage of folks. I also think they can have their place. But it’s very easy to have our churches reflect culture’s consumerism when we need to resist that pull.

@thereprieve 10 месяцев назад

What kind of church gives out coffee mugs? They should be giving out Yeti coffee tumblers with spill-proof lids. And the first cup of coffee should be free. :)

@daleschoening4481 10 месяцев назад

I don't use mugs at all. To me they are utterly useless. I agree with you.

@davidmorehead9073 10 месяцев назад

You must not like coffee. 😂

@mikeleiter 10 месяцев назад

We don't give out coffee mugs to guests that fill out a connection card. Would NEVER do that! We simply hand out encouraging "Thank You" literature in a customized ceramic 'container' with a handle. We've found people quite happy with the the thank you gift. IF our guests choose to put coffee in the container later, so be it :)