Thursday, May 3, 2012

Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: reacting to a changing world

I have a theory.  Well, I have a lot of theories, but the one theory I’ve been thinking about lately goes something like this …

The world is changing. We can choose to change with it or get left behind.

Okay, so it’s not really my theory. I’m not sure who owns that theory, but someone wiser than I put those words out there a while ago, probably dealing with a whole other set of circumstances and situations. But I think those words are as true today as they have ever been.

If we can’t accept that we are living in a changing world, think about life ten years ago.  WOW, what a different world. We were fresh in the wake of 9/11, technology was king, but we still hadn’t dreamed of some of the technologies that have consumed our lives like they have today.  Zoom to just five years ago, Facebook was making a splash on college campuses, but not in the mainstream, the real estate bubble was still stretching, and people were optimistic about the economy. Zoom forward to three years ago, or last year.  Think about all of the changes in the world around you. 

Now, think about your church.  What has changed fundamentally in the church in that same period of time? Probably not nearly the list of items are coming to mind that came to mind with technology. I wonder why that is? Are we that resistant to change or do we simply not see the need to change with (or ahead of) the world around us?

I’ve got a theory on this too.  It’s not grounded in any research other than observing the world around me, but here goes:

We are busy broadcasting when we should be narrowcasting.

Let me explain.  Think about television as recently as 20 years ago. There were basically 3-5 channels that everyone received at their home.  Major Networks, PBS, and if you’re lucky an independent station of some kind.  Now we have no less than a few hundred options available via cable TV (of course for those that choose not to pay for cable you’re lucky to get 3-5 channels). 

20 years ago we watched what was on one of those 3-5 channels and enjoyed whatever it was.  Sure, there were times we turned the TV off (gasp) because there was “nothing on” but for the most part we found whatever was on to be entertaining.  Now, with hundreds options we find the channels that interest us and rarely (if ever) turn to the channels that have “less to offer.” Television has moved from broadcasting (programming shows with a generalized mass appeal) to narrowcasting (programming shoes to a specific audience). 

We now find 10 options for sports, so the sports channels have to broadcast every sport from Baseball and Basketball to LaCrosse, NASCAR, Cricket, and sailing.  There are cooking channels, news channels, home decorating channels, old-time movie channels, the list goes on and on and on.

Meanwhile, in the church, we continue to try to be “all things to all people.”  From the smallest church to the largest we think we need to have ministries for everyone from cradle to grave.  But what if we started gearing what we do in the church to follow the idea of narrowcasting?

Don’t get me wrong, I think multi-generational ministry is very valuable. I think it’s great when a church can have the resources (people, space, creativity, money) to serve all of the age groups (using my television analogy, I think this is still what the major networks offer). But I also see a lot of small struggling congregations who think their success lies in “getting more young people” or “finding a few empty nesters with more experience (and deeper pocketbooks)”.

What if smaller congregations focused on a single age group?  What if we narrowed the focus of our ministry?  What if as a small congregation we focused on being the BEST Bible Study church in town? What if we focus on being the “church that serves Baby Boomers”? What if we offer the choir that goes to all the local nursing homes once a month? What if we are THE church that welcomes every new baby in town with prayer and connections to resources for the family?

Now that’s not to say we’re going to put up signs that say “no children allowed”.  In fact, I think if we focus on a core identity it might break down some of the barriers that currently exist to welcoming who we want to welcome today.

Maybe what I’m really suggesting here is nothing new. Maybe it is just refining the idea of mission and vision to include the particular audience we feel called to serve. 

Maybe it is just not feasible to narrowcast in the church? but what most congregations are doing now is barely keeping the doors open, so what do we have to lose?