Building Authentic Connection in Faith Communities
Walk into any Starbucks in the world and you know exactly where you are. The smell of coffee, the green logo, the carefully curated playlist, the way baristas call your name. Starbucks has built a $100 billion brand not by selling coffee, but by selling an experience.
Now walk into most churches. Generic welcome table. Stock photo banners. The same “All Are Welcome” sign you’ve seen at fifty other churches. Bulletins that look like they were designed in 1987.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your church has a brand whether you want one or not. The question isn’t whether to have a brand—it’s whether you’ll be intentional about the one you’re creating.
But before you panic about logos and color schemes, let me tell you about a football manager who changed everything I understood about branding.
In 2014, Jürgen Klopp was managing Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s most prestigious football clubs. They were having their worst season in decades, sitting dead last in the Bundesliga. Any other manager would have been sacked.
Instead of hiding, Klopp did something remarkable. As a thank-you to the fans who kept showing up despite the team’s awful performance, he ordered his millionaire players to serve beer and pull pints at the club’s Christmas party.
The image of superstar athletes humbly serving their supporters spread like wildfire. Fans didn’t just forgive the terrible season—they fell more in love with their club.
When Klopp eventually left Dortmund (after they’d recovered), the entire stadium was in tears. Not because they’d won trophies, but because of moments like the Christmas party. Klopp understood something profound:
“A brand isn’t a logo or a website. It’s the sum of all the little things.”
This is the Klopp Principle, and it transforms how we think about church branding.
Most churches approach branding backwards. They start with logos, websites, and marketing materials—the big, visible stuff. But the most powerful church brands are built on hundreds of small, seemingly insignificant moments:
Example: Imagine if a pastor started handwriting thank-you notes to first-time visitors. Not typed. Not email. Handwritten notes delivered within 48 hours of their visit.
The practice could start small—maybe five notes a week. Something unexpected might happen: People could begin posting photos of these notes on social media. “I can’t believe the pastor took time to write this personally,” they might caption.
Word could spread. Visitors might start coming specifically because they’d heard about “the church where the pastor writes you a note.” This simple, personal gesture taking just ten minutes per note could transform a church’s reputation.