A recent article from Wrecked.org: The Failure of Church Marketing:

"Bottom line:  The more churches I visit the more I realize we are less and less wrestling with heart-formation and more and more obsessing over how to market  ourselves"

Church Marketing Sucks made some comments here.

It's been a purposeful and fun ride, but have we taken the "relevant" thing too far? Are our churches discipling people in such a way that we produce "little Christs" that are living out His values ... OR just apathetic, self-centered, consumerist "Christians" that look nothing like Christ? Or somewhere in the middle? What do you think?

In a recent blog post, Craig Groeschel said:

"While the intentions of most relevant pastors (including my own) are generally to reach those who don’t know Christ, we have to ask ourselves, “How effective are our ministries really?” Just because we are “growing” numerically doesn’t mean the people coming are growing spiritually."

"This week, let’s respectfully discuss some possible corrections for the 'relevant church.'"

Check-out his post and throw your hat in the ring, or share your thoughts with us on relevant church.

There's a new event in Chicago this Fall: STORY.  It's a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel - the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns - CS Lewis' home in Oxford, England - at www.StoryChicago.com.

Check-out the AWESOME website!