Don't Copy Megachurch Design And Tech. Here's Why.

PIXABAY

---

Remember in grade school when the teacher warned you not to plagiarize another student's work and attempt to pass it off as your own? There was actually good reason for that. Besides the ever-present possibility of being dragged kicking and screaming into the principal's office, there were other potential consequences and ramifications. (Not that I would know.)
​

• The school might tell your parents and that could just be plain ugly.
• You might fail the assignment, test, or even flunk the entire class.
• You may wind up never having a true understanding of the material. (God forbid, right?)
• Cheating makes you lazy.
• Your friends and family (and especially your teacher) could lose a lot of respect for you.
• You could face copyright infringement issues if you plagiarize a paper and get caught. (Yes, seriously.) 
• You could be expelled from the school altogether. 

Where am I going with all of this? Well, the COVID pandemic — and resulting shutdown of many churches — left a lot of communication ministers scrambling for digital media content that they didn’t need before (or at least didn’t view as necessary or worth the effort.) Maybe you can empathize. In fact, countless small churches had to embrace the digital world in ways they never would have predicted, some for the first time. And in the midst of the pressure and chaos, it was probably easy to seek out those really convenient “free graphic” websites and look to the mega churches as examples of “what to do.”

Yes, churches were copying one another long before COVID was ever a household term. But I think the trend accelerated all the more during — and arguably even because of — the pandemic.

While there’s nothing wrong with making use of great graphic and video resources (I do it myself), please don’t copy mega church design trends, content, and styles simply for the sake of copying or because you believe it will result in the same level of success. Now, just to be clear: I have adopted and adapted a ton of learning from mega churches. I’ve even been inspired by sermon graphic designs I’ve seen at mega churches. But there’s a clear distinction between adapting something to your church’s existing strategy and duplicating something from someone else entirely.
​
I know that it can be tempting, but here are a few reasons to avoid this trap: 
​

#1. You'll squelch your church's unique brand and voice or its chance at ever having one. 

I’ve written and spoken extensively about branding as it applies to churches, so I won't belabor this point. But the truth is that if you copy another church's digital look, strategy, model, and content, you're just setting yourself up to become a clone, at least by appearance, and a phony one at that. People may think you're an Elevation or Hillsong-style church, only to show up and realize you're a 50-member or less congregation on a dirt country road with a traditional style service. Your media needs to match your church's nature, heart, and soul. It needs to reflect who you are.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to put some or most of the design work into the material yourself. For example, craft together your own combination of stock photography, custom fonts, and graphic design elements to create an awesome background template for your pastor's next sermon series. Don't rip off someone else's idea, or right click & save, or reproduce a mirror image. Add your own touch. Create something totally from scratch. Be original. Remember, people can smell a fake from a mile away. And nobody likes a fraud.  
​

#2. You won't see the kind of digital and social media engagement that you desire.

Megachurch design styles rarely elicit likes, reactions, shares, or comments on social media among small or traditional style congregations. If you're trying to reach your people — and hopefully you are — then you need to design the sort of graphics and post the sort of images with which they will be inclined to engage and interact. This means knowing your audience. If you aren't intimately acquainted with your audience, you'll never be able to encourage them, inspire them, make them laugh, elicit a comment, prompt them to post prayer requests, or much of anything else.
​
For example, if your church is predominately senior saints [who are active on Facebook], they would probably love to respond to an engagement graphic like this:

​However, they would be far less likely to engage with a post like this:

Right? Some of them have probably never even heard of the term "binge watching," or if they have, they may not understand what it actually means.

Know your audience and post the sort of designs, styles, and graphical combinations with which they'll be most likely to engage. 
​

#3. It can make you lazy. 

As I alluded to in the homework analogy, copying someone else's content just makes you plain lazy. You didn't have to work for the knowledge or work to develop the skill set. You didn't have to work to correlate your church's distinct brand and voice to your graphic design style.
​
Don't develop a habit of apathy when it comes to your role in Church Communications. You’re better than that. 
​

#4. You could be fired or passed up for future job opportunities. 

A longstanding habit of copying another church’s design style or content strategy could ultimately result in your being fired or the possibility of other churches not wanting to hire you. If you don’t possess any originality — or the ability to adapt successful digital design methodologies and communication strategies to your specific church — then your chances of landing that next Church Comms job will be far less likely. This isn’t meant to sound harsh, it’s just reality. And it’s also why you should work to develop your skills, even if it means reaching out to someone for some coaching. 
​

#5. You'll create confusion about your church's model. 

As a tech-savvy teen, college student, and 30-something, I've always had access to the Elevations, Hillsongs, NewSprings, and North Points of the world. But, as the Communications Minister for a small country church in south Alabama, I know that the digital design styles and strategies of those churches are not compatible with mine. Always study the models of other churches and become well acquainted with your own. Meet with your pastor for those discussions. You won't be able to adopt and adapt effective ideas and methodologies if you don't even understand your own church's model, purposes, visions, and goals. 
​

Conclusion

There's a dozen more reasons you shouldn't just blindly copy megachurch design and digital media and expect it to work the same way within your small or midsize congregation. I've really only scratched the surface here. 
​

What Else? 

What're your thoughts? How have you successfully adopted and adapted inspiration, practices, design styles, digital media methods, etc. from larger churches into your own? I'd love to hear from you. Drop a reply in the comment thread below or shoot me an e-mail! ​