Developing a marketing strategy for ministries in the reformed churches in South Africa

Abstract

The concept of religious marketing is foreign to the tradition of the reformed churches. For the older generation, it is completely out of bounds. This study explored why a marketing strategy is necessary, especially with the decline in membership numbers over the last ± 20 years. The marketing industry would call this a loss of market share in a specific market segment. The problem described above gave rise to the following main research question: What marketing strategy can be developed to help the reformed sister churches and, more specifically in this research, the NHKA, recover their market share by effectively and efficiently marketing their ministries? Following a deductive method, the study first traced the historical development of Christianity and the church. The three sister churches in South Africa had a growth phase from 1843 until 1992 since they enjoyed state protection. During this period, only the three Afrikaans sister churches – the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA); the Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) and the Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (GKSA) – had the privilege to have media exposure. With the acceptance of the new constitution of South Africa in 1996, the reformed churches lost this benefit. Churches who adhere to a prosperity theology, such as the Christian Revival Church and small home churches, have cut into the target market of the reformed churches. The historical overview was followed by qualitative research with a phenomenological design. Group interviews were held with focus groups from selected congregations of the NHKA by means of an interview guide with open-ended questions. A thematic analysis was done once the data had been gathered. The most prominent themes that emerged from the data were: - • there is no marketing strategy, • the restrictions that Covid-19 brought means that the new normal is digitalisation, and • with a marketing plan, it is possible to inspire growth. The empirical data furthermore reveal an inside-out communication strategy and the importance of marketing strategy for the three Afrikaans sister churches.