unSeminary Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Stop Buying Church Marketing. Start Building Inviters.
Host: Rich Birch
Date: November 4, 2025

Episode Overview

In this solo episode, Rich Birch addresses a widespread challenge among churches: spending heavily on marketing and visibility tactics while neglecting the powerful, compounding effects of an “invite culture.” He argues that durable church growth hinges not on new logos, billboards, or Facebook ads, but on empowering and equipping congregants to invite their friends and family. With data, stories, and actionable insights, Rich outlines common myths that hinder outreach and provides a roadmap for shifting resources from traditional marketing to fostering authentic, relational invitations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Story: The Dot-Com Lesson

• [00:40] Rich recounts his experience running a dot-com company in the late 1990s.
  • Heavy investment in branding and marketing led to disappointing outcomes.
  • Lesson: “We should have been out talking to the people who we were interested in helping rather than thinking if we just build it, they will come.”
    —Rich Birch, [01:13]
• He draws a parallel to churches that obsess over logos and websites at the expense of mobilizing their members.

2. The Power of Invite Culture vs. Marketing

• [02:10] Most churches are in an “attention recession”: more content, less impact, falling trust in institutions, but soaring trust in personal relationships.
  • Supported by Nielsen & McKinsey research: “Personal recommendations are the most trusted form of promotion.” [03:00]
  • The stickiness of new attendees depends on relationships: “Invited guests stick because relationship is the glue.” [03:30]
  • Long-term church retention is relationship-driven—people who stay long-term have at least seven relationships; those who leave have less than two.
  • Key point: “Authenticity beats algorithms every single time.” [04:50]

3. Invite Propensity: Your Growth Indicator

• [05:10] Introduces the concept of "invite propensity": the percentage of congregants who have invited someone in the last 90 days.
  • “This matters because it’s a predictor of future growth... it has compounding effects.” [05:33]
• Actionable advice: Regularly survey your congregation about invitations and focus on increasing this number.

4. Four Outreach Myths Draining Momentum

a. Myth 1: Confusing Visibility with Persuasion

• [06:35] Visibility (ads, billboards) is not the same as impact or persuasion.
  • “You can buy reach, but you cannot buy trust.” [07:15]
  • Data point: “For every one person that comes because of an ad, 25 people come because of invite.” [08:00]
  • Churches should spend “25 times more on building invite culture rather than awareness marketing.” [08:25]

b. Myth 2: Centralizing Evangelism to Staff

• [09:00] Danger of letting outreach become a staff function.
  • “When outreach becomes a department, the body atrophies.” [09:12]
  • “The early church didn’t hire a marketing firm. It mobilized a movement.” [09:50]
  • Staff’s role: Equip, mobilize, and inspire congregants to invite—not do all the work themselves (Ephesians 4 reference).

c. Myth 3: Underfunding Hospitality

• [10:40] People won’t invite friends if the guest experience isn’t trustworthy.
  • Practical tip: Audit your Sunday experience from a first-time guest’s perspective—signage, kids’ check-in, entrances, etc.
  • “Hospitality isn’t a side ministry. It is a front door.” [11:40]

d. Myth 4: Only Celebrating Conversions

• [12:25] Churches often platform dramatic conversions but neglect to celebrate invitations and attempts.
  • “People start with conversations, not with conversions.” [12:45]
  • Encourage and celebrate the courage to invite, even if the invitee doesn’t attend or convert.
  • Memorable quote: “What gets celebrated gets repeated. So let’s celebrate invite in your community.” [13:50]

5. Budget Discussion: Should You Abandon Marketing?

• [14:15] Paid media has a role in raising awareness but it’s not the main driver of action—relationships are.
  • “Invitations are 10 times more powerful than marketing.” [14:50]
  • Suggests repurposing the marketing budget toward equipping inviters rather than scrapping it entirely.
  • 79% of guests come due to personal invitation. [14:37]

6. Practical Investments for Invite Culture

• [16:20] What should you actually spend on?
  • Training, equipping, motivating people.
  • Tools: invite cards, shareable social media graphics, landing pages with RSVPs.
  • Sharing compelling stories of members inviting friends to reinforce the vision (e.g., well-produced videos).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You don’t need a new logo, you don’t need a new site. What you need are inviters.”
  —Rich Birch [01:33]
• “If you want durable compounding growth over an extended period of time, stop building marketing and start building inviters.”
  [01:48]
• “You can buy reach, but you cannot buy trust.”
  [07:15]
• “The early church didn’t hire a marketing firm. It mobilized a movement.”
  [09:50]
• “Hospitality isn’t a side ministry. It is a front door.”
  [11:40]
• “What gets celebrated gets repeated. So let’s celebrate invite in your community.”
  [13:50]
• “The gospel doesn't spread through algorithms. It spreads through relationships.”
  [17:35]

Action Steps & Takeaways

• Audit your church's “invite propensity” and work intentionally to raise it.
• Invest in the guest experience now, not once attendance increases.
• Shift from platforming only big conversions to regularly celebrating acts of invitation.
• Repurpose your marketing budget into training, equipping, and telling stories that make invitation a natural, celebrated part of church life.
• Remember: Authenticity and invitation from friends outpace any algorithm or ad.

Important Timestamps

• Intro & Story: [00:03]–[01:33]
• Why invite beats marketing: [02:10]–[05:00]
• Invite propensity concept: [05:10]–[06:00]
• Four outreach myths: [06:35]–[13:50]
• Budget and practical investments: [14:15]–[17:05]
• Recap and closing challenge: [17:05]–end

Episode’s Core Message

Stop buying church marketing. Start building inviters.
Rich Birch argues that church growth in the current cultural moment is less about outsized marketing spend and more about empowering authentic relational invitations. Building an invite culture—where congregants are equipped, inspired, and proud to ask, “Will you come sit with me?”—is the sustainable path to lasting church growth.

For further actionable strategies and a 90-day invite plan, Rich encourages church leaders to register for his free Church Growth Launchpad workshop.