MCDONALD’S AND CHURCHES HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN I THOUGHT

By Shane Raynor

McDonaldsThose pesky millennials. They’re ruining everything. Even fast food behemoth McDonald’s can’t figure them out. And it’s not because the restaurant chain isn’t spending millions of dollars trying.   A few days ago Mickey D’s announced its latest round of changes to stop declining sales.

And boy are sales declining. Last month, sales fell 4.6% from November a year ago. The chain hasn’t seen a sales increase in over a year, and its third quarter earnings dipped 30%.

If you’re McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, you’ve got major McProblems. And according to one restaurant expert, the biggest one is the company’s positioning with millennials. It will take some time to know whether or not the latest changes have a positive impact on business, but given the sales trends over the last year, staying the current course would probably have been a much bigger risk than trying new things.

Through research, trial and error, McDonald’s is learning a few lessons about operating a 60-year-old company (some would call it an institution) in the twenty-first century.

And like many principles from the world of business, these lessons are also applicable to the church world:

 Bad perceptions are hard to overcome. That’s the problem with being an institution. If you get a bad reputation, it’s hard to shake it. For years, McDonald’s courted families with kids, and the chain made its name on unhealthy fast food. Now it finds itself in a decade where young people are staying single longer and having fewer kids. And more of them actually care about the quality of the food they stuff in their face. If you’re McDonald’s, that means you have to change your brand (and risk driving away your base), create another brand to compete with yourself, extend your brand (but risk diluting it) or double down and own your brand (risking continued decline.)

It’s not easy to decide which way to go, and many churches find themselves in a similar situation. Do we start a new service? Plant a new church? Change our name and get rid of the pews? Start a “Doctor Who” small group? Or keep doing what we’ve been doing but do it better?

 Cut your losses and move on when you’ve tried a really bad idea. So the 6 a.m. worship service didn’t attract the multitude you thought it would. Give it some time and make a few adjustments, but once you see the handwriting on the wall (someone may have to point it out to you), don’t be afraid to shut it down so you can try something else. McDonald’s rolled out McLobster and McPizza once. And the chain also spent $100 million marketing the Arch Deluxe sandwich in the mid 90’s. Had an Arch Deluxe lately? Neither has anyone else, because it crashed and burned.

Serving gourmet coffee won’t fix all your problems. Oh, the coffee increased sales for a while. It found the middle ground on price between convenience store sludge and the top-shelf bitter brew at Starbucks. And the thing is, McDonald’s coffee is actually pretty good. But after they rolled it out to most of the stores, the big sales bump disappeared after a couple of years. These things happen. People can only drink so much coffee.

McDonald’s serves coffee, but that’s not what McDonald’s is known for. I’ve been to churches that serve good coffee. Some of the bigger ones even have coffee bars. Those things are great to have but they won’t bring people to church and keep them there.

You can’t get rid of the Big Mac. It’s McDonald’s signature sandwich, and even if the rest of the menu gets overrun with concoctions made of kelp and tofu, the Big Mac isn’t going anywhere. The sandwich and the brand are just too interconnected.

Churches don’t have a flagship sandwich, but many do have certain things they do well that set them apart from other congregations. High-quality kids programs, relevant preaching, solid small groups, effective missions and service projects, etc. What is your church known for? What is its Big Mac? Figure out what it is and don’t let it get crowded off the menu.

More people are wanting a customized, participatory experience. Restaurants like Chipotle and Subway allow you to be involved in customizing your food. McDonald’s has moved toward this but not quickly enough. I’m old enough to remember when ordering a burger at McDonald’s without a pickle or onions would bring the kitchen to a halt. They didn’t particularly care for special orders and if you dared try one, you’d pay dearly with your time. (Burger King capitalized on this weakness for years with its “Have it your way” ad campaign.)

Now more fast food and “fast casual” chains are making your food right in front of you and you get to call the shots. So in response to this trend, McDonald’s is launching the “Create Your Taste” custom menu options with touch screen ordering. It’s betting that millennials in particular will respond to this new “empowerment.” I’m not sure that’ll happen, but the touch screen order kiosks are a nice touch. (Said the Generation X writer.)

How participatory is your church? Is your congregation feeding everyone with a sermon that’s been kept warm under a heat lamp or are there a number of fresh options for education and spiritual formation? Are you mostly presenting information to passive listeners or are you encouraging an environment where people interact with each other and with the word of God?

You never finish tweaking things. Almost 60 years after the founding of McDonald’s, company executives are still making changes. Sometimes those changes work; sometimes they don’t. But in today’s competitive business climate where things fall out of favor quickly, companies like McDonald’s can’t afford to stop evaluating and tweaking, even when they’re successful. It’s the same with churches. Methods that are effective today may not be as effective next year. Or next week.

That’s why it seems like the most influential fastest-growing churches are always trying something new and crazy (even to the point of being annoying.) Sometimes they see things the rest of us don’t. While we’re scratching our heads wondering why they don’t just stick to a tried-and-true formula or make the obvious move, they’re thinking a few chess moves ahead and planning for what’s going to happen down the road.

Sometimes it’s good to simplify. McDonald’s finally wised up and realized that having 16 value meals is too much. So they’re cutting five of them from the menu. They’re also going from four quarter-pound options down to one. (Did you know McDonald’s had four Quarter Pounders? Neither did I. That’s probably why they’re getting rid of three of them.)

Does your church have some sacred cows and Quarter Pounders that need to be yanked from the menu? Maybe now’s the time to make the move.

Just remember to keep the Big Mac.

ShaneShane Raynor is an editor and columnist for MinistryMatters.com. He lives in Nashville, TN. Visit Shane Raynor at ministrymatters.com

Used by permission.

Tags: ,

Related posts

THE CROSS IS OUR STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

 ChristianityToday.com/ct/2019/November/cross-is-our-stairway-to-heaven.html Our salvation comes not from someone on our level, but from someone infinitely...

HOW BILLY GRAHAM LEARNED THE ART OF PREACHING

https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2019/august-web-exclusives/billy-graham-learned-art-of-preaching.html? The late evangelist called himself the “champion rambler.” By: Grant Wacker  When I...

THE BILLY GRAHAM RULE GOES TO COURT

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/august/billy-graham-rule-sheriff-north-carolina-lawsuit.html? A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy sues his former employer for religious discrimination after...

BIVOCATIONAL AND COVOCATIONAL MINISTRY

  www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2019/spring/no-easy-calling.html? Three honest stories about its rewards and challenges. BY: LINDA W. PERKINS...

SEXUAL ABUSE AND THE CLERGY

 www.snapnetwork.org/abuse of faith_feb19 Debbie Vasquez at 14 By:  SNAP  Survivors Network of those Abused...

A CAROL FOR THE DESPAIRING

www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/december/longfellow-carol-for-despairing-i-heard-bells.html Penned during the Civil War, Longfellow’s ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’...

?? A DIGITAL CHURCH IN THE DIGITAL AGE ??

 https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2018/fall-state-of-church-ministry/embodied-church-in-digital-age.html Should we cheer or moan when online churches perform virtual baptisms? By: Kara...

CHINA CRACKS DOWN – AGAIN

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/november/what-to-do-about-persecution-in-china.html?share=56xKkXi%2fdTPQjQCm3LBm6NPogOGXW4vm   The government is removing crosses from their steeples and replacing them...

WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHURCH PLANTERS GONE?

christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2018/august/where-have-all-church-planters-gone.                  What’s the greatest hindrance to effective church planting? BY: Jeff Christopherson You...

SINGLES: A VITAL PART OF OUR CHURCHES

www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2018/july/singles-vital-part-of-our-churches Singles make up half of our churches, so we best learn to treat...

3 COMMON REASONS FOR MINISTRY BURNOUT

www.startchurch.com/blog/view/name/how-to-prevent-ministry-burnout? By: Raul Rivera Burnout reason #1: Critical Church Members Oftentimes, one of the...

THESE BOMBS LED ME TO CHRIST

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/may/napalm-girl-kim-phuc-phan-thi-fire-road.html The “Napalm Girl” from a famous Vietnam War photo tells her story of...

5 TOP PRIORITIES FOR INCREASING YOUR CHURCH

 sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/charles-arn-5-top-priorities-for-increasing-your-church This article is a classic on church growth. It was first released in 2010...

EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM HAS DIED

www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/billy-graham/mom-mass-media-and-me.html ‘America’s pastor’ shaped modern evangelicalism. By: Marshall Shelley Billy Graham was perhaps the...

BLAME US FOR GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2018/01/23/blame-us-for-government-shutdown-n2438025     By: Cal Thomas If we don’t like what is happening in...

THE SURPRISING REASON YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE

https://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/the-surprising-reason-you-are-where-you-are-8093 By: Ron Hutchcraft Some years ago, we took a delegation of teenagers to...

CAN THERE BE ONE RIGHT RELIGION?

http://seanmcdowell.org/blog/can-there-be-one-right-religion; Posted November 14, 2017   By: Sean McDowell Recently I was in a...

THE ONE GROUP YOU MIGHT FORGET THIS CHRISTMAS

http://blog.thrivingpastor.com/the-one-group-you-might-forget-this-christmas-2/?refcd=574803&utm_campaign=Thriving+Pastor By John McGee  Nov. 27, 2017 The holiday season is upon us. As...

HEALING HEALERS

By Phil Larson, as told to Frank Tunstall The world’s largest casino is located...

IRS TAXES PASTOR FOR SALARY HE NEVER RECEIVED

www.utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blog&utm_content=irs_taxes_pastor_for_salary_he_never_received_2017_10_05 By: Raul Rivera This time of year we get an abundance of phone...

A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING UNDERWAY AT WHITE HOUSE

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2017/july/bible-studies-at-the-white-house-whos-at-the-heart-of-this-spiritual-awakening “It’s the best Bible study that I’ve ever taught in my life. They...

REMEMBER THIS WHEN YOU’RE TIRED OF PEOPLE

thrivingpastor.com/remember-this-when-youre-tired-of-people-2/?refcd=518301&utm_campaign=Remember+This+When+You’re+Tired+of+People   By: John McGee  July 10, 2017 / Focus on the Family Have...

HOW TO LAST IN MINISTRY

Pastor Rick’s Ministry Toolbox <info=pastors.com@mail143.wdc02.mcdlv.net By: Rick Warren Ministry is a marathon: it’s not...

THE MANY BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE

http://blog.thrivingpastor.com/the-many-benefits-of-gratitude/?refcd=504701&utm_campaign=The+Many+Benefits+of+Gratitude This well written article is excellent for focusing us on the grace of...

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS

sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/lance-witt-courageous-conversations–part-2 By: Lance Witt Courageous conversations is a battle of prepositions.  Half of the...

ONE QUESTION YOU MUST NEVER ASK IN MINISTRY

classic.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/joe-mckeever-one-question-you-must-never-ask-in-ministry-2697.asp? “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not be idle in the...

I WENT TO HELL IN A DREAM

  charismamag.com/spirit/supernatural/28155-revivalist-i-went-to-hell-in-a-dream During this night of terror more than 25 years ago, I fell...

FRANKLIN GRAHAM SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ELECTION

theblaze.com/stories/2016/10/16/franklin-graham-sounds-off-about-the-evangelical-response-to-trumps-latest-scandals By: Franklin Graham   October 16, 2016 A lot of people are slamming evangelicals...

WILL MORE INVITATIONS RESULT IN MORE SALVATIONS?

http://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/hal-seed-will-more-invitations-result-in-more-salvations-2592.asp? By Hal Seed // PastorMentor.com For a long time I’ve wondered if there...

DANCING ON THE EDGE

Released by Focus on the Family, June 6, 2016 http://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/divorce-and-infidelity/affairs-and-adultery/dancing-on-the-edge By: A pastor who’s...

WHEN TO DISOBEY?

 By: David Koyzis  What happens when the demands of government contradict our faith in...

The Day I Hit the Wall

By: Gordon McDonald Marathon runners speak of “hitting the wall,” a moment in a...

HONORING MARRIAGE

Posted by Focus on the Family, December 7, 2015 by Kevin Conklin I once...

Life Is Eternal; Don’t Have an Affair!

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/august/life-is-eternal-dont-have-affair.html By Ed Stetzer  Aug. 25, 2015. This week, we’ve found it’s not as...

MODERN-DAY MARTYRS

BY Richard Greene With cancer eating away at her, the Iraqi woman faced a...

Divorced Dads

A Helpful Perspective on Your Ex The Championship Fathering blog by Carey Casey One...

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




Top