What Ministers can learn from the Comic Industry
On November 12, 2018, legendary comic book creator and influencer Stanley Lee passed away. As with anyone of influence who passes away, there is a lot written about him or her about their impact. Of all I’ve read recently about Stan Lee, I feel Wikipedia best embodies his impact over the years. It says, “He rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics’ primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics industry.”
Stan Lee took Marvel Comics from simply being stories about super heroes on paper with ink to become a multimedia powerhouse. They have TV shows, blockbuster movies and you can now even read comics online in digital forms. In fact, Disney (which owns Marvel), will feature Marvel a lot in their upcoming streaming service. Not to be outdone, DC Comics has a streaming and digital service of their own that was just released. Comics are no longer something kids read on paper but the whole family can experience together in different forms.
So what can ministers learn from Stan Lee and the comic industry?
Our content distribution needs to adapt and evolve. It has been said time and time again that Christians have the greatest story ever to tell. What superheroes do in fiction pale in comparison to what Christ actually did for us. However, the content and stories comic book writers had to share didn’t just end on paper. The comic book industry is a very profitable industry today because their different content is spread out all over. In addition to being on paper, they are on apps, movies, tv shows, iPads and other forms of media.
In the same way, Churches and ministries have great stories and content to share. However, no matter how great your content is, if you keep it limited to just one way to communicate it (i.e. Sunday morning), you are limiting your reach potential. That is why you need to keep on thinking about different opportunities to share the content. It could be through a podcast, app, Facebook Group, email newsletter, Facebook Live, YouTube videos or some other way entirely. There are a wide variety of ways to get your content out.
So what can you do? What are the different ways you expand your communication reach so you can share your content in a variety of ways? You don’t have to do all of it, but the more you try and experiment with it, the better your chances are that you will be able to find a variety of formats that works best for you. One thing is for certain, if you do not try new ways to distribute or communicate your content, you could get lost in the shuffle and the people you are ministering to will look for that content somewhere else.
Had the comic industry kept their stories on just paper with ink, they would have limited their reach and would not be the powerhouse multimedia companies they are today. That is why Churches and ministries need to go beyond keeping the great stories of God and Christ to just one form of communication and think creatively about new ways you can get them out to people in todays world. The more you think about the different possibilities and start experimenting with new forms of content, the greater the chances are that more people will be able to hear more about Christ and experience a changed life.
So, what do you think? What else can ministers learn from the comic industry? Share them below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.
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