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On The Rise: Finding unchurched people as Google changes business models + The Backlash against porn
Published 1 day ago • 5 min read
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week.
Today, Google is changing its business model and that means it’s harder for people to find your church, plus a secular Gen Z woman lashes out against porn, Seth Godin on marketing, and Nick Cave on why hopefulness is an act of war.
How Will Unchurched People Discover You in the Future?
Google is changing its business model, fast.
Here’s the question every church leader should be asking heading into the fall: How are you shifting your church’s outreach strategy to counter the massive disruption happening in Google search right now?
I know, I know. You didn’t wake up thinking about that. And you had to re-read the question twice cuz it’s weird.
Also, I get it, the first-century church didn’t need Google to spread the Gospel and reach new people.
The New York Times' internet traffic is down 44% from three years ago, and most major news outlets are seeing the same downward trend. Other online content providers have told me privately that their traffic is down 80% and they don't ever see it going back up. AI has changed the game.
Why?
Well, people are Googling less, because Google AI summaries gives answers rather than links now as soon as you search. No need to click through to a link because Google's AI overview gives you the answer on screen, click-free. Also, Gen Alpha and Gen Z are going straight to ChatGPT for their search, which also probably leaves your church in the dust. Which means they are less likely to go to click any link to your website or ‘discover’ you online.
As the article points out, “Google will be fine. It’s the rest of the internet that should be worried.” (Note: Google just offered a massive voluntary buyout to employees in their Search Division. The sun is setting on search.)
While word of mouth and personal evangelism will always be the best way to reach people, among the many things AI is disrupting, internet search and ‘discoverability’ are near the top of the list.
If you haven’t seen a drop in random inquiries that come from search yet, you will this fall. Or maybe go check your inbound web traffic now.
Back to the opening question: How are you shifting your church’s outreach strategy to counter the massive disruption happening in Google search right now?
Hint: Having people invite other people is a great place to start. And preparing your church for AI optimized content, not SEO content, would be the next step.
How do you do that? Well, it's changing so fast, no one's 100% clear. But we'll keep you posted here.
Sticky Sermon Toolkit
Preaching sermons that people remember and apply to their lives.
Here’s the challenge:
How do you craft sermons that don’t just sound good on Sunday… but actually stick? That shape lives—not just in the moment, but weeks, months, even years later?
August is the perfect time to sharpen your preaching, before fall crowds return and momentum builds.
In the Sticky Sermon Toolkit, you get a practical, proven method to make your messages memorable and impactful, without watering them down.
Use it now, and be ready when people come back this fall.
And for those in Gen Z who didn’t grow up religious, who aren’t from more conservative families, we had no words to express how this made us feel. There was no language left.
We couldn’t talk about morality, couldn’t talk about loyalty, couldn’t articulate any sort of spiritual degradation.
That’s all reactionary and backward.
We were convinced by a two-decades-old billion-dollar online industry that their services are a natural need, and anyone who didn’t accept this was the problem.
Until the only words we had left were their sales strategies.
Indeed.
If you’re wondering what the spiritual hunger/frustrations of the next generation looks like (and their growing exasperation with the bankrupt answers our culture is giving them), this is worth a read.
AI Tools That Understand Ministry
Created by pastors for pastors.
Tired of juggling a bunch of disconnected AI tools that don’t understand ministry? Church.tech AI was created by pastors for pastors—designed to align with your church’s theology, mission, and voice. From crafting sermon series to building outreach strategies, it’s your all-in-one digital ministry assistant.
Ditch the generic platforms. Discover smarter, spirit-led innovation—built for the local church.
Two things I love about Seth Godin is that his approach to marketing is a) the opposite of most marketing hype and b) feels more like ministry than marketing.
A few helpful thoughts from this classic include “Low price is the last refuge of a marketer who has run out of generous ideas” and “The way we make things better is by caring enough about those we serve to imagine the story that they need to hear.”
Seth’s approach will help you ‘market’ less and care more, which actually is at the heart of all great marketing.
Nick Cave on why hopefulness keeps the devil in the hole.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth.
Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial.
It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism.
Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole.
It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so.
Ray Johnston, senior pastor of Bayside Church in Sacramento, CA, reflects on decades of ministry and how to stay encouraged in ministry even when you feel done, why cynicism is incurable, how to finish well, and how to park your ego so you can raise up a team of all-stars. This episode is a 90-minute breakdown of what a long obedience in the same direction and finishing well look like.
Leadership Is Better Shared. Invite Your Friends!
Know someone who would benefit from The Art of Leadership Academy? Invite them to join by visiting your Invitation Hub.
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Don’t settle for an impact smaller than you’re called to make. It's time to unlock your potential and lead confidently into a future filled with growth — for yourself, your church, and your mission. Get access to some of my best leadership content, only published in my newsletters.
