What is the "Long Tail?"

(c) Disney/Pixar

I mentioned the book The Great Evangelical Recession by John Dickerson in a previous blog post, and as you can imagine, it’s still kicking around in my brain.  Heavy on facts but also on hope, it’s a must-read for any church leader.  One of the concepts discussed in the book is called the “Long Tail.”  Essentially, the concept describes a pattern in the business community where companies could make big bucks on a big-name product, thus making any risk on smaller/edgier products more tolerable.  Movie studios, for example, used to be able to rely on big-budget ‘tent pole” movies (think summer blockbusters like Iron Man 3) to provide enough revenue to keep the wheels turning and also to cover the cost of smaller projects (like 12 Years A Slave) which may not bust the box office but might win critical acclaim during awards season.  The term “long tail” comes from the physical proportions of something like a dinosaur.

“The mass in the muscular neck and head are about the same volume as the mass in the powerful long tail.  Similarly, the money made in all the little non-hit [movies] is about the same as the money to be made in the few big hits [like Iron Man 3] in the neck and head” – Dickerson, p. 203-204

The ‘Long Tail’ approach, according to the book, worked until the internet made it irrelevant.  Now, like the movie example, studios can make their products available anytime on iTunes and gain just as much revenue from smaller, popular movies as they do the big-budget explosion-fests.

Similarly, the church is facing a regression from the “long tail” approach to ministry.  Throughout most of the 20^th century, big-name speakers and ministries (Promise Keepers, Billy Graham, etc.) were sure-fire bet to reach people for Christ, make an impact in communities, and keep themselves financially solvent.  Part of what’s led to the decline of those efforts is big-name implosions (Ted Haggard) and the incredibly debt-heavy approaches to financing many of those ministries’ more ambitious projects.  We also live in a post-modern, post-Christian world.  While many ministries and leaders were once able to leverage their influence effectively in a Christendom-model of ministry, those strategies are declining rapidly.  My friend Nate Stratman, who leads a great youth ministry at First Pres. Colorado Springs, has noticed this trend in his context: http://natestratman.com/2014/04/17/2-growing-trends-youth-ministry-just/

The point is this: the church needs to learn how to leverage our smaller, more personal ministries to better reach people for Christ.  Rather than staging large events with a rip-roaring band and a dynamic speaker, smaller, more intimate conversations and interactions with neighbors, coworkers, and others who do not yet know Christ is becoming more and more necessary – and more fruitful.

Now you might be thinking, “Duh.”  That’s fair.  But for many people – especially those who were touched by one of the “big tent” meetings or a dynamic speaker many years ago, this new ministry philosophy is hard to embrace.  Serving a church where both groups worship and serve together is a challenge, but a welcome one.  I’m excited to see what God calls us to do and be as we proclaim the hope of Christ in ways that make sense to our neighbors.

Shalom,

Travis