By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
August 19, 2013
The Episcopal Church's new evangelistic advertising materials, designed to entice new people into its fold, has bombed.
A link to camera-ready evangelism materials (see above) produced by the Episcopal Church that can be used by congregations for postcards, ads and billboards has turned out very badly. Even liberals who are desperate to ward off closure and want nothing more than to see their parishes grow are up in arms over the ads.One rector wrote, "Since I am always looking for helpful evangelism tools (what parish isn't?), I clicked the link. I moved quickly from shock to disappointment to anger that our church is still promoting messages that make sharing the good news with unchurched people more difficult." He headlined a memo, "Why We Won't Be Using the Episcopal Church's Advertising Materials."
"'Summer sermons will be shorter. Priests play golf, too.' I can't help but rephrasing this ad as, 'Our preaching is such a waste of your time that in the summer, when your leisure time is more valuable, we'll waste less of it.' If our preaching isn't helping people live out their Christian lives in important ways, then we shouldn't be preaching. If it is, let's advertise that: 'Hear a message that will change your life before your Sunday morning tee time.'"
Another ad: "Why not surprise us and show up this Sunday?" got the ire up of the same priest.
"'Why not surprise us and show up this Sunday?' When I showed this one to my deacon, he couldn't believe it. We pray daily for those who need a relationship with Christ to come to us," he said. "We're expecting them when they come; we're not surprised." Really, would anyone want to go to a church, or anywhere else, that would be surprised and unprepared for their arrival? Many people don't return to a church they visit for precisely that reason.
Sensing that the ads were not going down well and that criticism was coming at them from all quarters, church center leaders quickly back peddled saying, "We agree that the concept needs more work, and we are going back to the drawing board with your ideas in mind. We sincerely appreciate your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing your ideas and, when appropriate, your criticisms."
The ads were immediately pulled.
Then we come to "Come see what goes on between Easter and Christmas."Of this another irate rector wrote, "This message is a prime example of the insider language (interwoven with guilt) that turns newcomers off. An increasing number of the folks in my community aren't in church on Easter or Christmas. Some have never (.) been inside a church building, even for a wedding or funeral. If we want Christmas and Easter Christians to come back, probably having a church leader reach out and see how to meet their needs is more helpful than a generic message, and this ad couldn't realistically be targeted to anyone else."
One Episcopal blogger noted that the institution itself was at fault. "We need to move beyond ads coming from the institution itself. The hard truth is people don't trust ads coming from brands or companies saying 'buy me.'; they trust their friends. This is not news. And this holds true for The Episcopal Church as a "brand" as well. Sending out a postcard -- even a good one -- that comes from the institutional church saying, 'Hey, we're great. You should totally check us out.' is not going to be nearly as effective as helping the members of church talk positively about its place in our lives."
A chart on advertising and consumer habits revealed that people are most moved to buy something or go to something from people they knew and scored 92%. Ads from TV, radio, magazines, placements, sponsorship, newspapers etc. were in the low 40 percentile range.
Liberal Episcopal blogger Mark Harris said the ads were "glib...and doesn't cut it. So, let's say you go to the mail and get this card: How long would it take for it to go into the trash? Well, here inPreludium land, not long at all. The card borders on snide, but more, it is wrong headed.
"Snide because why not surprise us and show up... is a bit petulant and unwelcoming. And more, the movement of evangelism is not to bring people into the Church but to bring the Gospel out into the world. If the Good News is out there, then we really don't need to be worried about people in church. 'The Episcopal Church welcomes you' is OK I suppose, but better we find people, who because of our actions in the world, say 'The Episcopal Church welcome here.' Wouldn't it be wonderful if people put a sign on their window that said that. Well, dream on."
Other bloggers described the ads as "awful", "snarky", "ambivalent," "come for the pageantry, stay for the small slice of power in an otherwise impotent existence", "wine with a coffee chaser," "because politics are wayyyy more fun that theology", "come join our study group on the Biblical ethics of Breaking Bad", "ordaining women since 1977," and "we'll make room in the back pew for you." One truly cynical observer noted, "Your request for a postcard slogan has been referred to the Slogan Subcommittee." I especially liked this one, "We're not dead yet, come join us."
In none of the messages was there any mention of Jesus or of the Good News he came to proclaim. The Episcopal Church simply doesn't get it. Why not mention the Millennium Development Goals, much ballyhooed by Episcopal leaders or the Five Marks of Mission, the first one being To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. Is the Episcopal Church too ashamed to spread this word and instead we get ads about golf?
Secondly, what exactly is there to show up for? A sermon on "inclusion" or the church's much vaunted talk of "diversity" or how many alphabet sexualities we can now cram down your throats. "What, if you are a trannie and have had a sex change operation, then you are truly welcome. If you stick round long enough, we'll make you a deacon, then a priest and if you look pretty enough or have felt enough pain of exclusion, we'll make you a bishop following in the path of Gene and Mary. God bless you. Come again." PS we even have special toilets for folk like you.
Does anyone really believe that Louie and Curly, Gene and Mary, Katharine and any of the other liberal glitterati in miters have anything worth saying that you would roll out of bed for on a Sunday morning? Watching reruns of As Time Goes By or The Vicar of Dibleyor even "The New York Times" might be more nourishing. A Ross Douthart column has more going for it than 90% of the sermons you will hear from Episcopal pulpits.
The sad truth is The Episcopal Church has NO MESSAGE that is distinctively different from what the world has to offer. The truth is no one is running to fill up Episcopal churches, that day is done. Liberal bishops know this. The older ones who are close enough to retirement are getting out before the balloon goes up leaving the messes of dying churches to the next generation, a generation that knows not the Lord and His saving might and power.
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