Can you encourage people to come to your church by bashing other churches? Apparently not if you assess success by attendance and membership numbers that continue to decline in the United Church of Christ. Even so the UCC is putting faith in another controversial commercial aimed at differentiating the denomination as an inclusive group among supposed exclusive groups.
The new ad, already dubbed "edgy," features elderly people and people from minority groups shot out of the church sanctuary by an ejector seat.
UCC Still Speaking ad campaign coordinator, Ron Buford, told Sojourners magazine that the ads are like modern parables.
"They will be funny, hard-hitting, and they will make the point," he said.
The commercials are set to air during April. Whether major networks will accept them, since most rejected the bouncer ad the UCC put out last year, remains to be seen.
Meanwhile at least the Association of National Advertisers has seen the UCC light and presented the church with the annual award for multicultural excellence for the ad campaign.
This is the time of year when all churches are gearing up for their highest attendance, Easter Sunday. However, the idea of marketing to would-be churchgoers may not be the most successful way to bring people to worship.
According to George Barna research, the target audience for churches interested in welcoming the unchurched to worship services is largely Christian; people who claim the faith while usually skipping the services.
Barna's research indicated that more than half of the unchurched in America say they are Christian. These churchless Christians may return to worship services on Easter for one of two main reasons: a friend's invitation or a personal crisis that leads them to seek God more fervently.
So what about the millions of dollars spent by the UCC, United Methodist Church and others on television commercials?
"Impersonal marketing efforts generally have limited impact in persuading the unchurched to break their normal Sunday morning habits," Barna said in The Christian Post.
Are you advertising for Easter? Are you inviting people personally? Ejecting people? Blog here.
