Posted on 08/18/2005 7:34:44 AM PDT by sionnsar
The Episcopal Church is taking its message to the masses in an effort to woo the ever elusive Generation X crowd.
The church has hired Boston advertising agency Partners and Simons to create two 30-second television spots.
The first ad is set to air in both English and Spanish on Aug. 28 on five major cable networks.
"Both of the spots simply position the Episcopal Church as a welcoming resource,'' said Tom Simons, president of Partners and Simons.
The first ad, filmed at St. John's Episcopal Church in Beverly Farms, bids viewers an open welcome to the church.
The second television spot, set to air in the spring, features a parish in York, Maine.
The ad campaign represents the church's attempt to court a young generation that has spurned organized religious groups, said Jim Casey, brand manager at Partners and Simons.
"It's a classic marketing problem,'' Casey said. "There is a need to get the word out.''
The church will spend around $100,000 on the campaign.
Individual parishes can voluntarily kick in extra cash to buy airtime on local networks.
With the advertising campaign, the Episcopalians join a growing list of churches - such as the United Church of Christ and even Catholic Church - that have turned to mainstream media to grab the Gen X crowd's attention.
Waste of money for them. People are searching for real meaning not a bunch of Unitarian wannabees. I respect Unitarians more than ECUSA because at least they are up front about what they (Unitarians) are about.
Typical ECUSA maneuver: hire a slick ad agency and a bunch of high-priced 'consultants' to put out a media "message." Even more telling: the 'message' is a self-absorbed one about the Episcopal Church and it’s inclusiveness, NOT about Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. No conversion required.
Sign of desperation
Damage control.
You are absolutely correct. But they aren't inclusive if you are orthodox. I still have a bad taste in mouth from that church experience.
Okay, if a denomination ISN'T about winning souls to Christ, but they're willing to shell out major ad dollars to attract congregants, then what ARE they committed to?
Keeping themselves afloat, I'd imagine.
To be followed by a new TV show featuring a "progressive" Episcopalian priest struggling with an addiction to prescription pain killers, his martini-sloshing wife, their homosexual son suffering from a broken romance and an adopted Hispanic son.
I just read this after reading this:
Promising remarks from Catholic youth gathered in Germany for World Youth Day:
They're full of life, brimming with raging hormones and Catholic. So what do young people at the World Youth Day want to hear from their 78-year-old Pope about sex? ...
"We don't want to hear only what pleases us," said Pascal Straszewski, 21, a Frankfurt law student. "Faith means holding fast to ideals."
"Nobody wants to hear a lie," added Felicity Elvis, 18, a journalism student from Brisbane, Australia. "Politicians lie to us all the time. We're tired of being lied to."
"Why should the Church change with the times?" asked Mexico City student Ibanez Monserrat, 19. "What it says works for all kinds of people."
Imagine that.
Paying the bills - not winning souls to Christ. This is shear desperation. The free fall they are in in leaving an awful lot of church budgets very tight.
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