wfn.org | CBS network will air church's national TV commercials

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 5, 2001   News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.    10-21-71B{308}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church will get premium air
time on the CBS television network when the denomination launches its
national television commercials in the first week of September.

The television spots, part of the churchwide Igniting Ministry effort, will
begin airing during the CBS "Early Show," Tuesday through Friday, beginning
Sept. 4. The national commercials highlight the church's diversity and focus
on people considering what it means to be in the community of God.

Igniting Ministry is the first full-blown television, newspaper and outdoor
campaign undertaken for the church. The $20 million national TV ad campaign
will be supplemented by regional and local church efforts to help raise
awareness of the church.

Campaign officials were surprised to learn that two of the three major
television networks - ABC, Fox and NBC -- have a general policy of not
accepting religious advertising for nationwide broadcast. CBS was the only
one that accepted the United Methodist Church's commercials, according to
the Rev. Steve Horswill-Johnston, director of the Igniting Ministry effort
and a staff executive at United Methodist Communications.

"We cannot afford to buy CBS throughout the schedule, but we were able to
buy 'The Early Show' with Bryant Gumbel from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. (Eastern
Standard Time) beginning Sept. 4, and the spots will be aired during that
week to roll out the campaign. This is a significant breakthrough,"
Horswill-Johnston said.

The four-year campaign will attempt to reach people who are seeking answers
to real-life questions and invite them to United Methodist churches to
continue their search. 

Thirty-two percent of all adults in the country 18 years old and older -
about 95 to 100 million people -- are "unchurched," according to data
collected by the Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif. Those are people
who have not attended a church in the last six months except for a wedding
or funeral. 

For the campaign, this is "a big pool," said Horswill-Johnston. Atheists are
included in that group, so it is unknown how many of those people are
seeking a church home, but research indicates that at least 40 percent are
actively searching, he said.  The term "searching" refers to people who are
seeking meaning and something greater in their lives.

Horswill-Johnston said research showing that the church is going to have to
adjust the way it does ministry.
 
Research has revealed that unchurched adults are more likely to be
independent in their thinking and behavior; demand control; be achievement
oriented; strive to be on the cutting edge; feel busy and stressed out; be
less relational; be less engaged in the world; and seek meaning in life.

The unchurched also have been found to be not deeply spiritual, in addition
to being theologically liberal, less committed to the Christian faith and
less interested in being active in the church in traditional ways, such as
serving on committees. 

"These things change how we go about talking about our faith to these people
and putting a face in our community to these people," Horswill-Johnston
said. The task is to create avenues of intrigue that address their needs.
"That is what we have tried to do with the Igniting Ministry campaign," he
said.

In an effort to reach unchurched and seeking people, a commercial titled
"Diversity" will show that the United Methodist Church embraces not only
different races and cultures but also diverse theological views. The spot
will begin airing on Sept. 4. Another ad, "Rain," focuses on people
considering what it means to be in the community of God.  

The Igniting Ministry campaign includes five advertising "expressions,"
which are available for television, radio, newspaper, billboard, bus
shelters, door hangers, direct mail, electronic worship graphics, Web
graphics and bulletin covers. All advertising for the campaign is centered
on the theme: "Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open. The
people of the United Methodist Church." 

In concert with the campaign's launch, the denomination's bishops have
declared September "Open House Month." United Methodists will throw open the
doors of their churches and begin getting ready for the visitors that the
ads are expected to attract.

Igniting Ministry offers local churches new evangelism tools, highlighted by
a series of national cable network commercials designed to raise awareness
about the United Methodist Church. The commercials meet people where they
are and offer messages about God's love.

The bulk of the television spots will be aired at various times on 15
national cable networks and channels, including CNN, CNN Headline News, A&E,
TNT, VH-1, BET, Discovery, History, Lifetime, MSNBC, Odyssey, TBS,
Univision, USA and the Weather Channel.

For the month of September, spots also will be broadcast on "The Tom Joyner
Morning Show," a national syndicated urban radio broadcast. 

A full schedule of airtimes may be found at http://www.ignitingministry.org,
the Igniting Ministry Web site.

Igniting Ministry also is offering resources to assist local churches with
welcoming and marketing skills.

"These spots running for one month is not going to produce the effects we
want," Horswill-Johnston said. "There are four years and hopefully beyond to
get the effects we want. One month of advertising is tilling of the soil,
but it will not produce the yield." The yield, he said, will come only with
local church participation. 

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United Methodist News Service
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