CBS network will air church's national TV commercials
7/5/2001 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
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 three of the major television networks - ABC, Fox and NBC -- have a general policy of not accepting religious advertising for nationwide broadcast. CBS was the only one of the four 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 shows 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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