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From my blog: http://betweentheworlds.typepad.com/betweenaworld/
I have to admit, my initial thought on the new ad campaign from the United Church of Canada where those of the skeptic. But as I drilled into those thoughts for this post, I realized they stem more from doctrine differences. I have decided to push those aside and look at this new ad campaign for what it is, a way to get Christians talking. That being said, I still am not completely sold on the idea or the intentions.
I have been taught that you should always provide the positive feedback first, then move on to any "area's of opportunity". Well, I am going to begin with what bothers me and move into what I like.
Reverend Keith Howard, who is heading the three-year project called Emerging Spirit, told The Globe and Mail "We are trying to increase the visibility and awareness of The United Church of Canada,". Also, researchers hired by the church stated in a recent report that "The United Church of Canada must establish its own unique positioning, promote its own values and help people break damaging stereotypes of organized religion,". I think God is very disappointed with this statement. I think He is disappointed with His entire church. This is promoting the division's we have in the Church, and making them greater. This is not the vision Peter had for the Church. To me these statements say "we need to bring in more people into our building."
The UCC also opened a lot of doors with questions like "Does God hate me because I am gay?". Though this is a great question (and answered by the EZ Answer Squirrel here) this is only the first step. It is easy to tell a homosexual that God loves them, it is much harder to say that God wants him/her to change, or God wants him/her to leave their faithful gay partner of 10 years because it is a sin.
How does the UCC plan to take the people that come to this site and lead them to Christ? What are the next steps?
When I went to wondercafe.ca for the first time, the message on the home page was "Administrators Message WE WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
CENSORSHIP ON WONDERCAFE.CA." While I understand the message, it worries me. http://www.christianforums.com/index.php is an on line Christian fourm for open discussion with limited censorship and there is very wide range of conversations that take place. There is a lot of Christians arguing with Christians in a very negative light. How would a seeker respond to this when he/she logs on and sees that Christians can't even agree?
The above being said, I understand the issues presented are not restricted to the topic and are questions Church's faced long before these ads were released. One note I did find both funny and saddening was that "the church spent more than a year researching why people, specifically in the 30- to 45-age group, have become so turned off by organized religion. The research found many people view followers of established churches as judgmental, arrogant and unwilling to listen." I could have saved them the year and told them that.
I asked one of my agnostic associates for his feedback on these ads, here are his words " The research found many people view followers of established churches as judgmental, arrogant and unwilling to listen. " that sums up the large portion of how i feel personally and second of all, i feel that the churches discrimination against gays and lesbians is bigotry and equal to racisim but i do agree with this church in particular taking steps toward open and honest discussion. Good ads. 10 million, sounds more like a business to me and churches are actually recognized within society (technically) as a business. Anyways, good ads, good way to prompt discussion."
Now for the other side of the conversation, what I like about it:
- The ads (both video and print) look great! Very professional. Not the normal "volunteer" quality church publication.
- It will resonate with both Christians and non Christians. It will get people asking questions and taking another look at the church.
- "The campaign objective is not to convert people to Christianity but to evoke existing Christians to talk about ethical and religious questions" This is a refreshing change. It is good to see a church putting resources into preparing its own instead of constantly trying to grow.
- It will spark debate between the churches and force us to look at how we communicate with the world we are in.
It will be interesting to see were this goes, I know it is early and I will be watching closely.
I have to admit, my initial thought on the new ad campaign from the United Church of Canada where those of the skeptic. But as I drilled into those thoughts for this post, I realized they stem more from doctrine differences. I have decided to push those aside and look at this new ad campaign for what it is, a way to get Christians talking. That being said, I still am not completely sold on the idea or the intentions.I have been taught that you should always provide the positive feedback first, then move on to any "area's of opportunity". Well, I am going to begin with what bothers me and move into what I like.
Reverend Keith Howard, who is heading the three-year project called Emerging Spirit, told The Globe and Mail "We are trying to increase the visibility and awareness of The United Church of Canada,". Also, researchers hired by the church stated in a recent report that "The United Church of Canada must establish its own unique positioning, promote its own values and help people break damaging stereotypes of organized religion,". I think God is very disappointed with this statement. I think He is disappointed with His entire church. This is promoting the division's we have in the Church, and making them greater. This is not the vision Peter had for the Church. To me these statements say "we need to bring in more people into our building." The UCC also opened a lot of doors with questions like "Does God hate me because I am gay?". Though this is a great question (and answered by the EZ Answer Squirrel here) this is only the first step. It is easy to tell a homosexual that God loves them, it is much harder to say that God wants him/her to change, or God wants him/her to leave their faithful gay partner of 10 years because it is a sin.
How does the UCC plan to take the people that come to this site and lead them to Christ? What are the next steps?
When I went to wondercafe.ca for the first time, the message on the home page was "Administrators Message WE WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
CENSORSHIP ON WONDERCAFE.CA." While I understand the message, it worries me. http://www.christianforums.com/index.php is an on line Christian fourm for open discussion with limited censorship and there is very wide range of conversations that take place. There is a lot of Christians arguing with Christians in a very negative light. How would a seeker respond to this when he/she logs on and sees that Christians can't even agree? The above being said, I understand the issues presented are not restricted to the topic and are questions Church's faced long before these ads were released. One note I did find both funny and saddening was that "the church spent more than a year researching why people, specifically in the 30- to 45-age group, have become so turned off by organized religion. The research found many people view followers of established churches as judgmental, arrogant and unwilling to listen." I could have saved them the year and told them that.
I asked one of my agnostic associates for his feedback on these ads, here are his words " The research found many people view followers of established churches as judgmental, arrogant and unwilling to listen. " that sums up the large portion of how i feel personally and second of all, i feel that the churches discrimination against gays and lesbians is bigotry and equal to racisim but i do agree with this church in particular taking steps toward open and honest discussion. Good ads. 10 million, sounds more like a business to me and churches are actually recognized within society (technically) as a business. Anyways, good ads, good way to prompt discussion."
Now for the other side of the conversation, what I like about it:
- The ads (both video and print) look great! Very professional. Not the normal "volunteer" quality church publication.
- It will resonate with both Christians and non Christians. It will get people asking questions and taking another look at the church.
- "The campaign objective is not to convert people to Christianity but to evoke existing Christians to talk about ethical and religious questions" This is a refreshing change. It is good to see a church putting resources into preparing its own instead of constantly trying to grow.
- It will spark debate between the churches and force us to look at how we communicate with the world we are in.
It will be interesting to see were this goes, I know it is early and I will be watching closely.
