Churches are being urged to drop the image of the Crucifixion and instead highlight the social benefits of filling the pews in an effort to boost Sunday attendance.
Traditional approaches such as showing Jesus on the cross and Bible quotations are a turn-off to non-churchgoers, according to one of two suggested advertising campaigns drawn up by agencies.
Instead, advertisers say churches should highlight their community life, the chance to have a good sing, hear a good sermon and have a heart-to-heart chat.
…In its proposals, Khameleon Advertising, based in Billingshurst, Sussex, said Christians should highlight the social event of going to church, including the chance to catch up with news and friends.
Its ideas included the image of a lone goldfish in a bowl with the line “When did you last really need someone to talk to?” and a vicar with the words “When was the last time you saw some really good stand up…for free?”
Guy Lupton, managing director of Khameleon Advertising, said: “We don’t think people want to be preached at, and we didn’t want traditional images like pictures of Jesus on a cross. The key is to get people through the door of the church and let them make up their own minds.”
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Preachers preaching and that whole God dying on the cross for our sins thing is just so outdated. If we just knock the middle out of PETER we end up with PR. Just go out into the world with a sufficiently able advertising firm and broadcast the good news. Pictures of a lone goldfish in a bowl is just so much more relevant then John 3:16. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; give Madison Avenue a call.
6 comments
Jeff,
The blasphemous remarks of these PR flacks reminds me of a nun who on taking control of a Catholic hospital gave as one of her first marching orders the removal of all crucifixes because “that dying man depresses sick people.”
As the growth of neoProtestant churches disguised as social clubs proves, peddling a false Christianity without the Cross may pack them in, but it will also pack them in at an eternal venue that — if I may be forgiven for alluding to suffering — is NOT air-conditioned.
Earl
A parish is a community, but it is not necessarily a social club. There are hundreds of people in my parish with whom I pray and celebrate the glory of the Mass every Sunday, and I don’t even know their names, nor do I need to in order to consider them brothers and sisters in Christ.
The idea is not to fill the pews because of gimmicks, but because there are that many people seeking Christ in the Mass.
Reaching People with Nothing In Particular
Seek nothing in particular, and you will find it.
This is EXACTLY the problem with the Church today. If we do not preach sin, judgment, and hell to the masses, THEY CANNOT BE SAVED. If they do not repent of their sin guess where that leaves them: eternal damnation. (1 Cor.9:10, Eph.5:5, Gal. 5:21, Rev. 20:15, Rev. 21:8) I don’t know about you but I would much rather have a church with only 5 people who have been truly born-again (John 3:3) then 500 people who destined for the Lake of Fire.
The Gospel is about HOLINESS NOT HAPPINESS. It doesn’t matter to me if you are Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, or Non-Denominational: Jesus Christ did not die to make you happy or fill some God-shaped hole in your heart. He died to set you free from the law of sin and death. He commands repentance of sin. Without repentance it is not possible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Do you care about the eternal destiny of others? If you do then I suggest you remember my comments here the next time you tell someone to come out to church because the music is nice or there is free coffee and cookies after the service. Unless you tell them about the wrath to come – their blood is on your hands and you risk your own salvation (Rev. 3:15-17)
Church is a place of god, so i think it is good to talk about Jesus and how he died on the cross. Jesus gave his life for every person in this world, and people need to respect him more. I don’t think we should talk about our community life, cause that’s not what church is about. I gave my life to god because he gave his life for me. I think people need to stop being so self- centered, and remember about what has happened to god.
what you are saying about forgetting about jesus crucifixion is rubish. People need to know of the scrifices that hr made for us. So how can we forget about him. What he did no one alive now or then would do it for us and he gave us a chance to repent so that we can go to heaven. the church is not about lying to get people to come in but to tell the truth and win their hearts. People need to know about what will happen to them if they sin and the bible says ‘fear God’ and without this they will not repent. So i really think you should just get rid of this web page and stop confusing people and speaking nonsense.