The Unlikely Evangelist

We've now had the second of the Vision4Life conversations which concentrates on prayer.

A summery of the thoughts of those who took part in three conversations at Heald Green URC is attached.

Summary of HGURC Prayer Conversations.

If you have held similar conversations at your churches, or wish to reflect on the HGURC conversation, then as ever, please leave your comments using the link below.

I hope your Vision4Life conversations are are also going well, and look forward to sharing your wisdom.
The Unlikely Evangelist

We've begun the first of the Vision4Life conversations which concentrates on the Bible. We hope to have more events over the summer, but here are our comments so far ...

Here is a link to summery of the thoughts of those who took part in three conversations at Heald Green URC.

Summary of HGURC Bible Conversations.

If you have held similar conversations at your churches, or wish to reflect on the HGURC conversation, then as ever, please leave your comments and insights using the link below.

I hope your Vision4Life conversations are are also going well, and look forward to sharing your wisdom.
The Unlikely Evangelist

Towards a marketing campaign for the United Reformed Church. Learning from Catch the Vision and God is Still Speaking.

catch the vision

The Catch the Vision 2006 report to General Assembly stated that:

‘We are not persuaded that our particular offering to the future great church and indeed to the future of Christian witness in our three nations will be best served by dilution’. CtheV 2006, 2.9

Let’s not be ashamed about being here. Let’s be ourselves. Let’s be glad to be ourselves. Let’s not apologise for being the United Reformed Church. Let’s celebrate God’s gifts, and think about possibilities and mission and growth. Let’s get confident, secure in the gospel. Our ultimate unity lies there after all, CtheV 2006, 2.12

still speaking

God is Still Speaking is the national advertising campaign of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in the United States. It is from here that my inspiration and motivation for a United Reformed Church campaign comes.


Principles transferable to the URC and our campaign:

• Help thousands of people overcome alienation from God and communities of faith
• Empower URC congregations to be bold witnesses to the power of God - transforming lives, communities, and the world. Catch the Vision!
• Share God's welcome with all whose spiritual journey leads them to or through a URC
• Increase United Reformed Church name recognition in the general public
• Strengthen member pride in "who we are"
• Celebrate the URC’s unique identity and call to be a united & uniting, reformed & reforming
• Progressive mainline churches are virtually absent from public perceptions about church. Many people reject church, not knowing about churches like the URC.

I have been aware for some time that our church is lacking in identity, purpose and spirituality. The next stage of Catch the Vision, Vision4Life is looking to address the two latter points, but I believe we need to work alongside this process to redefine our identity as the United Reformed Church.

The Still Speaking campaign offers much we can learn from, maybe we could even simply copy the UCC campaign. Please visit their website, watch the TV ads and explore other resourses to get a feel for the kind of thing I'm talking about. I'd really apreciate your comments.

So below is an outline of what a URC campaign could look like, concentrating on our name, image identity and core values.

our name: church, reformed, united ‘ed’ or ‘ing’



First and foremost we are about being effective, contextual local churches, seeking to make a difference for Christ’s sake. So our name should say we are a church!

Secondly, although local is the primary point of mission, I do not believe we are a loose collection of independent churches, but a group of churches that recognise the equal importance of our interdependence, that we can achieve more together than apart. Also, we share our Reformed history, and need to learn together how to highlight our Reformed principles for our new age. And in our consumerist, media age we need a robust national identity and brand. Our identity/brand, (in part), is being the Reformed Church.

Thirdly, our identity/brand is still Unit(ed)(ing)! Our ecumenical ideals have not changed, but the landscape has. As a distinct, reformed, progressive mainline church, we are committed to working with others whenever possible, locally, nationally, or internationally.

So we are a Church, Reformed and United. Any ideas for a cracking good name?

advertising campaign

So agreed on our name, and our identity as a theologically broad, but progressive mainline (Reformed) church, with a mission agenda, then how do we brand and promote ourselves?

This will be no easy task, how do we come up with a message and shared identity which is both theologically broad, (without being theologically bland) and yet appealing to the un-churched?

Below are some ideas and comments from a church member who works in graphics and advertising. I began with describing the situation and what I hope an advertising campaign would achieve. In bullet point form, here are his comments and recommendations.

• if the budget is small, billboards are the most cost effective
• if it’s a people organisation, don’t use pictures of people, however careful you are, someone will feel excluded by the type of people you use
• also, a picture of a group of mixed age and background would not be very representative of many URC’s, this could become counter productive
• a simple word or phrase (like ‘God is still speaking’) is the most effective
• most striking colours to get noticed are good old black and white and red, (this also has the benefit of sometimes being cheaper to print)
• include an easily recognisable logo, thinking about brand image and audience
• include a web address where people can get more information

An idea

So what would a national billboard campaign for the United Reformed Church look like?

Well, obviously the branding needs to use out name, the United Reformed Church, but also give some clue as to who we are/what that means, our identity, purpose and principles.

I began playing around with the word Reformed, both in graphics terms and playing with the word itself, swapping ‘ed’ for ‘ing’. I then realised that there are many other similar, positive words which start with ‘Re’ and end with ‘ing’. So I drew up a list.

Reforming - Resurrection - Restoring - Reviving - Reclaiming - Reimagining - Recreating - Reliving - Relaxing - Rejoicing - Reconnecting - Revisioning - Responding - Revolution - Renewing - Revamping - Re-educating - Recalling - Recycle - Retelling - Rebuilding - Remaking - Remodelling - Reconciling - Receiving - Re-evaluating - Relearning - Refreshing - Revitalising - Returning - Retracing - Remembering - Reuniting - Remarrying - Rethinking - Reconditioning - Resurfacing - Reincarnating - Recurring - Researching - Reigniting - Replanting - Refuelling - Rereading - Reacting - Rearranging - Reweaving - Retraining - Receiving - Reworking - Replenishing - Reword - Reappraising - Renew - Regeneration - Reaction - Reconvening - Rekindling - Reborn - Rebirthing - Repicturing - Redressing - Rebalancing - Reopening - Relocating - Recondition - Relating - Relationship - Reawakening - Restoration - Recreation - Rediscovering

Maybe let me know some of your favourites, which you feel are appropriate to describe/promote the URC.

All the words I have selected are positive, all are active, and all are intended to be theologically acceptable by the whole church. So what next?

So how about a campaign which looked like this? We launch nationwide a black and white board with the letters Re in red on the left hand side.

This type of campaign gets people talking about it. ‘Have you seen those posters with Re on them do you know what they are for’?

Once everybody’s talking, we add the rest of the word in white on the black section!

The posters also then have [a revised version of] the United Reformed Church logo in black in the bottom right corner and a web site address in black at the bottom of the white section on the left.



Also, the benefit of the campaign being a series of similar posters, should keep people interested and looking for them, trying to find new words.

Finally, the campaign ends with a third poster, offering a simple welcome.

It’s best if you see the results, simply click on the Re-campaign to open a PowerPoint presentation. For best results, as the slide show stars, right click with your mouse and selece 'Full Screen'. At the end of the presentation press 'Escape' to exit full screen, then click the 'back' button on your browser to return here, and read on!

So, what do you think? I'd really, really apreciate your comments on this. Not just on this particular idea, but in the general primciple of a national church advertising campaign.

Like the UCC campaign, the posters themselves are not the substance and the church certainly will need the same level of preparation and engagement before we launch a campaign.

For now, this is ‘just’ an advertising suggestion, but I believe it has great potential to fulfil the same objectives as Still Speaking for our church, a positive, progressive, fresh, memorable, and inspiring campaign for our existing members as well as attracting other people to faith and The United Reformed Church.

catch the vision prayer

May the spirit of the Lord rest upon us,
may the call of God sustain us,
as we seek to be God’s people,
transformed by the Gospel,
announcing good news to the poor,
proclaiming freedom for those in prisons
of wealth, poverty, disease and disorder,
committed to making a difference
to the world’s kingdoms
for the sake of Christ’s kingdom.

May we deploy our resources as the Spirit guides,
not shirk difficult decisions about the priority of mission,
pledge ourselves anew to work with all our fellow Christians
and use the gifts of all God’s people
so that all may be filled
with the Spirit of healing, justice and peace,

Amen.

I look forward to your comments
The Unlikely Evangelist

Lectionary Reflections
Week: Ordinary 19 Year C
Genesis Chapter 15 verses 1 - 6
Hebrews Chap 11 verses 1 - 3, 8 - 16

Introduction

• Eating beef burgers in the rain will help build the Kingdom of God! (Reference to our church BBQ after the service, raising money for Committment for Life)

Point ONE: Hebrews

• The first Christians in the book of Hebrews had a Vision4Life
• They believed, like we may do, that their world was in a bit of a mess
• But they also believed, through faith, that one day, and one day soon, Jesus would return, and the world would be transformed,
• they believed in the Hebrew prophesies of old,
o that deserts would spring to life,
o that the lion would lie with the lamb,
o that poverty and hunger would be things of the past,
o that war and disease and death and dying would be no more
• They believed that one day, and one day soon, Jesus would return and the whole world would be at peace
• And the earth would be as it is in heaven!

The trouble was, they were wrong!

• Jesus didn’t return in their lifetime
• and the idea that he would, led some to indifference, why do we need to bother toiling when Jesus is soon to return and fix everything!

Their faith had lead to apathy and paralysis, not love and action. Things had gone terribly wrong.

Point TWO: Genesis

• Abraham had a Vision4Life, or rather God did, but Abraham had trouble seeing it.
• Years earlier, God had said to Sarah and Abraham, despite your advancing years, you are to have a child,
• Despite this seeming impossibility, your children will be the start of a great nation, who will be my people
• Yet later, here Abraham was again, trying to keep faith, but asking God, where are all these descendants you promised?
• Even older now, God’s plan seemed even more ridiculous
• But God said, look to the stars in the sky and count them … if you can count them all! Your descendants will be just as many!
• Abraham couldn’t see it, maybe didn’t even believe it, but he did have faith!

Point THREE: Faith

So let me try and explain this faith business as I see it! The Bible is a book of stories, of people like Abraham and Sarah, people like 'the Hebrews', … people like you and me, struggling with our faith, trying to trust in God’s promises, however unlikely they seem.

The trouble is, they seem to seem even more unlikely to us today, we’re much more sophisticated than the people of Biblical times, … at least we like to think we are! And we live in a world of science and reason, logic and knowledge, the spectacular and supernatural promises of the Bible, just don’t make sense to us anymore.

Yet, to take these stories literally, is perhaps to miss the point.

"Faith," doesn't mean intellectually agreeing with an idea, it means something more like "trust". Faith is not about what we usually call "belief" so much as it's about relationship.

Having faith is not about trying to convince yourself that you are convinced of something. As I’ve said before, sometimes we treat the Bible like it’s that book we know were supposed to believe, but if we are honest we struggle.

Knowing the bible, is not about belief, it’s about a deeper relationship with God.

Point FOUR: So What!

Today the world may be a bit different, but the struggles are just the same. AND SO ARE GODS PROMISES!

We long to see a world of justice and peace, and pray that the world is just like heaven, and we long to see a church thriving again, but don’t quite believe God’s promise.

And like the Hebrews, maybe we sometimes think it would be great if God were to come down and fix everything!

But maybe they learnt that is not what the promise was, Jesus won’t come again to fix it all, but it will be as if he is returned when WE have fixed it all and the whole world lives as Jesus did.

And it may not be done in our timescale, even in our lifetime, but we too have a story of faith to give us hope, that when Jesus realm is on earth as in heaven, that those that have gone before will share in God’s glory. And the deserts will spring to life, the lion will lie with the lamb, poverty and hunger will be things of the past, war and disease and death and dying will be no more, the whole world will be at peace and the earth will be as it is in heaven.

Conclusion

My journey, God says, it with a people of faith, and you know you've got faith when, you find yourself engaged in activities which the world says are hopeless and a waste of time, and when however your heart pounds as you do it and whatever fears you have, you take the next step forward into the desert.

When you work tirelessly for justice and peace, buying Fairtrade, telling others about it, using our shopping bags.

When we send money to Bangladesh, as much as we can spare, to give to people of another faith, who need our help. Knowing that it will be a drop in the ocean.

And when we gather with friends, with huge smiles on our faces, to eat beef burgers in the rain, to witness to the world to God’s glory, that’s when you’ll know you have faith and belief and a Vison4Life!

I'm very excited about Vision4Life! (apart from hating the current trend of replacing 'for' with '4' in almost all logo's these days).

Focusing on our core tasks of Bible Study, Prayer and Evangelism is vital to bring life back to our churches.

As I hope my post on 'Bible Study for Every Church?' begins to demonstrate, regular Bible Study can transform a local church. If you haven't read our story, then please do follow the link.

However, this does not mean we have completed the first stage of Vision4Life, the challenge for us at Heald Green United Reformed Church will be, how do we help those who our format of weekly Bible Study hasn't reached, re-connect with the scriptures? How do we help our busy churches, full of tired Martha's, waste a little time with God, learning Mary's better way.

So we're looking forward to the Vision4Life material being produced, hoping it contains lots of varied suggestions and stories from other churches, of how to re-engage people with the Bible. If you have any helpful stories or suggestions, please add your comment to this post.

Also, I need to reflect that Vision4Life is not all about Bible Study, but Prayer and Evangelism too. In these areas I'm by no means as comfortable or confident, (I am an 'unlikely' evangelist after all!) However, I wasn't too confident or convinced about Bible Study not so long ago, and if a better prayer life for our church has a similar effect as regular Bible Study, then try stopping us sharing our/God's story with others after that!

For now, I have two questions.

How do we break the practice in many of our churches of Prayer Meetings/Circles being little more than a sharing of pastoral news/gossip/list of ill people?

How do we encourage the sharing of our faith story with others within the church, let alone beyond?

On this latter question I am grateful to John Campbell of the Vision4Life group for recommending a helpful publication from the Methodist Church, 'Time to Talk of God - Recovering Christian conversation as a way of nurturing discipleship'


I also draw your attention to David Peel's helpful comments in 'Encountering Church' particularly his analysis of the use of the word 'Fellowship' in our churches, which once was used to mean those occasions when Christians met together with the intention of talking about God, not simply for company, friendship and small-talk, or 'Tea and Chat' as David calls it. Once again any comments or stories about successful discussion groups would be most appreciated.

A word of warning!

There is a real danger of all this being very inward looking and church centric, undoing work on the idea of the church equipping disciples to become apostles and go out into the world. After four years if internal restructuring in Catch the Vision, Vison4Life cannot be four years if internal spiritualizing. The Vison4Life process cannot loose steam before the final year concentrating on Evangelism and MUST connect with ongoing work on a national advertising/evangelism stratergy.

For now, local reflection on the scriptures MUST lead to praxis, the 'So What?' question from Heald Green's Bible Study.

So as we approach year one of Vision4Life together, concentrating on the Bible, I'll continue to post here from time to time any wisdom from our Bible Study groups, encourage you again to visit Lawrence Moore's excellent weekly lectionary reflections, 'Disclosing New Worlds', and to post any of your reflections here, or on your own blogs.

Here, I'll simply close with this.

Knowing our Bibles will not suddenly save the URC, but not knowing them is probably what's slowly killing us!

So let's all Catch the Vision4Life!
Mike