Still Speaking Evaluation and Planning

Many involved in the God Is Still Speaking Initiative are evaluating what has happened to date and what should happen in the future. Regional Conference Minister Michael Caine is asking for your candid responses to four questions which will influence "what next".

Several persons have already responded. Their comments are linked to the questions - which are:

• What difference did the commercials make?
• What can we learn from the first round of commercials?
• How can our congregations take greater advantage of the Still Speaking Initiative?
• What can Associations and the New York Conference do to maximize the Still Speaking efforts of the national setting and our local churches?
• Other Comments.
  

We would love to hear your comments.

Summary of First Fifteen Responses to Still Speaking Questions

Diane Samuels, pastor of Mt. Sinai Congregational UCC in the Suffolk Association wrote this summary of the first fifteen responses to the Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Questions. Click on each question in this summary to get to the all the responses received to date.


What difference did the commercials make? (See individual answers)

Seven out of fifteen respondents said they did not gain visitors or members because of the commercials. (One church changed their response this week, having had a family visit because of the ad). Other churches mention between 4-6 visitors resulted directly from the campaign. Most of the respondents note that the controversy over the network's refusal to air the ads generated the most reaction, (certainly more than the commercials would have done on their own, several thought) - most of which was positive for the United Church of Christ.

"Thanks to the great publicity from the controversy the commercials have raised the perception of the UCC to levels I have never seen," remarked one pastor. However, a longtime member of one suburban congregation doubted that the UCC "built on that momentum." One respondent asserted "the commercials met with a very mixed response here. Several people criticized the first one (Jesus didn't exclude anyone.) as unnecessarily negative and potentially counter-productive because it appears to be putting down other churches." (At least two other respondents commented on what they perceived to be the negativity of the "Bouncer" ad, which implied OTHER churches were not inclusive, while we are.)

It seems that collegial support from clergy of other denominations and civil liberties organizations was favorable and appreciated by clergy.

From the comments from a city parish: "Between the commercials and the controversy, we got the UCC's name out there as a progressive denomination that welcomes people. We grew in familiarity and support, both by individuals and by civil liberties organizations."

For some churches the commercials and related controversy enabled a "robust and healthy" discussion about "Open and Affirming." Most of the respondents said renewed pride in the UCC and discussion about/understanding of our identity were key benefits of the campaign along with more active care and programming around welcoming newcomers. Given the replies of clergy and lay people, "morale boosting" is the most obvious benefit of the campaign.


What can we learn from the first round of commercials? (See individual answers)

The responses to this question ranged considerably. One pastor writes enthusiastically, "(We know) that there is a desire for churches like ours, and that many people don't know we exist. Publicity does work, if it is done well and on a highly visible level." The very next response was, "That we are all flawed."

Many respondents wrote that churches learned about their own welcome and hospitality from the first round of training/ads. "The training sessions were helpful, and forced us to ask how "hospitable" we really are. The answer was, "not as much as we think." One respondent said the congregation looked at worship and asked whether it would "appeal to visitors or was it only designed for members." He concluded that members of his congregation had become "much more honest with ourselves."

Many began or deepened their discussion of "Open and Affirming." The campaign was valuable in that it raised awareness about becoming more proactively inclusive. But, "are we really inclusive? .do we welcome those who think different from us? How for example does a good Christian who is a Bush Republican feel in a UCC congregation - or in our hearts is that a contradiction in terms?"

One respondent in the New York metro area saw the need for a network among churches to respond in a more timely manner to major issues that come up, such as the networks' refusal to show the ads.

"Another piece of learning is the importance of being ready when the commercials run. This means having banners up, informing the congregation.and being especially ready to "walk the talk" when people.walk into our church for the first time."

"What can we learn? Obviously we have to be careful how we speak about and portray the UCC. Perhaps the country is too politically correct and more tends to be read into things than should be. A sign of the times. For good or bad we also learned that t we get more attention is we are dynamic and do not avoid the issues that face our church ."

"What can we learn.? That we need to keep hitting hard, fast and often.strike while the iron's hot! . let our light shine so our good works are seen!"


How can our congregations take greater advantage of the still speaking initiative? (See individual answers)

"What we need now is good follow up. I hope the commercials will run again in Lent."

"I'd recommend that more churches participate and that the training spend less time on background and more on techniques for outreach and integration of visitors."

"Maintain interest in the face of.short attention spans."

Two respondents suggested integrating the theme of 'God is Still Speaking' into programs and meetings, studies, prayer.

Several suggested ".enhancing links with other local UCC congregations . (to) learn what techniques worked - and which ones didn't," and getting together with other congregations to do things like take our newspaper ads..

Wear the tee shirts more often and not just to church!

"I think the best way .to use the initiative is to not treat it as a TV or communications campaign but rather to use it as a stimuli for discussions and actions for getting more UCC churches to commit to being "open and affirming in words and deeds."


What can associations and the conference do to maximize the still speaking efforts of the national setting and our local churches? (See individual answers)

One pastor, proud of Suffolk Association efforts, wrote they should be a model for "multiplying the effect of such a campaign. We ran radio and print spots to maximize our visibility." He believed this really helped.

"Lead by example. Send a letter to all UCC congregations clarifying what NBC and CBS did and did not do." This respondent noted that "contrary to the implications of the UCC main office CBS and NBC refused to broadcast only the first commercial, not the second. Apparently the problem was not with showing the gay couple or a positive message of welcome.but with something else about the first ad - perhaps its open hostility to other churches..most media ran the story without checking to see if we were being "fair" or "just" in what we led people to believe about NBC or CBS. Also good news: the FCC will ignore our letters to deny the license renewal application for two local stations because the facts we used were so glaringly wrong."

"I'd like to see the ads on New York 1 and the Weather Channel. Also, .public service announcements on TV and radio.more coverage in local newspapers.a communications network.some kind of creative public Still Speaking event in Manhattan that would get press coverage."

Two respondents felt like feedback such as this was useful and important and should be continued.

"I think associations and conferences can help by .turn(ing) .a communication strategy into real actions through seminars, materials, etc.""Probably doing enough to date..prayer is always good."

"Churches should share what they are doing with other churches."

"Basically it all boils down to money, doesn't it?"



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Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Question #1
What difference did the commercials make?

From a Suffolk Minister

Thanks to the great publicity from the controversy the commercials have raised the perception of the UCC to levels I have never seen. As I talk to non-church people I am surprised how often they say, "I loved your commercials." At our congregation we had six contacts from new people visiting or emailing the church during Advent. This is excellent for us. Our church is hard to find and in a heavily catholic area, so one or two visitors a week is a lot for us. Also, the visitors from GISS seem to be coming back because they are people who truly have wanted to be part of a church, but felt that they would not be welcomed. In addition, a lot of pride was generated in the congregation by the campaign. Church members were outraged when the ads weren't run and proud of our church inclusive welcome

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From a Westchester Minister

While we did not receive any visitors from the commercials, it did create a buzz in the community.  Some of the responses were positive, and some negative.  (You're arrogant.  You are not the only church that welcomes everyone).

The commercials gave the congregation a sense of pride.  As a denomination, we had our 15 minutes of fame.  People also thought through their commitment to our theology, and that was significant.

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From a Westchester Moderator

We got no new members or visitors from the ads, nor from a joint ad we ran in the local paper with other congregations.   There were some negative views within the church about the first ad - some (but not all) felt that is was unnecessarily negative   and seemed to say we were better than others; the second ad was consistently appreciated, and the idea  that God welcomes all (and we should too) was important.

Several congregants were angered to learn from a UCC email that "CBS and NBC have refused to air the UCC 'God is still speaking' ads. The networks claim the ads are too controversial because they show a gay couple among the people that our churches will welcome."

While anger is not a good emotion, I'll admit I became angrier still when I discovered that, contrary to the implications of the UCC main office (which my friends in the NY UCC appropriately forwarded to others), CBS and NBC refused to broadcast only the first commercial, not the second.   Apparently, the problem was not with showing the gay couple or a positive message of welcome (for the second ad did both), but with something else about the first ad - perhaps its open hostility to other churches.

The good news, which God always brings us back to, is that the controversy generated more awareness than the ads, the message of inclusion got out, we had a rollicking good time being angry together, and most media ran the story without checking to see if we were being "fair" or "just" in what we led people to believe about NBC or CBS.   (Also good news: The FCC will ignore our letters to deny the license renewal application for two local stations because the facts we used were so glaringly wrong. - for one, those two local stations never rejected the first ad and were in fact wiling to run it.)   So none was hurt.

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From a Manhattan Layperson

Between the commercials and the controversy, we got the UCC's name out there as a progressive denomination that welcomes people. We grew in familiarity and support, both by individuals and by civil liberties organizations.

At our church, the numbers weren't huge, but we did get maybe half a dozen people who came because of the ads. And just as important, our congregation put a lot of thought into how to attract and welcome people. We developed a new brochure, reestablished greeters and had a number of people paying attention to visitors and trying to make them feel at home. We even set up a new committee, Growth With Integrity, to work on outreach.

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From a Nassau Minister

We have had 3 or 4 new people come to try us out.

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From a Westchester Layperson

I think the largest difference is that they sparked a robust and healthy discussion about "open and affirming," as well as heightened our awareness of ensuring that any visitors to our church are recognized and warmly welcomed.  The latter is not just a job of the Membership Committee, but of every member of our church family.

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From a Binghamton Minister

They made for a bit of conversation in our congregation--and folks who don't watch TV found themselves paying more attention to commercials than usual.  I'm not sure if it is specifically the commercials, or more the web site use of the initiative material, but we have had a couple of folks inquire about us; one will be with us tomorrow (and pray he likes what he sees--he feels called to ministry!).  I've also had positive feedback from colleagues in other denominations.  Our spring association meeting will also focus on the initiative--sort of a GISS 101/102 approach, so that congregations who are still learning can hear the initial presentation and those who have been using the resources can share their experiences and get ideas for where to go from where they are.

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Hard to tell. Anecdotally, a handful of new faces have come to our church and mentioned the ads. But visitors are not unusual in our congregation; our Open and Affirming status has helped to generate a fair amount of traffic from visitors over the past decade-plus. Personally, I've never seen one of the commercials while watching television. (I did see them at Riverside in November.) In the mega-channel universe of 21 st -Century TV, I wonder if they have been lost in the shuffle somehow. Or maybe I just don't watch enough television. The CBS-NBC controversy, covered quite extensively in Newsday, The New York Times and on television news programs, instigated an initial burst of enthusiasm and curiosity - nothing beats free publicity. Building on that momentum, however, proved elusive. I think our present members got a bit of a morale boost from the campaign - many purchased T-shirts, hats and coffee mugs - and our minister of music composed a song on the theme of "God Is Still Speaking," which received a very favorable reaction. Our pastor ends each of her sermons with "God Is Still Speaking." But it's hard to see that the campaign has produced a pool of potential new members.

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From a Nassau Minister

We know that some churches saw an increase in visitation because of the commercials, while others, including ours, did not.  Heightened awareness of the UCC is good.  Excessive expense is not.  We continue to hope and pray that it is worth it all.

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From a Nassau Person In-Care

I think we learned that the gospel message is still alive and well we need only embody it and it elicits its own such controversy. Though we did not receive the unanimous approval we had expected by those who even claimed to affirm the commercials, as with Christ always we received a response. The harvest is ripe! God's people are passionate. However they maybe passionate in challenging ways.... they are passionate. I believe the verbalized words, "No matter who you are no matter where you are on life's journey...... resonated deeply in the post modern psyche. God's people needed to hear this message. I was amazed at all the articles I read in journals such as Sojourners that applauded the UCC for allowing God to use her church as a forthright and honest gospel message.

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From a Nassau Minister
While these are great questions, I am unable to answer them directly because we did not get one visitor as a result of the ad campaign.

Most people heard of the ad because of the newspaper articles or clip on channel 7 Good Morning America , who wouldn't run the ad, but featured it on their morning show.

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From an Interested Person

There was no visible evidence, ie, church attendance, phone calls to the church, or visitors that would lead us to believe that the commercials were even seen. The refusal of networks to air the commercials gave us more publicity in the local and regional and national papers than the commercials themselves would have. Few church members mentioned even seeing one on TV. I did not.

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From a Suffolk Layperson

They obviously created a stir. And the good part, the stories of people who are finding a home in the UCC, is thrilling and rewarding.  It also helped to give the UCC a face; "Congregational" has been better known, though perhaps not to the younger generations, so it's good to have the publicity about UCC.  Though our little church doesn't seem to be gaining members from the ads, we are gaining members and hopefully, they are, or will be, as proud as the rest of us are, to be members of such a welcoming church.  

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From a Queens Minister

I t has gotten people talking. I have personally received calls from ministers affiliated with other denominations inquiring about the process of bringing a church or an individual into the UCC. There has also been talk from people in my circles who really want to understand the UCC. On a personal note, I was approached (as a religious leader because of my status as a UCC minister) by New York Newsday who included me among an interfaith/ecumenical panel of clergy. It was published in the paper a couple of weeks ago. The word is out about UCC!

Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Question #2
What can we learn from the first round of commercials ?

From a Suffolk Minister

That there is a desire for a church like ours, and that many people don't know we exist. Publicity does work, if it is done well and on a highly visible level.

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From a Westchester Moderator 

That we are all flawed.   That even when we try to do the right thing in the name of the Lord, even when (perhaps especially when) we seek to be most righteous, we often act counter to the fairness, justice and love that God expects of us.   We (including me) can do better.

The message of inclusion is also important, and it means making everyone seeking God truly welcome in God's house.   Are we really inclusive?   Yes we welcome people who look different from us.   But do we accept those who think different from us?   How for example does a good Christian who is a Bush Republican feel in a UCC congregation - or in our hearts is that a contradiction in terms?   (No, I did not vote for Bush.)

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From a Manhattan Layperson

That our congregations, whether in the campaign or not, can really gain by thinking about how to be welcoming churches. And locally, that we need more of a network to respond in the New York Metro Area to major issues that come up, such as the two networks' refusal to show the ads.

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From a Nassau Minister

The commercials met with a very mixed response here. Several people criticized the first one (Jesus didn't exclude anyone...) as unnecessarily negative and potentially counter-productive because it appears to be putting down other churches.

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From a Westchester Layperson

The largest controversy in our church over the commercials had to do with tone.  Some felt the ads to be a good "wake up call" with an directness necessary to break through today's TV clutter.  Others felt that the message was unnecessarily negative, and that we should focus on communicating that we are welcoming, rather than speaking to how unwelcoming other churches might be. I think the overall feeling is, however, that the follow-up "church/steeple" campaign that may run in Lent is a better long term place to be in terms of advertising look and feel.

Another piece of learning is the importance of being ready when the commercials run.  This means having banners ups, informing the congregation of the campaign, and being especially ready to "walk the talk" when people motivated by the ads walk into our church for the first time.

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From a Binghamton Minister

That people don't seem to be lukewarm to the message, are either VERY in favor or VERY displeased (e.g., the latest issue of BWF's periodical). That folks who have felt alienated hunger for what we are proclaiming. That our folks may be more ready to discuss things, whether because of or in spite of the ads I'm not sure.  That there's lots of ministry yet to do!  (These are just off-the-top-of-my-head responses.)

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Maybe we should run the ads during "SpongeBob SquarePants." Is the UCC tracking the response geographically? Did the campaign yield better response in certain areas of the country? Do we know which networks produced high levels of response - that is, were people who saw the ad on Bravo more likely to seek a UCC church than viewers of, for instance, Fox? Were broadcast viewers more likely to respond than people who primarily watch cable? Did the ads appeal to younger people? Married people with children? Empty-nesters? Seniors? Liberals? Conservatives? Red-state residents? Blue-staters? This kind of data might help us focus our media buy during Lent.

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From a Nassau Minister

Major networks typically have the highest rated shows during peak viewing hours.  Probably best to make sure ads are okay with the major networks before launching campaign.  Many of the people in my congregation never saw the ad run.  This is likely the case for many of the potential visitors we are trying to reach.

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From a Nassau Minister 

It seemed the commentaries were more showing that UCC welcomes everyone, even if that is so controversial that an ad isn't allowed on the major networks. We have used that to show who UCC is. We are trying to make the identity more visible by featuring it in the Lenten program, during sermons, reintroducing the greeter program, updating the friendship register, following up with the shepherding program etc. I think we can lift up our welcoming nature in a judgmental world.

What I am not sure of as I think about what was learned from the 1st round, is if the TV ads that were to run Advent and Lent were really scheduled, or was the momentum of the first ad suppose to sustain the second ad? IF so, that was false advertising.

As mentioned above, I think our membership, life and development board made a deliberate attempt to make sure we were ready to welcome visitors and assimilate our new members.

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From an Interested Person

What can we learn?  Obviously we have to be careful how we speak about and portray the UCC. Perhaps the country is too politically correct and more tends to be read into things than should be. A sign of the times. For good or bad we also learned that we get more attention if we are dynamic and do not avoid the issues that face our church or for
that matter all churches. We may not think alike on those issues, but they are there just the same.

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Maybe that the bouncer ad is a little harsh (my seat mate and I both winced when we first saw it), but it's there , and the controversy has made the whole campaign newsworthy, so that's a plus!  Also the explanations of its softer meaning by John Thomas and others have been good, and hopefully read by many.  If there are funds to keep using the ads, it wouldn't hurt to explain that one again.

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From a Queens Minister

We need to keep hitting hard, fast and often. As the saying goes, strike while the iron's hot! Since people have begun talking, we need to keep who we are in God in the faces of the public and let our light shine so our good works are seen, not so we can be patted on the back but so God will be glorified as God has been in round 1!

Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Question #3
How can our congregations take greater advantage of the Still Speaking initiative?

From a Suffolk Minister

I felt we did all we could to take advantage of this--two banners, balloons, postcards, t-shirts, bulletin covers. What we need to do now is good follow-up. I also hope the commercials will run again in Lent.

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From a Westchester Minister

We were already in dialogue about revitalization, so people were open to the discussion.  The training session was helpful, and forced us to ask how "hospitable" we really are.  The answer was, "not as much as we think."  The discussions around Still Speaking helped us to take a deep look at all of our church programs, particularly worship, and whether it would appeal to visitors, or was it designed only for the members. While we haven't made many changes yet, we have gotten a lot more honest
with ourselves

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From a Westchester Moderator

The UCC materials for thinking about whether we are welcoming and for actions to   reach out to the community are very good.    The idea that"God is Still Speaking,.." is also powerful, and can bring us back to Jesus' message of the law of love above all other laws.

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From a Manhattan Layperson

I'd recommend that more churches participate and that the training spend less time on background and more on techniques for outreach and integration of visitors.

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From a Nassau Minister

We have had a full service dedicated to GISS, including our choir learning the song and everyone was very positive. We have beefed up our greeting process and are working to make our website better and our self-presentation via brochures and follow-up better.

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From a Westchester Layperson

I think the best way for our congregations to use this initiative, is to not treat it as a TV or communications campaign, but rather to use it as a stimuli for discussions and actions for getting more UCC churches to commit to being "open and affirming" in words and deeds

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From a Binghamton Minister

Keep sharing the message.  I'm psyched that all the extra notebooks I had from the training sessions are now GONE from my office.  Pastors who couldn't make the sessions, or whose congregations were reticent, are now requesting the materials.  I'll keep talking and encouraging the conversations as long as folks ask me to do so--and as long as my congregation doesn't feel neglected.  :-)

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Having celebrated a successful launch, the challenge will be to maintain interest in the face of other distractions, internal church issues and short attention spans. Integrating church projects around the theme of "God Is Still Speaking" would keep the campaign alive while providing tangible evidence of God's presence in our lives. Enhancing links with other local UCC congregations may enable us to see what other churches experienced, and learn what techniques worked - and which ones didn't.

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From a Nassau Minister

Obviously, this is up to individual congregations.  In Nassau Co. several of the UCC churches have teamed up to run ads in Newsday.

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From a Nassau Person In-Care

I believe we need to embody the message of hospitality, not only in our churches but our community as well. Preach, cultivate and empower pro-active receptivity as prayer living. Invite others to talk about and share their experience of God in all our meetings services etc. Encourage inductive learning small groups that empower all of God's people, centered on the theme. Or if not centered on the theme 'God is still speaking' incorporate in all studies, meeting, communications, prayer, and reflection the never ending question of the spiritual director "How is God still speaking?"

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From an Interested Person
How can local congregations take advantage of campaign? Perhaps we need to be more up front and "in your face". (For us, two banners attempted that with very significant structural failure).Certainly local church websites can speak to the campaign. Newspaper ads are expensive, and many of us face rather tight budgets. Our church has 4 people, plus our pastor trained in the campaign. We have discussed new ideas and are ready to implement them. Our welcome faces and welcome packs are ready, but so far no new faces have crossed the threshold. Our members are enthusiastic and ready to go. We just have to get people to our church. That is the problem, right?

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Our minister is doing a great job of mentioning it often, through his sermons, prayers and pointing out where God is still speaking in many of the good things happening at our church and with our people. Those of us who have t-shirts need to wear them more often (not just to church functions!), proudly display the bumper stickers, and keep the lawn signs straight up! Also, we are becoming more aware of being a friendly church, but more importantly, a welcoming church, to new members, visitors, new babies, noisy kids, teen-agers, people with handicaps (mental and physical), the whole range of the human condition!  But we need to be reminded until it becomes second nature and completely genuine!

This welcoming by our congregations may be the most important part of building our churches.  With more people we are able to offer more programs which will keep the membership interested and involved.  (Simple! ha ha!)

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From a Queens Minister

Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Question #4
What can associations and the conference do to maximize the still speaking efforts of the national setting and our local churches?

From a Suffolk Minister

I think our Suffolk association efforts should be a model for multiplying the effect of such a campaign. We ran radio and print spots to maximize our visibility. I believe this really helped.

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From a Westchester Moderator  

Lead by example.   Send a letter to all UCC congregations clarifying what NBC and CBS did and did not do.   Find a way to make common cause with CBS and/or NBC on the message of inclusion.   Encourage love, not anger. Pursue inclusion and justice and yes, the individual political actions dictated by our pursuit of inclusion and justice; but leave space in the church to allow that political judgments of good people may not always be in agreement.

I also think that the God is Still Speaking materials for reaching out to new members are very good, and we should build on them. Working together with other UCC congregations are also great positives of this effort.

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From a Manhattan Layperson

I'd like to see the ads on New York 1 and The Weather Channel. Also, we could try to get public service announcements on TV and radio and more coverage in local newspapers about the UCC and/or local church activities. As mentioned before, we should develop a communications network. Finally, it would be good to try to think up some kind of creative public Still Speaking event in Manhattan that would get press coverage

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From a Nassau Minister

The distribution of feedback, like this one, and the continued development of media kits, as well as the organizational/informational gatherings such as we had, should be continued.

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From a Westchester Layperson

I think associations and the conference can help by helping churches to turn what is more of a communications strategy into real actions.  Through seminars, materials, etc... it would be great for UCC churches to receive further support in helping to ensure the "still speaking" message is not just a nice ad campaign, but a promise that all UCC churches visibly deliver on in everything we do.

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From a Binghamton Minister

As I said, our association (SQ) is making this our spring meeting focus. With our centennial our church this year, we are using the materials to help us move from "isn't great that we've been here 100 years?" to "now what do we want to do for the next 100 years?

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From a Suffolk Layperson

Help keep the campaign fresh - it must continue to evolve in order to avoid becoming stale. Don't rely too heavily on just TV ads to drive new members into the pews - TV audiences these days are more jaded than they used to be. The Riverside kickoff was a pretty neat event, so how about holding similar events in more places that are more accessible to a greater number of people? Encourage churches to reach out to one another, share resources and work together on projects of mutual interest.

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From a Nassau Minister

Probably doing enough to date.  Word is out.  Additional resources and training is available.  Prayer is always good.

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From a Nassau Person In-Care

Encourage our leaders as well as laity to continue to embody the art of discernment. I believe leaders need to cultivate leaders. We need to be seeped in spiritual direction. Look at the work of the Holy Spirit. I wonder if we knew before hand that the commercials might be rejected at the last moment if we would have voted to proceed with petitioning to air them. Jim Forbes got it right We need to learn the art of listening not only to one another but also the still small voice within. It is who we are that makes the difference. By being a people that embody the hospitality slogan of our commercial we are in essence 'doing' kingdom building.

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From an Interested Person

Churches should share what they are doing to promote the campaign with other churches. Any local publicity in the news media might help...if you can get them to run it. Articles about the campaign. Joint ads from local UCC churches (Suffolk Assn, for example) in LI News papers. Basically it all boils down to money, doesn't it? The sad thing is that we can not afford to let the campaign die at this stage, or we will lose what we have already done. Continuous reinforcement is what is going to turn the tide as it does in all education. Obviously from your statistics the campaign encouraged some people to take a look at the UCC. My question would be, in what areas of the country, and did the interest remain on the part of those people? Are the websites still getting significant hits? Locally we had the publicity, the banners and signs, but it did not seem to make a difference.

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From a Suffolk Layperson

It would be good to learn at Association meetings (council and regular) and at State annual meeting some of the results of the campaign. We need to hear the stories of what has happened in churches (local and national) which would inspire and encourage us to "keep on keepin' on!" 

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From a Queens Minister

We'd better hurry up and get our proposal to you. It will address this.

Still Speaking Evaluation/Planning Additional Responses

From a Manhattan Minister

Re the commercial:  I was stunned by my response; the commercial made me uncomfortable and angry for this subjective response - it appeared to be a middle class enterprise where acceptance depends on dressing from LLBean; regardless of race, etc,, everyone was so nicety-nice;

It was not clear about sexual orientation difference unless one assumed that a warm gesture between people of the same sex means that; most of all, the two (white) men separating the sheep from the goats looked like skinheads, dressed in tight black shirts like cruising gay men, and the effect for me was of a church that is self-righteous and steeped in middle class values; skinheads would not be welcome, and come across as bouncers.

I realize this is a minority opinion, and hear that the ads are leading people to churches - for how long, I would ask - but this is not a theological context that is meaningful to me.  The RC's do a lot better with class and culture, even with their strict positions on human sexuality. And let's face it, acceptance of diversity varies from UCC church to UCC church.

In my sermon last week, 1/30/05 called "Net Worth," I said that the Christian life is to be counter cultural. My nature is not welcoming to PR and marketing, so please take this as a loyal dissenting perspective.

All the best, and keep the faith.

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From a Binghamton Minister

Re the "Did you know":
--reports, editorials & cartoons about the networks' refusal of the commercials ran across the country, in big city and small town papers, on national and local radio and t.v. programs; the vast majority of coverage was overwhelmingly supportive (but you can't do anything really worth doing without hearing from someone!).

Did you see the Leonard Pitts column in the paper about this time? I have learned much from his columns in the past, and was delighted to discover he's a member of Chicago/Trinity.  It was great that he would speak of this in his column.

--in many congregations, the still speaking pew pads, used to take attendance of visitors and members, prompted a whole host of long-time regulars to decide to become members.

So far, we haven't had visitors during  the campaign--though I'm really hoping that the young man who called me will find us faithful and worthy of his presence.

--the more congregations magnified the national t.v. spots with "local reinforcements" (newspaper articles and advertisements, still speaking programs, banners and yard signs), the more likely they were to attract visitors.

As the campaign began, we had major deaths in our small congregation--not to mention a member who had double kidney transplant and an organist having double knee replacement.  Many committees/boards had to revamp their goals short-term because family had priorities at home.  While it slowed us down, we are still moving and planning; turtles still have a place in the scheme of this.  :-)