What Harold Camping got right
Writing for the Huffington Post, Phil Cooke points out that Harold Camping did a much better job getting his message out there than most religious denominations, including ours, have done:
The Methodist's seem to be trying to redefine church itself. Their advertising campaign "Re-Think Church" (can't remember that one, huh?) was more interested in social justice, in a vain attempt to appear relevant.It's tough to find anything from the Episcopal Church, even though they've had a denomination-wide ad project since 1979 that seems to have resulted in an "advertising collaborative." They did try their warm and fuzzy "I am Episcopalian" series, but you don't remember that one either, right? At least on YouTube you can find a video of an Episcopal Bishop talking about "honoring your spiritual journey" -- whatever that means.
The Presbyterians haven't been sharing their message much lately, because they seem to be far more interested in making sure we all know that they're ordaining a handful of gay, lesbian, and transgender pastors. Apparently, appearing inclusive is more important than actually sharing a message of salvation.
Catholics seem to be more intent on just bringing back their lapsed members with their "Catholics Come Home" campaign.
The Baptists? Forget it. They can't even decide on a logo....
In the case of the Episcopal Church it seems to me that our problem has had less to do with the nature of our message than with the fact that we simply don't think advertising is important enough to justify the necessary expenditure. Thoughts?
