Irenic Thoughts

Irenic. The word means peaceful. This web log (or blog) exists to create an ongoing, and hopefully peaceful, series of comments on the life of King of Peace Episcopal Church. This is not a closed community. You are highly encouraged to comment on any post or to send your own posts.

11/21/2009

Ad-o-Rama

Below is an advertisement which The Episcopal Church ran in a full page add in USA Today:



I posted a challenge on Facebook for ideas to do a quick and dirty mock up of another ad for The Episcopal Church. Two friends from seminary responded with ideas last night which I worked up into ads. On any of these, click the photo to see a larger version, which will be easier to read.


The Rev. Keith Johnson came up with the No shoes. No shirt. You still get service idea and I found a photo of the Soup Kitchen at Holy Apostles Episcopal in New York City that worked well. Victoria and I used to work with the soup kitchen at St. Peter's in Rome, Georgia and loved that ministry. I also like to think that even with our stuffy reputation all sorts and conditions of people are welcome.


The Rev. Kit Carlson played off the oft used expression in England that the Church of England is the "Tory Party at Prayer" in order to say that The Episcopal Church may be more diverse than you think, or as someone else at Facebook put it, It's not my grandmother's Episcopal Church, but my grandmother is welcome. I found a photo online at the Evangelical Education Society of The Episcopal Church and created a mock up of Kit's idea. This one seems more exclusive and divisive to me while reaching for its opposite, but I think Kit likes it and it does speak to the fact that the Episcopal congregations I visit are not filled with the elite, but with folk like me and you.


My mother-in-law, Laura Campbell, said, "The last is too divisive, and most Americans (including me) wouldn't get the Tory connection. Of these, the middle's most promising, but we need one that says there's room for everyone under our umbrella." So the above ad is a very quick and dirty change over to her concept.


In the comments below, Sarah Dylan Breuer recommended some ad copy, which I worked into the above version. The strength for me is the story. The photo shows members of two churches in our area helping build a home for a single mom and her daughter. The daughter was in the youth group at one of the churches. It was a Habitat for Humanity build, but entirely undertaken by a church for one of its own. Certainly, we should and do look out for others, but part of having a community is that it is also concerned for those in need within.

What do y'all think?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Art Director

Labels:

20 Comments:

  • At 11/21/2009 9:47 AM, Anonymous Amber said…

    The first is still my favorite, love the whole idea of it.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 11:08 AM, Blogger SUSAN RUSSELL said…

    Brilliant! Just "cross-blogged" your great piece ... keep 'em coming!

    http://inchatatime.blogspot.com/2009/11/pilot-for-tec-episode-of-mad-men.html

     
  • At 11/21/2009 11:16 AM, Anonymous Bob/San Diego said…

    Now these are ads that will get folks attention and which carry a single, powerful message. Good for you. Thanks.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 11:39 AM, Blogger Bruce Robison said…

    We still have plenty of great Republican Episcopalians in these parts, and in most places--and while most folks have a good sense of humor, I find the second advert more trouble than it's worth. In a way the ad calls our attention to the the critical issue I think for the Episcopal Church right now, which is how to leave one enclave without simply creating another . . . .

     
  • At 11/21/2009 11:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! THIS is advertising. THIS is "branding." It is also EVANGELISM. Forget that prolix dreck running in USA Today. THIS is what you need to be running in your local paper, folks--it's catchy, creative, thoughtful. For what it's worth, you have my wholehearted endorsement!
    --The Rev. Jan Nunley, former TEC Deputy for Communication

     
  • At 11/21/2009 11:49 AM, Anonymous Lee Shaw said…

    As a non-Republican I agree with Bruce Robison on this. That so-called slogan about the Republican party at prayer is old and worn out. This is about who we are, not about who we are not. Leave the political labels out of it. If TEC is inclusive - really - then such labels do not matter anyway.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 12:09 PM, Blogger Tom Sramek, Jr. said…

    Say what you really think, Jan! (Grin). Seriously, Frank, these are brilliant. You need to start a section on your web site to put them so that the rest of us can grab them, tweak them, and use them! Beyond the prosaic nature of the USA Today Ad, I almost spit up my coffee when I saw "If you want to customize this ad, email..." It's the 21st century--give us the blank, editable copy and we can do our OWN modifications!

    Go Frank, go!

     
  • At 11/21/2009 1:53 PM, Anonymous Sarah Dylan Breuer said…

    This is brilliant. The "no longer the Republican Party at prayer" thing is my least favorite as a slogan -- these days, I don't think the issue is that people have a clear and negative idea of The Episcopal Church. A great many people wouldn't recall ever hearing of TEC.

    I often say that lots of people are explicitly desiring spiritual community, but don't think that they would find either spirituality OR community at a church. We need to let people know that we strive to form real, honest, spiritual community within and outside of our church buildings, and that we welcome all to join that adventure.

    I wish that our Church Center's communications department held contests like this to come up with ads and ideas!

     
  • At 11/21/2009 2:33 PM, Anonymous kenny said…

    I still like the no shoes, no shirt... the best. Simple idea that most people are acquainted with but has a twist that will grab their attention.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 4:53 PM, Blogger Rev Dr Mom said…

    I like the ad that ran in USA Today...it says something people need to hear. But I LOVE your ad with the umbrella--awesome.

    Most of us can't afford to run ads like this--but we could put them on our web pages, or use them as posters. Any way you can make them available?

     
  • At 11/21/2009 4:57 PM, Blogger SUSAN RUSSELL said…

    Here's mine:

    http://inchatatime.blogspot.com/2009/11/think-you-already-know-enough-about.html

     
  • At 11/21/2009 5:05 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    How about "Food for Thought," featuring a woman priest holding bread and wine? Copy could reference that we welcome men and women clergy and that we feed both souls and bodies through feeding ministries. We also welcome thinking.

    Melodie Woerman

     
  • At 11/21/2009 5:07 PM, Blogger King of Peace said…

    Rev Dr Mom,

    Permissions would be needed to do more than play. The Spiritual Community ad at the bottom is one I created from a photo I took of people I know enough to feel comfortable saying that one would be fine to use anywhere. The others are more tenuous, though I did send a note to the persons who had those photos at their website as a heads up.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 6:00 PM, Blogger June Butler said…

    I like the umbrella. I also like the idea of "no shoes no shirt", but wouldn't you have people in the picture without shirt or shoes? Or perhaps I'm too literal minded.

     
  • At 11/21/2009 7:39 PM, Blogger Ann said…

    Did you see this one? here

     
  • At 11/22/2009 1:20 PM, Blogger King of Peace said…

    Grandmere,
    Having someone without shows or shirt would have been great. To create the rough version of the ad, I went online and was amazed to find the great photo I did use at the Holy Apostle's NYC website. The photo is of the servers and so the assumption one must make is that they will serve those who are without shoes or shirt. It seemed to fit, without having the literal connection.

     
  • At 11/22/2009 1:30 PM, Blogger June Butler said…

    Frank, I linked to your post, and there's further discussion at my blog.

    I hope that our small efforts to suggest something better and more creative gets the attention of someone at 815 before they spend more money on ads.

    Also, one of my regular readers, Amy, is in your picture.

    Peace.

     
  • At 11/22/2009 3:58 PM, Blogger Joe Rawls said…

    I can't believe 815 spent however many thousands of dollars for that insipid USA Today ad. Well, actually, I can.

     
  • At 11/22/2009 5:46 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    When I meet people in Southern California and tell them I work at an Episcopal Church, the most common question is: "Is that a Chirstian church?"

    Of course, they are reflecting the common perception around here that Chirstian = evangelical. They are ware of "Christian" churches and "Catholic" churches, which by extension are NOT "Christian."

    Most of these folks have no clear concept of any of the mainline churches: they are equally confused about Lutherans, Methodists, or Presbyterians -- unless the congregation is more evangelical than the denomination and then it is a "real Christian congregation."

    My answer, of course, is always, "Yes, we are Christian, of the most ancient variety. What exactly did you mean by your question?"

    I don't have an ad for it yet, but I think we specifically need to address the co-opting of the entire "brand" by one narrow, fairly recent strand of the tradition.

    ~Wayne

     
  • At 11/23/2009 1:45 PM, Blogger janinsanfran said…

    I wish I trusted more that we were actually good with those who have no shirt or shoes -- but about time we met them! Jesus says they are important, perhaps more so than we who write blogs.

    These are wonderful.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home