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