That observation should encourage parishes and dioceses that plan to collaborate with the national church in an advertising campaign later this year to attract seekers, especially those in the 24- to 35-age bracket.

Schueddig can recite case after case since 1992 in which he saw public awareness of the Episcopal Church sharply increase after advertising campaigns, but he stressed that churches must prepare in advance to achieve success.

He admitted many Episcopalians are uneasy with public advertising beyond a listing of local church services. “Part of it is our culture,” he said. “Part is that we just don’t know how to do it.”

To build membership and increase public awareness of the Episcopal church, General Convention in 2003 included in the budget $750,000 to be spent over three years. This campaign is scheduled for late summer and early fall, but preparation already has begun and more than $200,000 of the budget has been spent.

Taking a first step

The funding General Convention approved, which was half of the $1.5 million originally proposed, pales alongside the $40 million campaign launched by the United Methodist Church or the $2.5 million recent campaign by the United Church of Christ.
Schueddig said he regarded the coming ad campaign as a “baby step” along the road toward building public awareness of the church.

“To do it correctly, [advertising] has to be permanent,” he said. “You have to build it into the infrastructure. It can’t be ‘just for Lent.’ It has to be annual.”

Providing funds in the annual budget for advertising will be new for many of the dioceses and parishes that have expressed a desire to work with the church’s national office to create an advertising collaborative.

Eighty dioceses have each received $1,000 from the national budget as seed money to help them establish resources for the campaign.

Two months ago, every parish received three copies of a Groundwork resource packet. Besides Lenten study resources, the kit included several guides -- for welcoming visitors, building a comprehensive communication and advertising plan, ministering to young adults and achieving competence in cross-cultural ministry.

It is clear this will be a "bottom up" campaign, given the funding limitation and what remains in the budget, said Robert Williams, national church director of communication. “The money we have in the General Convention budget can only assist dioceses in their efforts and purchase some national cable television time, he said.

Preparation is vital

Nan Ross, resources manager for the Episcopal Media Center, said she already had fielded calls from people in 15 dioceses committed to the advertising collaborative, as well as from many parishes seeking help. From discussions, she has learned of several imaginative plans being undertaken in large and small dioceses, in urban and rural areas.

Schueddig described the work as hand-holding. “You have to help them to see what is a realistic expectation, teach how to ‘buy time’ on television and how to talk to cable people. And when people come, they have to be prepared to receive them.”

Welcoming visitors is an essential part of Christian hospitality, according to Susy Miller, writer of one guide for congregations in the Groundwork packet. Miller was a national church consultant for more than 20 years before her death last June.

“Welcoming a person is far more than welcoming a person to a church that is friendly. It is welcoming that person as the person God has brought to us and being the guides in that person’s continuing faith journey,” she wrote.

Changing face of church

Many leaders involved in congregation development, research and evangelism say that if Episcopalians set out to attract new members, they must recognize that will change the face of the church and bring with it a degree of diversity that it has not experienced.

Today’s young adults to whom the TV ads will be aimed have been shaped by common social and cultural experiences that include television and electronic media, unstable homes, collapsing institutions and receding expectations, said Thomas K. Chu, national church director for ministries with young people.

The church must ask itself what good news it has to share with young adults today, he said. “We are called to extend hospitality to all, which means extending our boundaries.”
Kirk Hadaway, director of research of the Episcopal Church, told a meeting of the 38-member Executive Council in mid-February that for the Episcopal Church to grow, it must hold onto its youth and young adults while reaching into new populations, Hispanic and other racial and ethnic groups.

The church also must target “people who are not highly educated whites,” Hadaway said.
William Sachs, research director for the Episcopal Church Foundation, agreed. “As long as we are a predominantly white denomination with aging, affluent, highly educated members, growth will be increasingly difficult,” Sachs said.

He predicted that it would require more effort by parishes and dioceses than a business-as-usual attitude to expand into other constituencies.

“It will take new churches and a new openness among our existing parishes,” Sachs said. “It will take having something to offer newcomers that changes lives.”

For Groundwork resources or to discover how you can support your diocese in the advertising collaborative, visit:
www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork
www.episcopalchurch.org/adcollaborative
http://www.episcopalmediacenter.org/
or call
Episcopal Media Center: 800-229-3788