The United Church of Christ‘s Still Speaking Campaign is the most well-known marketing campaign undertaken by a mainline denomination in recent years. The campaign started in 2004 with television ads, which can be viewed here. In April 2010, the campaign moved online with an ad designed to spread via social media called The Language of God (read my thoughts) and continued with Uniquely UCC (read my thoughts). For Easter, the new ad, The Women Preached It First, is an Easter greeting set to the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. The 46 second video honors the women who were the first to preach the message that Christ is risen and recognizes the God is Still Speaking Church of Firsts (the UCC) for being among the first to ordain women.
So What?
The United Church of Christ has effectively and consistently communicated its identity as a progressive and inclusive church with a Still Speaking God. Does your denomination have a clear identity in the larger culture?
- If so, how would you characterize your denomination’s current identity? What recent efforts have contributed to it?
- If not, do you feel that your denomination would benefit from such an effort? Why or why not?