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Monday, March 27, 2006
New UCC Ad Features "Ejector Pews"
The United Church of Christ made big waves last year with their ads showing a bouncer not letting select people into church (like an openly gay couple). Their new commercial, which they debut today, shows different people sitting in pews, then being 'ejected'. The commercial itself can be seen here.
Nowhere in the ad does it show that this is sponsored by the UCC. It does however, invite viewers to with this tagline:
Feeling Rejected by Religion? Share Your Story. www.rejectionhurts.com.
If you follow that link you'll find the following text:
Welcome to ReligionHurts.com, an online community where people can share their personal stories of how they felt unwanted or alienated by organized religion. We encourage you to share your story with us and other like-minded people. You'll see that you are not alone in your spiritual journey.
This site is brought to you by the United Church of Christ, a welcoming faith organization that encourages you to explore your spirituality in ways that are meaningful and relevant to you -- no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey.
The first testimonial was interesting, since the commercial was only supposed to be debuting this morning:
When I saw the ad, it brought a renewed interest to become a part of a church again. It was great to find a denomination that welcomes everyone. Feeling depressed and hating myself out of needless guilt about my orientation for years, the healing began at a small church in [Ohio]. God is great and definitely still speaking to everyone. Since seeing the ad, I have joined the church, made great new friends, and started writing a monthly article in the church newsletter.
Later on, the comments mention the 'bouncer' ad... so I guess these responses are just filler until the new ones come in.
When it comes right down to it, it's probably a pretty effective ad for the audience they are trying to reach.
This is an example of relevance gone bad. What exactly does the UCC stand for? What exactly is the message of the UCC these days other than 'you're accepted and loved'. Is it possible to find Christ in the UCC?
I could see some great follow up commercials/parodies of this commercial that could show the truth. I hope someone makes one.
Just my musings on this early Monday Morning...
Todd
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Comments
I know and love people who are in the UCC and really do love and trust Jesus... Doctrinally... to say it has problems is such an understatement...
You can find Christ (or shall I say Christ can find you) just about anywhere. But I wonder about folks who stay there.
Posted by: Peter Hamm | Mar 27, 2006 7:08:11 AM
I feel and believe that the church open to ALL, to EVERYONE, no matter of race,color, creed, denomination, and no matter lost or saved. (I have just opened a can of worms & a sleeping giant).
However. I feel that this church means well. The way I see it and I may be wrong, but this church is allowing people to join without accepting the Lord. To me it sounds like more of a social event than a church.
Just my thoughts.. If I am wrong please feel free to correct me.
Posted by: Clairvoyent 1 | Mar 27, 2006 8:24:41 AM
It would seem they may have hit a good point, accepting of everyone. Somethings are just difficult for the church club people to accept - and this makes it difficult for people to feel welcome when they don't fit the mold. Jesus ate with the sinners and tax collectors and the religiousity leaders at the time were critical.
If they are preaching the full council of God, repentance, turning away from sin, becoming a new creature in Christ, accepting Jesus as Lord and savior and walking in the light and battling sin (and accurately calling sinful behavior sin...), then I wouldn't have a problem with being 'relevant' in that way.
If they aren't preaching the full council of God, if they aren't calling sinful behavior sin and aren't encouraging people to turn from their sin (i.e. repent) then I wouldn't recommend it.
Posted by: Paul Davis | Mar 27, 2006 8:37:40 AM
I've seen this and similar ones. Somehow there is this view that all fundamentalists and evangelicals and conservative Christians are mean-spirited. The ones "most tolerant" seem to be the quickest to label Christians who do believe that with salvation comes the responsibility to allow God to clean up the sinner and live a transformed life.
I had a lesbian visit our church this Sunday. She was welcomed like everyone else is. I was preaching on 1 Cor. 7:1-9 on celibacy, marriage and singleness. Received a complaint from a church member that I shouldn't have preached that message because of that visitor. Hmmmm. Well, I have been preaching through 1 Corinthians and will complete the course. The lesbian didn't complain [actually enjoyed my illustrations and thanked me].
I wonder how the UCC expects the "unwanted by other groups" to really change. I agree that the church needs to reach all sinners. But being relevant does not mean abandoning key core doctrines of the church or the need to confront sin with the life-changing Gospel.
Does the UCC believe that only portions of the Bible are relevant today? Has the UCC discovered "another gospel" that allows some sins (adultery, fornication, homosexuality) to be exempt because of love but others (hate, homophobia, intolerance) to be judged?
The Christian faith is more than an identity of "being a Christian." It is more than belonging to a community of faith. It is also behaving uniquely different from the world. The behaviors are listed in the Bible and are pretty clear. I believe it was Paul who wrote more than once: "Flee immorality!" O, I forget...immorality has been redefined as hate and intolerance and has nothing to do with sexual matters, right? [Just joking!]
Posted by: Dan Moore | Mar 27, 2006 9:21:52 AM
Paul,
You write [If they are preaching the full council of God...] Even though I have loved ones in this denom, the UCC is just not doing this. Even their statement of faith at http://www.ucc.org/faith/faith.htm is woefully incomplete. (BeHim... are you there? NO mention of repentance... not even CLOSE.) You will find that they celebrate "diversity" to a fault. (The UCC near my old home had an openly gay pastor, okay... I think we're spilling over into another discussion...)
Posted by: Peter Hamm | Mar 27, 2006 9:23:31 AM
Peter,
Just to tag on to what you were saying about the UCC near your old home having an openly gay pastor. While I was still in the Disciples of Christ I went to a joint General Assembly/UCC General Synod at Kansas City (it was the only General Assembly I ever attended and soon bolted from the DOC, but that's a whole different thread too). One of the nights during "worship" the UCC people were in charge. They had a great sounding choir singing, but then when you looked at them there was one guy who had a much heavier beard than I do who was in the cutest little red polka-dot dress. Oy vey!!!!
On the serious side, they are very much into universal salvation, there are many paths to God and yes, they are very proud of their diversity. They are also very proud of their open and affirming stance and the fact that they have been doing same sex unions for quite some time. I saw a lot of this at a seminar I attended for a couple of years,,, much of the reason I left there.
Blessings,
Tony
Posted by: Tony | Mar 27, 2006 9:36:02 AM
Certainly, if you believe all homosexual behavior is intrinsically sinful, the UCC's ads will seem slightly odd. Like you Todd, I wouldn't mind seeing a little parody (where a 'mean and ruthless' bouncer keeps an unrepentant child molester from 'ministering' in children's church, for example--is the bouncer really the one at fault for being 'unwelcoming'?). On the other hand, imagine for just a moment that the UCC's stance on homosexual behavior were a little bit more traditional (say they agreed with everyone here that gay sex is wrong and should not be engaged in by committed disciples of our Lord). Would the ads then not be the 'right kind' of relevant? Certainly we evangelicals have done a very bad job at welcoming gays into our churches (and I'm not saying anything about affirming them in their chosen lifestyle). On that level, at least, we should welcome the effort that UCC is putting into showing Christ's openness. No one should be turned away on the sole basis of who they are. Now of course, some of us might say that our sexuality shouldn't be allowed to define us (and I agree), but that's a discussion for another day.
Cheers,
-Daniel-
Posted by: Daniel | Mar 27, 2006 10:33:23 AM
Peter -
[You write [If they are preaching the full council of God...] Even though I have loved ones in this denom, the UCC is just not doing this.]
I hadn't looked into it just this morning - the document seems lacking, if, in practice, this is a true failure to give the full council of God, then I'm pretty much against their doctrine. While the commercial has some value as to the nature of their heart, the only relevant point is the eternal perspective. Happy people content in their sin still go to hell.
Posted by: Paul Davis | Mar 27, 2006 1:51:19 PM
While I disagree with the liberal doctrine of the UCC, including the idea that “welcome” means embracing as a lifestyle choice something I believe scripture does not support, I think the reason this kind of marketing is effective for the UCC is the perceived lack of welcome and embrace demonstrated by certain segments of evangelicalism today (much of which we’ve talked about here – eg. the “God hates fags” funeral picketers or tee shirt guy at the airport).
I think the issue is largely about where and in what way the whole counsel of God is communicated. Granted, the UCC falls short of historically understood Christian orthodoxy and may be compromising the “whole counsel” in regard to the homosexual issue within their churches. However evangelicals have often, IMO, tried to impose the “whole counsel of God” onto our pluralistic society that is either uninterested or opposed. I can’t think of a NT example of Jesus or the church attempting to change the moral fabric of society via political activity or protest, rather one heart at a time through the transforming message of the gospel. Paul's words about the evils of pagan practices were written to Christians, not pagans.
However, having typed these words I am torn. I think about the Christian and political activity of William Willberforce against the evils of slavery in England in the late 1700’s and wonder if such an American Christian social activist might have helped write a different history for us. Or what if the Christian church in Germany had not been so “politically inactive” in regard to Nazi activity against the Jews?
Regardless of where we land on how Christians should influence society morally, I think there is general agreement it is within the context of our faith communities the “whole counsel” can best be taught as well as lived. It’s much easier to send both the messages of love and of repentance face-to-face and through relationships than it is by wearing a tee shirt or carrying a picket sign. I still believe that these methods open the door for the UCC to communicate THEY are welcoming because we are not.
Wendi
Posted by: wendi | Mar 27, 2006 5:33:06 PM
I missed the point...
I thought they were advertising their stance on a rapture of the church!
Thank you all for straightening me out.
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 29, 2006 2:38:09 PM
As a UCC member, I understand the idea and theology of welcoming people regardless of class, background, and so on. After all Jesus ministered to outcasts, the lost. But if the idea is that well, our church is not like other (conservative?) churches that reject, I think it lacks integrity. Notice the woman at the end apparently homeless or poor? She can be rejected too in middle class UCC churches.
And I can say that many evangelical, orthodox, believers feel they are in the ejection seat by the leadership. Follow the liberal party line, some say. I certainly feel rejected in my own denomination.
Posted by: Peter B | Apr 6, 2006 12:05:53 AM
