The United Church

of ChristNo matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey . . .

Come to the party!

Isaiah 56: 3 – 8 Luke 15

Luke 16: 1-8John 10: 14 – 16

(Participants stand and read from a physical Bible, not a computer print-out.)

Overall Objectives

Brand the UCC Define its mission Put people in the pews

Key Insight: Alienation . . .Still

The Bad News: Focus group testers say people more alienated with the church than any other product with which they have worked

•The Good News: They want to return if … Invited and made welcome

•Given good information . . . without judgment

Key Remedy: Our growing understanding of the reach of

God’s Love

We did not add multiculturalism to our brand. We took multiculturalism as a living

breathing example of God’s love and made it a brand.

Challenge: Leadership or Management?

Leadership without easy answers Helping our people deal with the shame of

telling others who we are Living in the costs and joys of discipleship Creating expectation of discomfort Why some people feel the ad is talking about

them – even though it’s not

Deal with the rumor mill proactively

Stillspeaking is not a half-way covenant for ONA Using United Church (pause) of Christ does not diminish of

Christ, but enhances it The comma is not replacing the logo, it’s a hook to generate

interest – the UCC logo is more in use now than ever before, not by chance but by decision

The Stillspeaking Initiative has nothing to do with same-gender marriage

Other than in isolated examples, there is no ecumenical tension, but widespread ecumenical support and admiration

Stillspeaking is about helping churches “be who they is” no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey – a covenant of co-existent difference in Christ

The Campaign

Consistency of message and brand Substantive message of welcome Delivering welcome at the door

Follow-through and tracking

Print Ads / Posters

POP (Point of Prayer)A House of prayer for all people . . .

Results

Results Over 7.1 million website visits since campaign

launch (Only 950,000 annual visits was typical) Over 662,000 find-a church visits (50,000 typical) In the first 6 months of the campaign:

3.2 million website visits (+ 572% change vs. year prior) 359,666 accessed the “find a church” function

(+ 1,399% change vs. year prior) Churches actively participating with the campaign

reported significant attendance/visitation increases

Results at Country Club Congregational UCC – Kansas City, MO

Summary Statistics Mean 107.30 Median 102.00 Mean (Pre-Publicity) 91.23 Mean (Post-Publicity) 127.88 Median (Pre-Publicity) 92.00 Median (Post-Publicity) 123.00 Typical Attendance Range 78.30 to 135.75

Data collected from April 18, 2004 to May 15, 2005

Results at Country Club Congregational UCC – Kansas City, MO

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20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

May

04

June

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July

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Augus

t 04

Septe

mbe

r 04

Octob

er 0

4

Novem

ber 0

4

Decem

ber 0

4

Janu

ary 0

5

Febru

ary 0

5

Mar

ch 0

5

April 0

5

May

05

Mean Monthly Attendance

In the Pews On the Dais

Mean Monthly Attendance

In the pew On the dais

May

‘04

May

‘04

Review of UCC Heritage - Chapter 1 (15 min.)

Core values emerge from your history and culture. In the United Church of Christ we often celebrate our autonomy and differences, but have you taken time to consider the ways our history binds us together – as if by genetic code? Even those of us who are new to the United Church of Christ are either consciously or unconsciously attracted by those traits. What are they? Compare and contrast leadership versus management approaches with each innovation. In what ways does it take both? What light and truth needs to break forth into the world today? How is God still speaking in your life?

Creating an Identity Brand - Chapter 4(30 minutes)

At its core, this is a branding campaign. The more consistently we use “the brand,” the more impact our

message will have in the marketplace. Don’t make people work too hard to make the connection. The public “learns” through the constant and repetitive use of brand phrases, colors, and symbols. Stillspeaking churches that used the brand consistently and had a team or person who found creative ways to connect to it dynamically experienced the greatest impact from the commercial.

What is distinctive about your church’s brand? Is it consistent with our denominational identity and the Stillspeaking brand?

How are you connecting to the brand? How does the symbol of a comma complement the

traditional United Church of Christ logo?

Becoming a Welcoming Church - Chapter 6 (30 Minutes) You won’t magically turn your church into a welcoming

church overnight. However, with organization and planning, you can make it feel that way to visitors and seekers. What you are planting today will eventually transform your congregation into a welcoming place . . . expect it to take time.

Does your church actively invite others into its worship and ministry? Do visitors feel welcome in your church? Avoid the perfection trap, often a mask for fear. Learning from the success of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of

Christ, are there things you can do better to be a visible witness and active presence of God’s radical and all-inclusive welcome?

Tracking progress

What Now?

What Now? (15 min.)

Ejector ad ran nationally spring 2006 Viewers saw ad 3.3 times / 4 weeks On general cable, reached 44% of adults 25-54

Eyector – our first ad TV in Spanish Viewers saw ad 2x / 4 weeks 30% Hispanic adults 25-54 saw Spanish ad If Telemundo & Univision had carried Eyector, reach

would have been 50% Discuss FAQs

Connection strategies “Media with a Mission – matching grants

Continuous training/Continuous Improvement God is still speaking, Ready Set Grow – spring 2007

Never too late to join movement of extravagant welcome

Spanish edition www.stillspeaking.com

Connection strategies

16 ways to say, “I love my church.” Take the quiz – invite your neighbor to church “Elevator speech” Celebrate the UCC’s 50th www.ucc.org

Brainstorm – your ideas for your setting

Practicing with equipment

E-mail Responses to the Campaign

“I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your message and your courage…I am a spiritual person who identifies with the Christian religion even though it doesn’t identify with me…”

“…Thank you for having the guts to include rather than exclude. Thank you very much for restoring some of my faith…”

“As my own church does not accept homosexuals, my girlfriend and I are thinking of joining a new church as we proceed in our life together. Your commercial has just about made up our minds.”

E-mail Responses to the Campaign “I have not been a member of a church for about 20 years and

we attended church today because of your commercial.”

“…A good example of what I believe Christianity is SUPPOSED to be about. I thought it was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you!”

A Time of Sharing

www.stillspeaking.com

www.stillspeaking.com

http://www.stillspeaking.com/media/

http://www.stillspeaking.com/media/

View/download commercials

View/download posters

Listen/download radio ads

View or download the commercials

Listen to or download Radio spots

View or download the posters