UCCtruths

by Pastor Ted Weis, Congregational Church, Little River, KS

Soon the United Church of Christ will launch a new phase of its "God Is Still Speaking" (GISS) advertising campaign.

This go around, they'll be airing a lesser-known TV commercial entitled, "Steeple" or "All the People." In it, a girl recites the traditional children’s rhyme, "Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, and see all the people." Afterwards, a sequence of shots depicts demographically different people repeating the inclusive refrain, "All the people.” The commercial closes with the tag line, "God accepts all the people. So do we—the United Church of Christ. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here."

Compared to the better known and more controversial "Bouncer" and "Ejector" ads, the UC News (March 2004) calls "Steeple" a "more heart-warming" ad. It's not a newly created spot, but one that aired a couple of times for one week during Advent, 2004.

Will it work?

Critics of this site say we're always negative. So instead of us questioning the potential effectiveness of the "Steeple" ad, we'll share a quote that once appeared on the now defunct StillSpeaking.com website:

"We ran the Steeples ad for a week during Advent 2004 and the response from viewers was almost non-existent. Almost no one noticed it."
Frequently Asked Questions About the 2005 Spring Ad Run

Actually, "Steeple" might have succeeded years ago if it didn't have to directly compete against its more controversial sibling, "Bouncer." More importantly, if this ad was the centerpiece of the original GISS campaign, it might have succeeded in unifying our theologically diverse church, instead of galvanizing it as "Bouncer" and "Ejector" did.

Here's hoping someone notices.