A Volley from the Canon, #70

The Perils of Initiative

Our church’s administrative arm has recently done something relatively unusual, for us—run a national ad, in USA Today. (There was at least one other such, as I recall, some months ago.) We are used to seeing the Mormons, the Methodists, and the Scientologists with their TV promotions. But Episcopalians—isn’t that a bit déclassé for us? If we have to tell people who we are, surely they aren’t our type in the first place!

As I’ve pointed out in earlier missives, sadly, we DO have to tell people who we are. Most Americans, including most West Virginians, have no idea. In telling anyone whom I work for, I virtually always have to spell the words Episcopal and diocese. (Canon? Fuh-ged-about-it!) Those people who have heard of us have generally heard ABOUT is, through sectarian propagandists, never FROM us from our own point of view. For far too long, we have been loath to tell our own story; so others have told it for us, from a negative perspective, or even worse, they’ve ignored us altogether.

Now, our Office of Public Affairs produces an ad, and offers it for our own voluntary use for free, and what do they get? Mostly negativism (Evangelism Enemy Number One), proving that we don’t really need outside antagonists to drag us down, we can do that quite nicely all by ourselves.

I do not dispute with any of the criticisms thoughtful readers have aimed at the ad. In fact, it does not do any of the things people complain that it does not do. What we are not keeping in mind is that no ad can say everything, and no ad can be directed at every audience. This particular one was written for the readers of USA Today, not exactly a warm-fuzzy reading audience, but one that is very well informed about national and international affairs. (Designing it to appeal to US would have been pretty silly.) Yet many of their readers are unaware that we are actually a Christian communion, with ancient and honorable roots along with the awareness that we live in the twenty-first century. Even fewer know that we are not just for white Anglos anymore, and practically none know that we are ourselves an international church. Airplane passengers and hotel dwellers have some time to read a “wordy” ad, and a higher-than-average tendency to do so, and those are the readers of USA Today.

Eddie Isom is shrewd, I think, in suggesting that this ad is a subtle response to the recent news of the Vatican’s offer to Episcopal clergy (which I daresay got more air time than anyone expected it to). The timing is excellent. Right after you get your name in the news is a fantastic time to pay money to get your name in the news again—on your own terms—to double the bang for your buck! It cannot be an accident that this ad refers to grace after divorce, women in ordained roles, personal responsibility in planned parenting, honoring differences, and valuing love over uniformity of opinion.

I would hope that some work can be done on the more emotional and relational aspects of Episcopal Church membership, too. Those things are harder, though, and they take time. Mostly, I suspect, they happen through personal experience rather than through a print ad. Meanwhile, I suggest that we on the ground focus our efforts on insuring that, when TEC does get around to marketing our warm and supportive Christian community, it won’t be guilty of false advertising.

As for the Church Office of Public Affairs, I say, “Congratulations! Good for you! Now, hit ‘em again, from another angle!” If they put out enough ads, maybe they’ll eventually get around to one we all like.