Ads set backdrop for
invitation campaign

Southwest Texas radio listeners and TV viewers should notice lots of United Methodist messages over the next few weeks.
The radio and television commercials are intended to establish a media backdrop for Bring a Friend Sunday invitations and follow-up by Southwest Texas congregations, said Douglas Cannon, communications and public witness director.
The advertising is designed to raise public awareness of The United Methodist Church just before Bring a Friend Sunday (March 25), Palm Sunday (April 1) and Easter (April 8), he said.
The Southwest Texas Conference is running daily commercials March 12 through 23 on seven Texas State Network radio stations across the region.
The General Commission on Communication in Nashville, Tenn., is buying 963 ads on 15 cable TV networks between March 26 and April 7.
Those 30-second TV spots are part of the denominationwide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign.
Bring a Friend Sunday in Southwest Texas is often called the Lenten version of Home for Christmas. On the Sunday before Palm Sunday, United Methodists are asked to invite and escort friends who don’t usually attend church to a special service and fellowship meal. Then members invite guests back to church for Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations as the first steps in follow-up disciple making.
Bring a Friend Sunday is the third of three Southwest Texas campaigns carried out from September through April in coordination with Igniting Ministry TV advertising.
Bring a Friend Sunday invitations can build upon contacts made during Open House Month in September and Home for Christmas in December. The process of escorting guests to church adds a person-to-person element to offering Christ to all that isn’t required in the other two campaigns.
The 60-second radio commercials running this month end with the message:
“If you’re searching for something to believe in—one that could actually change the world—meet us at The United Methodist Church, and rediscover how God is working in our lives every day—even when we’re not aware of it. Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open. The people of The United Methodist Church.”
The announcer then directs listeners to the conference Web site “to find a United Methodist church near you.”
The radio ads, produced by the United Methodist communications agency, are to run on KPSO, Falfurrias; KNAF, Fredericksburg; KVLG, La Grange; KSHE, Liberty; KTXM, Schulenburg; KKYX, San Antonio; and KYKM, Yoakum.
The TV commercials deliver a message about “finding yourself.” Cable networks carrying the message include CNN, CNBC, the Hallmark Channel and The Weather Channel.
Building on radio and TV messages, the Bring a Friend Sunday campaign is designed to:
n Help offer Christ to all by introducing unchurched people to Christ and the community of faith that bears his name.
n Make reaching and receiving new people for Christ an ongoing part of the disciple-making process in each congregation.
Research shows that 70 to 90 percent of those who join a local church have friends or relatives in the congregation.
Getting individuals to attend worship for the first time is often the most difficult of all steps leading toward commitment to Jesus Christ, outreach experts say.
Bring a Friend Sunday offers a step-by-step plan for involving members of congregations in helping unchurched folks over that attendance obstacle.
The plan is detailed in a 146-page Igniting Ministry Campaign Workbook for the Southwest Texas Conference.
The campaign includes an extensive prayer element and relies on involving every member of the congregation in the evangelistic task. A number of laity-led teams handle the key campaign tasks: communication, calling, worship, children’s activities, youth activities, hospitality, fellowship meal and follow-up.
Bring a Friend Sunday is one way the Southwest Texas Conference tries to empower ministries in local congregations so they can offer Christ to all.