Will Catholics Come Home?
The Catholic Church in America is launching a new marketing campaign called Catholics Come Home. They have a designed a special web site for the campaign CatholicsComeHome.org and a series of television ads to compliment a broad media blitz. The campaign will roll out on a diocese by diocese basis starting prior to Christmas.
This is just another in a series of denominational marketing campaigns that have been attempted over the past few years. Earlier this year The United Methodist Church launched their own campaign called Rethink Church with a budget of $20 Million Dollars. The United Church of Canada also got in on the action with their Emerging Spirit Campaign that launched in 2006.
The question that has to be asked is – are these campaigns effective? Are they a wise use of money? Certainly, there are going to be varying viewpoints. Brad Abare at ChruchMarketingSucks.com wrote earlier this week:
“I am suggesting that we understand what really defines us. The DNA of a denomination or tribe of people is beyond beliefs, it also includes behaviors. These behaviors are the reason why people continue to assemble (or not assemble).
It’s a new day for denominations and it’s going to take more than ad campaigns and catchy slogans for them to survive and thrive. It’s going to take some serious soul searching for why and how they should exist.”
He is right on one level. More is needed than ad campaigns. I am not sure of Brad’s church heritage, but there is a distinct difference in the culture of the Catholic denomination than there is in most Protestant ones. I know. I grew up Catholic and I left “church” at 18 and it wasn’t until I was 21 that I went on a spiritual journey searching for more in life than what I was experiencing on my own. It was then that I was invited to a Baptist church. What many Protestants don’t realize is that most Catholics would never think they are welcome in a Protestant church. The only reason I went was at the intense urging and invitation of a close friend…and I went very very reluctantly.
The reason I tell you this is that though many Protestants will “hop” from one church to another across denominational lines, my experience and that of many Catholics that I know is that they never would hop to any church other than a Catholic one. So, from a marketing standpoint the campaign does hit right at the core for most Catholics…will they come home? I’m not so sure a TV commercial, no matter how compelling, would light that fire. However, for a denomination (one I still respect), they have to try something as their attendance continues to decline in most parishes and the cost of maintaining their historical properties continues to be an ongoing financial strain.
The other challenge is this…the commercials like the one below show (for the most part), a very contemporary and dynamic Catholic church. Some Catholic churches have indeed moved forward strongly in becoming more relevant and more contemporary. However many certainly have not. No one will question the historical and societal influence the Catholic church has had around the world (for good and bad). If however, someone were to answer “the call” in these commercials to come home…would they find a church that would extend contemporary relevance into their lives or would they find the same home they left many years before…unchanged? Would a return home be a one-time re-visit or is there enough substance and engagement to capture the hearts and souls of those who have journeyed on in life without the church of their youth?
These are merely questions – answers to which we will have to wait to hear. Will the Catholic church be restored to a relevant and vibrant place of positive Biblical spiritual influence? We hope…and so do they. What do you think? Please share your thoughts on the marketing aspects of this initiative…
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