Still Speaking

 

A Letter to the All Souls Deacons about the StillSpeaking Campaign of the national United Church of Christ, 2004

Dear Friends,

I realize that our discussion about the StillSpeaking Campaign might have been heard differently by different ones of us around the table. The Campaign is a multimillion dollar advertising and marketing campaign run by the national offices of the United Church of Christ. Some of the ads were rejected by two networks because they were judged, by the network people, to be "controversial". One wonders how, in this self-centered, consumer culture these particular ads might be singled out; but that is another discussion for another day. In fact, the directors of the campaign were not counting on networks very much to begin with. They are marketing the StillSpeaking Campaign through cable outlets primarily, but this rejection gave a great opportunity for high profile, nationwide publicity. Any marketer's dream come true.

I have written a paper--it was my last paper for the Center of Theological Inquiry--in which I raise objections (on theological and ecclesiological grounds) to the StillSpeaking Campaign. I have attached that paper. You can download it and read it. It will soon be published in our denominational journal, Prism. I did not offer it for publication, but I was invited to have it published. I hope you, too, will find it useful.

But what about it?  What about StillSpeaking? God IS still speaking; right? And what's wrong with a little advertising if it gets people into church?

Nothing is intrinsically wrong with advertising as a way to communicate either Christian welcome or the Gospel. We have advertised in the past ourselves. And we found it was a quite effective tool for getting people into a church service.

One of the UCC ads shows "two burly bouncers . . . outside a picturesque church". They are deciding "which would be worshippers are allowed inside. The disturbing scene fades to black where, in silence, written words declare, 'Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." A sudden shift in mood and music underscores images of friendly UCC members, while an announcer proclaims, "The United Church of Christ--No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here."

Of course, that is precisely the message--the spoken one at least--that we communicate here at All Souls. And I identify with it completely. It is what Christian church life is all about.

The "bouncers" were another matter, visually. I found the advertisement offensive. But advertising is not interested in whether or not it offends. Advertising seeks to make an impression--a strong impression. Certainly this advertisement did accomplish that. It is memorable. That is another goal of advertising. Moreover, we can't account for individual taste in all matters. The advertisement that I found offensive because it offers a stereotype of the Church--big C--that by implication attacks other Christians and other communions, comparing them unfavorably to the United Church of Christ. There is an assumption of self-righteousness that is disturbing and a condemnation of "those other churches" which breaks our communion and covenant with other churches of Christ. It feels a lot like an anti-Catholic jab or a blanket condemnation of "conservative" churches. Those running the marketing campaign say that this marketing is targeted toward people who are disenchanted with other churches, who have had a bad experience with other Christians. I think there is much too much anti-Christian talk (particularly among Christians), and I hate to see our denomination add to the stereotype of churches and closed and rigid and harsh and mean. I know there are "conservative" churches, and Catholic churches, and liberal churches, and Eastern Orthodox churches that are very welcoming and true to the Gospel of Christ. We don't need to build ourselves up, in my view, by tearing others down.

On the other hand, one minister recently wrote that each viewing of "'The Bouncer' and the companion ad, 'All the People,' never failed to bring tears to my eyes when I saw them." So ministers in the same denomination--just like any two people who see any commercial message--can see the same thing in very different ways.

At All Souls right now, we are trying to equip our church family to meet the challenges of the immediate and distant future through our building program. I am not eager to see us swept up in issues of a national marketing campaign which we did not plan and which sends a visual message (at least in some of its commercials) lifting up our denomination as superior to -- more Christian than -- others.

But isn't God still speaking? Well, it depends on what you mean by that. Do you mean that there is new revelation coming from God directly to the leadership of the United Church of Christ (thus by-passing Scripture, tradition--our received faith, the creeds of the ancient church, the insights of the Protestant reformers, and the broad consensus of ecumenical Christianity)? If you mean this, then the answer is "No". God is not speaking in that way, and my paper is concerned with addressing that very important matter.

If you mean does God speak through our received faith, in Scripture and creed and the broad ecumenical consensus of the Christian church and by the Holy Spirit to move Christian believers to follow and imitate Christ, then the answer is "Yes."

There is a hymn that we often sing that addresses this directly. Frances Havergal wrote this as one of her many contributions to Christian hymnody. It was called "the Worker's Prayer" when it was first published. It is No. 397 in our hymnal:  "Lord, speak to me, that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone; As thou hast sought, so let me seek thy erring children lost and lone."

There is more to the hymn, but this first verse is instructive: The Lord speaks to us so we may speak in the echo of what he teaches. And Jesus is The Word made flesh. We received our faith from his disciples, those to whom he said, “I will send you another Comforter; that Comforter which is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring all things to your understanding whatsoever I have said unto you." (from John's Gospel) The Holy Spirit taught the disciples, and the disciples handed what they had learned from the Lord of earth and heaven on through the church. It is not an easy passage, this faith, but this is the way it is done.

We are and want to continue to be a welcoming community. But we must be very clear about what we welcome people TO. If we are inviting people to know and serve a Lord who demands their life of them (whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel will find it), who accepts them as they are but will not leave them that way--can't leave them that way--if they are to be his followers, then we must be very clear about the "cost and joy of discipleship" (as our UCC statement of faith puts it).

I know this is a lot to think about. And a lot to read. I would suggest a book by Caroline Westerhoff entitled Good Fences: The Boundaries of Hospitality. "Jesus says that narrow doors and gates offer the only sure and safe entrance into God's realm of life, (writes Ms. Westerhoff). Gates that swing too wide and doors that open too fast do not give us the opportunity to slow down and decide what is important before we make our choices." Indeed the only time the Bible tells us to "fling wide the gates" is so that the "King of Glory can come in."

David Neff writes: "Today, for better or worse, the church has adopted the wide-door strategy of retail marketing. When I go to a 'big box' store like Target or Best Buy, I'm surprised if the door doesn't open automatically and wide for me. Churches that target the unchurched have noted this and a thousand other ways in which our retail culture welcomes all. It is tempting to ask: Who should we emulate? The pre-Constantinian Apostolic Constitutions or Target? But framing the question this way is unfair. It ignores the fact that the early Christians did indeed welcome strangers--but more with open arms than with open doors . . . Today's cultural context poses particular problems . . . [too often] we confuse welcome (what we should do with those outside the household of faith) with inclusion (the process that makes people members of the family) . . . If we pretend there are no boundaries to the community of faith, we lose our sense of identity and have no 'inside' into which we can invite those who are 'outside'."

It may be that the StillSpeaking Campaign will draw people into our church and other United Churches of Christ. The Lord speaks, according to Miss Havergal, so we can welcome those who are "lost and lone", and that we have done, are doing, and will always seek to do. But we are seeking to bring those 'outside' into a commitment, a changed way of life, a discipleship that has joy, to be sure, but which also costs a lot. As Ms. Westerhoff said in an interview: "When I looked up the word inclusion, I found that part of its root meaning has to do with commitment . . . I think that we are, as Christian congregations, called to be always welcoming the stranger. But inclusion is more serious than welcoming because it has to do with commitment. I get nervous when I hear people say, "Everybody is included here." I want to say, 'Yes, but what do you stand for?'"

I hope this will help you as you prayerfully consider our Christian calling to welcome and to serve as Christ commands us. I hope the paper will be helpful, too. I would be pleased to speak with any of you about these matters.

In Christ,
James Haddix