Answer in Seven Seconds: ‘Why Go to Church?’

Source: HCJB Global-UK (written by Ralph Kurtenbach)

Why go to church?
A newly-produced, 30-second commercial by HCJB Global-UK addresses that question with perky “vox pop” sound bites from British churchgoers.
“It’s like a big family.”
“There’s always someone to talk to.”
“It makes me feel good about myself.”
Ambient sounds provide a compelling, live interview feel on the radio commercial. Its tight editing gives a quick pace that should draw listeners in. When 30 seconds are gone, they’ll have heard several people’s positive reactions to church attendance.
“Quite often I go there and I just cry because I’m so overwhelmed with the love I feel.”
“It’s a shared experience.”
“It’s a place where if I’ve had a rough week, I can just leave it all behind.”
“To me it’s the greatest thing on earth.”
“Friends, family, fun…. I love it!”
The “advert,” as it’s called by HCJB Global-UK Director Colin Lowther, can be heard by visiting http://www.audiopot.org/track.php?do=detail&linkid=3121.
It is part of an effort by the Church of England which is advertising Back to Church Sunday 2010 (Sept. 26) on three mainstream stations, Classic FM in the Midlands and the Heart FM stations in Essex and Kent.
“It’s also being broadcast on some Christian stations as well—eight stations altogether,” Lowther said.
Back to Church Sunday began in Manchester in 2004. In 2009 an estimated 82,000 people came back to church across the U.K. as a result of this event.
The commercial will support 400,000 personal invitations that members of more than 4,000 churches will send to their friends. Every year thousands of people are inspired to return to church by a friend’s simple invitation. Now the power of radio is being used to augment those personal invitations.
“Radio advertising is a cost-effective medium for getting a message across to lots of people at once, whether it’s about washing powder or why people go to church,” Lowther said. “Radio is not face-to-face, but it’s still a one-to-one medium, so the idea of an on-air invitation can work well.”
Rather than focus on the traditional world of Christian radio, HCJB Global-UK reaches out to those outside the church who listen to mainstream radio stations. Its Whistling Frog Productions staff creates award-winning radio content for placement on commercial stations. It also provides resources to Christians already working in the industry and offers quality training to aspiring Christian broadcasters.
HCJB Global-UK also operates Audiopot (www.audiopot.org), an online library of creative Christian audio clips. Audiopot contains thousands of audio files, each one created with one purpose—to get people thinking about the big questions of life.