Industry | 2009.09.15
Church of England launches radio ad
Church of England asks parishes to join forces to fund \'Back to Church Sunday\' ads on local commercial radio stations
The Church of England is to launch what is believed to be its first radio advertising campaign.
The ad promotes church attendance through a variety of voices feature ad reading a rap-style poem, which tells listeners: "Don\'t look to make no airs and graces, faked up smiles and masked up faces. No need to make no innovation, please accept this as your invitation."
Parishes are being asked to join forces to pay to put the ad on their local commercial radio stations in the week before "Back to Church Sunday" on 27 September.
Canon Paul Bayes, the Archbishop of Canterbury\'s adviser on church growth, said the advert was a "great opportunity for churches to speak to their communities with the message of invitation".
"It\'s a fantastic advert, getting across the message that thousands of Christian voices across the country will be asking one simple question to their friends and family - will you come to church with me this Sunday?" said Canon Bayes, who discussed the ad in the Church of England podcast .
The 40-second advert has been created by a Bradford-based Christian media production company, Whistling Frog Productions.
Ben Wilson, a spokesman for the Church of England, said he was confident local parishes would be able to raise the funds required to put the ad on their local stations.
"We hope they will see it as a unique opportunity to club together and reach a much larger audience than they would through traditional means," he said.
"It gives churches the chance to dip their toe in the water of radio advertising for very little investment and reach a considerable audience. It\'s a chance to talk to people at the breakfast table and on the drive home. That is the beauty of advertising on the radio."
A week-long radio campaign, running the ad three times a day, is likely to cost anything from £400 to £900, depending on the size of the station, he added.
"The Church of England has never done anything like this. We wanted people to reassess the way they look at the Church, and remind them that it is time to think again," Wilson said.
Real Radio in south and west Yorkshire will be among the stations broadcasting the ad next week in a deal struck by the production company, Whistling Frog, supported by the Jerusalem Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Real Radio is owned by GMG Radio, part of the group that publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk.
"Back to Church Sunday" began in Manchester in 2004 and has since spread to churches in Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada. The campaign includes Baptist, Methodist, United Reformed, Salvation Army and Elim Pentecostal churches nationwide.
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