Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

Special Edition
August 25, 2006

WELCOME

God is on the loose!

RESEARCH

As Emerging Spirit moves forward the initiative will continue to be based on the extensive research done in the past year with Environics, TerraNova Marketing Strategies, and the Emerging Spirit Impact Teams and Lead Congregations.

This research has provided essential findings on the attitudes and perceptions of 30-45-year-old Canadians and offers directions on how to best reach them with relevant information about The United Church of Canada.

You can find reports on each research initiative on our website.

OUTREACH THROUGH THE MEDIA

Emerging Spirit has partnered with the advertising firm Smith Roberts + Co. to prepare a national media campaign to launch in November for the Advent season.

The research has shown advertising through magazines, direct-to-home mailings, and viral video spots spread on the Internet are the most effective ways to connect with people in the 30-45 age range. Because of changes in viewing habits and the high expense, television advertising was found to be one of the least effective ways to reach this audience and is not part of Emerging Spirit's media strategy at this time.

Later this fall, every congregation will receive a kit to help them connect with the media campaign and raise the level of awareness about their congregation in the local community. This kit will provide:

• tools to leverage the media campaign locally,
• templates for bulletins, posters, and announcements
• ways the media campaign can be used by your congregation,
• elements of the campaign which can be adapted for your context.

OUTREACH ON THE WEB

WonderCafe.ca is a new, highly interactive website designed to reach out to specifically to those who don't have a faith community.

WonderCafe.ca will be hosted by The United Church of Canada and invite participants to an interactive on-line community where 30-45 year olds and others can explore the questions and issues which are most important to them, including faith, spirituality, and other topics which concern and interest them.

With the approval of General Council, WonderCafe.ca will now move into full development, with a planned launch date in late fall. Watch for more information on this exciting new website in the next issue of Emerging Spirit News.

CONGREGATIONAL TRAINING

Emerging Spirit will hold up to 24 "Living the Welcome" regional training events across the country each year.

These events will allow congregations to engage the research, learnings, and resources of Emerging Spirit in a way that fosters the renewal and practice of the ministry of welcoming in their context, particularly with those between the ages of 30 and 45.

Living the Welcome events are designed for congregational teams which include a paid, accountable staff person and other key lay leaders.

The regional training events will assist congregational teams in:

• discerning the contour of their local context and the call of each congregation to promote a ministry of welcoming,
• understanding the key conditions necessary for the creation of an intentional welcoming environment,
• identifying the key strategies, tactics, and resources necessary for them to exercise creative, effective, and faithful leadership in a welcoming ministry within their congregations,
• discovering new opportunities and renewing a sense of possibility and joy about the work of welcoming others to their faith community.

Watch our website and future issues of this newsletter for more exciting news from Emerging Spirit coming soon.

ON THE LINE

Sites of Interest along the Information Highway

United Church Turns to Web to Reach Non-Churchgoers
The reporter didn't quite get all of the facts right (e.g. www.emergingspirit.ca is not a "proto-type" of Emerging Spirit's web outreach effort, but simply a site to share information about the campaign), but this article still offers a good overview of the work and background of the Emerging Spirit initiative.