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

We have been using the ads that are available to every United Church congregation from the wondercafe.ca website. There are two types of ads with pre-designed formats. The one I will refer to in this post is an extension of the national advertising campaign. These ads ask provocative questions, for example, "Does the SUV in my driveway make me a sinner?" They are attention getters which usually prompt a smile and create a question mark in one's mind. They invite people to open-minded and lively discussion.

You can insert your church name, add to or change the copy. All of this can be done electronically including sending it to your local newspaper. We insert information about our local wondercafe including the topics being discussed each week. On more than one occasion we have had people drop in to the cafe specifically because they read the ad in the newspaper. The phrase that caught their attention was "open-minded discussion." That phrase is significant in all the national advertising including the wondercafe.ca website. Obviously it is striking a chord with the public. Recently I was in conversation with the publisher of our local paper and I happened to refer to wondercafe. She said, "I love the ads!" That is a great comment from someone in the media business. Folks, these are local communication tools. Don't be afraid to use them. They work.

The key element in the Emerging Spirit, wonderCafe initiative is the local church connecting with the national program. These ads help to make that possible. Remember the Kit/Binder that each congregation received last November? On page 33 it says, (these ads) "create a nice link between your church and the kind of open dialogue that goes on at WonderCafe.ca".

Simply go to the wondercafe website, log in, and click on local ads. They will generate a buzz in your community and neighbourhood.