The December poster from Outreach Media. Read more about the poster and download the explanatory notes at the Outreach Media website. You can also follow @outreachmedia on Twitter.
Tag Archive - outreach ideas
Promoting Christmas activities
My friend, Steve Fogg, recently posted a great article with links to how churches around the world are promoting their Christmas services and activities. Check out ‘What does Christmas look like at churches around the world?‘.
I’d also add to Steve’s list the Christmas themed designs in the Church Marketing Lab pool on Flickr.
On a related note, I’d be keen to hear what churches are doing (outside of church services) this Christmas. What activities will your church be running to encourage the people in your community to come and hear the good news about Jesus?
At Church by the Bridge this Christmas we will be hosting:
- a Christmas (fair trade) market
- a Christmas food and clothing appeal (for Anglicare)
- Carols under the Bridge
- a Carols by Candlelight Christmas Eve service
- Christmas Day services – this goes without saying!
- a lunch on Christmas Day for our local community (organised with the local council)
What is your church doing, and what is the rationale behind these events? If you have links to the creative you’ve developed to promote these events, post the details of that too!
15+ resources to learn more about social media
Thanks to all who attended my seminar at the Create Conference today – ‘What is social media, and why should I care’? As promised, here are 15+ resources to learn more about social media. It’s certainly not a definitive list – consider it more of a collection of interesting resources I’ve discovered over the past 12 months:
- The history and evolution of social media. Excellent article exploring how social media evolved, and the different ways social media has been and is being used.
- Social media in Plain English – a great explanatory video for the tech-novices, from the inspiring folk at Common Craft.
- Social Media Counts – a visual ‘counter’ illustrating how much new social media content is generated, in real-time.
- The Social Media Guide – lots of interesting posts on social media.
- 5 Ways Social Media is Changing Our Daily Lives – I don’t want to overstate its importance, but social media is changing our lives in lots of ways.
- Twitter Guidebook – Mashable has put together a helpful guide to Twitter.
- 19 Twitter desktop apps compared – if you’ve decided Twitter is for you, check out different platforms for tweeting.
- 10 Twitter tools for effectively managing your followers – this one is perhaps for the more advanced (obsessed?) users.
- 10 things social media can’t do – it’s always good to keep some perspective! For fun, check out 10 things you need to stop tweeting about!
- Compassion using Twitter to get kids sponsored – a post I wrote about an innovative use of Twitter.
- 101 social media sites – a good list, plus check out the top 25.
- Responding to the internet revolution – two compelling videos with some mind-boggling stats on the use of social media.
- Top 10 most popular social media sites in Australia – plus lots of other interesting links.
- 15 ways for churches (and ministries) to use Twitter – the fourth most popular post on Communicate Jesus!
- How to organise an event on Facebook – another helpful guide by Mashable. Check out their collection of social media lists and resources.
Have you come across other resources that you’ve found helpful? Share them with us!
More resources for engaging with JAAL advertisement
Dominic Steele and Christians in the Media have produced a DVD and booklet called ‘Connections for Life‘. It’s a short course that is “an attempt to spell out Jesus’ answers to the questions raised by Jesus All About Life.” It can be used in a group, or on your own, and takes the participant/s through questions based on the book of Revelation. I’m planning on spending more time reading through the booklet, but I wanted to post this now, before the ads hit our screens, to give you some time to read and prepare. You can also view some promotional videos over at Vimeo, and purchase course materials from the Christians in the Media website.
Are you aware of any other resources that would be helpful for Christians to make the most of this campaign to speak about Jesus? I’ve also put together a list of resources for responding to questions on suffering – this has been a big theme in the comments I’ve been reading online. It’s good to be prepared for these tough questions – they’re not easy questions because many of them flow out of the pain we have experienced in this world – but Jesus does have answers.
Get set – the advertisement will be appearing on our screens this Sunday.
Christian billboards targeted by atheists
I’ve been kept busy this month monitoring two Christian awareness campaigns that have been generating some discussion – both inside and outside the Christian community.
Whilst I’ve written several posts on the Jesus: All About Life campaign, the latest poster by Outreach Media (below) has received some attention by atheist bloggers (click to enlarge the image):
For links to some of the articles that have discussed the poster, check out – ‘Two media campaigns reveal Australia’s perceptions about Christianity‘
The poster outside a church in Dubbo has been graffitied to say “they’re too brainwashed to read the Bible”. A poster outside another church was graffitied with “religous [sic] propaganda is no better than this graffiti”, and another says “you are the brainwashed”.
A group or individual have targeted several of these posters in Sydney, covering them in black plastic and adding their own message, with a link to the Zeitgeist Movement website. Check out some photos below.
I have been contacted by someone from the Sydney Chapter of Zeigeist Australia who says that Zeitgeist Australia “does not encourage it’s members to post anti-religious or atheist messages in any form of medium and we are sure that no member of the Zeitgeist Movement Australia had anything to do with the alleged Sydney posters.”
Looks like the posters have struck a nerve – and this isn’t a bad thing, nor is it reason to shy away from doing this kind of outreach and community engagement. Being confrontational like this isn’t the approach to use in every situation, but for some audiences and for some messages it is an effective way of communicating truth. And let’s face it, communicating truth, in any form in the Australia of today, doesn’t usually receive a standing ovation.
I was reminded tonight as I was reading Luke that what Jesus said regularly rubbed people up the wrong way. In fact, Jesus’ words caused people to want to kill him! Take for example Luke 4:28-30:
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
And no servant is greater than their master, and if they persecuted Jesus, they will persecute his followers also (John 15:18-25). We need to be willing to speak the truth – in different ways, to different people – and be prepared a negative, even hostile response. For example, even talking about death and what happens when you die is a pretty unpopular discussion topic, but this is something that Australians should think about and be uncomfortable when they realise that their future is uncertain, and then rejoice as the come to know that in Jesus is the hope of eternal life. The glory of the gospel and our love for our neighbour should keep us communicating truth, even when the reception isn’t as positive as what we might like.
You might be interested in reading the notes that explain in more detail what the poster is communicating, and checking out a list of resources that respond to critical claims made about Jesus and Christianity.
Coming soon to a bus shelter near you!
The Anglican Church League reports that phase 2 of the Jesus: All About Life campaign has launched, with advertisements being placed in bus shelters across NSW.
If you check out the post by the ACL you can download a document with the four advertisements. I’ve also taken some screenshots from this document and added them below (click on the image for a larger view):
