From: StillSpeaking@ucc.org
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 2:07 PM
Subject: Stillspeaking Quick News #7 - Ad Launch News
(Dec. 2, 2004) Friends,
Some of you may have received
this note Wednesday afternoon (as intended) or earlier today from an email
account, but many of you may not. Our email servers have experienced an
unprecedented volume of spam generated by bogus addresses. Sorry it's been
difficult to communicate. Let's pray for one another! Ucc.org has had
about 12 times the ordinary traffic, please be patient…but go there for the
latest news and action steps. Comments to our inbox are running 7:1 in support of our message of
inclusion! A few samples are: It's a really good ad. A really good ad for a church, or for religion,
quite frankly, might need to be controversial. It's the nature of that beast -
to be thought provoking. Finally a "real" Christian church raises its head. I am going to look
into your church. Congratulations! It's wonderful. I just wish my own denomination, ---,
had the vision and courage to do the same. (December 1, 2004) This is the time for which we have all been
waiting and working. Thank you for your hard work, for your commitment, for your
faith. As of today 2,195 churches have opted in from all across the nation.
Participating churches cross all our founding streams with 35% of Congregational
Christian origin, 33 % from Evangelical and Reformed origin, and 30 % of United
Church of Christ origin. Because of your faith and hope, our church is being transformed by the
power of God – before our very eyes. On this the first day of the United Church
of Christ's national TV ad launch, you and the general public will begin to see
the commercials air - mostly on cable. Their presence will increase over the
next week or two. Like those
who awaited the miracle that would come to pass 2,000 years ago, we await
experiences in which the holy is born again in our midst as men, women, girls
and boys find a spiritual home among us and fresh hope is born in them . . . and
in us. We wait. We welcome. We expect God's little surprises. We expect
challenges and we will overcome them. One of the late-emerging challenges is that in
this post-election environment, NBC and CBS now balk at showing our "Bouncer"
ad, despite a successful run last spring. We received a final "no" from them on
yesterday. CBS wrote, "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay
couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and
the fact that the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional
Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is
unacceptable for broadcast on the Networks." Nothing in our spot deals with gay marriage.
However, it does deal with exclusion. Ours is indeed a "voice . . .
crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make God's paths
straight.' " We want you to
know that we will need your help as we resist this censorship and tyranny. We
will keep you posted about our progress and continue to invite you to this work.
Here are some things you can do: ·
Don't
overestimate the damage of the networks' action. Seventy-five percent of our ad
buy was to be on cable anyway. ·
Don't
underestimate the power of God in this moment – pray with us. We invite you to
join us in a half day of fasting and prayer – from 12 to 12. Let us know what
day you plan to choose by making a comment at
www.stillspeaking.com/contact o
Be a
voice. Recall the courage in the struggle for justice and peace by our forebears
o
Call your local
affiliate o
Pull down releases from
www.stillspeaking.com as they appear and send them to your local media
outlets o
Keep checking
www.stillspeaking.com for the latest updates and for action links
· If you have not yet given financial support to the
campaign, I invite you to consider it now. People will seek a way to express
their support. In view of the dollars we need to raise to keep our voice strong,
this is an excellent way for people, groups, and congregations to express their
support. In my private
devotion this morning I recalled the following scriptures and in closing I pass
them on to you: Whenever you
face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the
testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full
effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of
you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one
who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; (James
1:2-6)
They will not hurt or destroy on all my
holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the
waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
. . . And this shall be a sign unto you;
You shall find the Holy One wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)
Thanks be to God for all of you, for your
congregations, for this comma time of challenge, of opportunity, for the grace
we have to live and serve in this time, and for the United Church of Christ and
all who will find it . . . or fall in love with it all over again. Amen.
Rejoice!
Ron Buford
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