(knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu) Haven’t been to church recently? You might have missed something.
Church pastors last year had a chance to win a free trip to London and $1,000 cash — if they mentioned Disney’s film “The Chronicles of Narnia” in their sermons. Chrysler, hoping to target affluent African Americans with its new luxury SUV, is currently sponsoring a Patti LaBelle gospel music tour through African-American megachurches nationwide.
Advertising has begun to seep into churches, and the phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down, say academic, religious and marketing experts. Among the wave of early adopters: the Republican Party, which successfully sold its platform to church-goers in the 2000 and 2004 elections; Hollywood, which discovered the economic power of faith when Mel Gibson’s church-marketed film “The Passion of the Christ” became a blockbuster; and publishing, with Rick Warren’s best-selling The Purpose-Driven Life, heavily marketed by a Christian publishing house.
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To some Christian critics, the analogy could not be more direct. Isn’t having Chrysler or Chevrolet vehicles parked in the foyer of a church “a little too much like putting the tables back inside the temple?” asks Skye Jethani, associate editor of Leadership, a journal for church pastors published by ChristianityToday.
The dangers of commerce intruding — or being invited — into churches are “infinite” from a religious point of view, says Jethani, who is one of two pastors at an “accessibly-sized” congregation of 400 in Wheaton, Ill. “Christianity comes to be viewed, not as submission to Christ and love of your neighbor, but an identity like any other, defined by what you buy, who you vote for, what entertainment you consume. Becoming so cozy with the methodology of business completely warps the message of the New Testament.”
Ad experts like Twitchell, however, predict that advertising will increasingly appear “inside the frame” of church experience. Look next for corporate sponsorship advertisements in church bulletins or on walls and windows of church buildings, he says. Yet Caldwell, head of the massive Windsor Village church in Houston, cautions that churches should be thoughtful about when to partner with corporations. “At the end of the day, we don’t want the church to become a prostitute of business.” (source)
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While it is good that the market is targeting this demographic, the line should be drawn AT THE DOOR of the church.
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