Amy Welborn has linked to an article about the United Church of Christ’s new TV commercials. The UCC press release describes the commercials:
The 30-second commercial begins with a shot of an African-American mother trying to calm a crying baby. Sitting in a church pew, the mother fidgets anxiously, as she endures disapproving looks from fellow worshippers. Eventually, someone in the wings pushes an “ejector� button to rid the church of her — and her noisy baby. Into the air they go flying.
In similar fashion, a gay couple, an Arab-American, a person using a walker, among others, get “ejected.� Finally, when a homeless person wanders in and takes a seat, nervous parishioners — expecting she’ll get the boot for sure — scoot away from her.
The commercial ends with a mood shift, where shots of diverse, friendly people set the stage for the announcer’s invitation: “The United Church of Christ — no matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.�
Now I’m not commenting on other churchs, but if you’ve ever been in a catholic church, you know people don’t get thrown out for having a crying baby. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a mass that didn’t have a crying baby in it.
In my experience, churches (evangelical or catholic) are not biggotted like the UCC would want you to think. So why does the UCC want you to think all other churches are like that? Because they are loosing member’s and affiliated churches at an incredible rate. According to Biblical Witness Fellowship, a group within the UCC that is trying to reform the church, the UCC currently loses 27,500 members every year because of their liberal beliefs.
When churches start teaching that abortion is acceptable and homosexuality is morally equivalent to traditional marriage, people stop going. Conservative believers want to be encouraged to have higher standards. They go to church so they can improve themselves; they don’t get that message at a liberal church. People with liberal beliefs don’t need to go to those churches because they have no need to improve; they are already living up to (or down to) the ideals being preached.
So the UCC is in the awkward position of being approving all choices but dying because of it.