Some UUA National Marketing Campaign Talk For President Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter To Answer To. . .
Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell posted about what he calls the First national Unitarian*Universalist media campaign on the Central MidWest District President's Blog yesterday. His post is mostly a public reposting of an official UUA email that UUA President Bill Sinkford and UUA Moderator Gini Coulter sent out to the District President's List and most likely some other UUA email lists.
Here is what Rev. Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter said in their email message -
Can We Talk?
On October 5th the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years will begin. Look in TIME magazine for a full page ad which asks the question, "Is God Keeping You Out of Church?" Over 20,000,000 Americans read TIME each week. Some of them will be coming to your congregation to find out if Unitarian Universalism can become their religious home. How will they be welcomed?
Gini Courter and I want to invite you to a conversation about how we prepare our congregations to welcome these guests. We'll be using a technology that allows hundreds of UU leaders to be on a single call, ask questions and have those questions answered. We would love for you to join us next Thursday, October 4th, at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time to reflect together on what we are called to do to welcome those new seekers who will come. Just dial this toll-free number (877-844-6052), and join the call.
Gini and I will say a few words at the beginning, but the conversation will be shaped by the questions that you will ask. Needless to say this is new technology for us, another experiment, if you will.
Between now and next Thursday, check out the new resources on welcoming guests at uua.org. Just click on the announcement of the marketing campaign on the Home Page. Scroll down to find the "Related Content" box on the right hand side (below the TIME magazine cover). Click on "Belonging and Welcoming Resources."
This is a very exciting and important time for our faith. We'd love to have you in the conversation about how we can make the most of it.
Can we talk?--
Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter
Here is how I responded to that post on Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell's blog.
1 comments:
Robin Edgar said...
I would be very happy to talk to UUA President Bill Sinkford and UUA Moderator Gini Courter about the UUA's highly misleading, if not outright false and fraudulent, national marketing campaign.
Some of the people, if not most of the people. . . who will be coming to U*U congregations to find out if Unitarian*Universalism can become their religious home will be God believing people. How will God believing people of various kinds be welcomed in U*U "churches"? I do not know exactly how bad the situation is in the USA but I know that a good number of U*U "churches" harbour fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" U*Us who are intolerant of, if not outright hostile and abusive towards, God believing people in general and Christians in particular. So asking how will God believing people be welcomed ion so-called U*U "Welcoming Congregations" is a very important question and it is one that UUA President Bill Sinkford and other UUA officials have no clear answers to.
I long ago asked President Bill Sinkford to responsibly address this serious problem of U*Uism but he never responded to me directly and I see no evidence whatsoever that he has ever dealt with this problem that makes some, if not many, U*U congregations anything but genuinely welcoming to the God believing people, who make up the vast majority of the "market share" of people who might want to go to a U*U "church" on any given Sunday, in a firm and forthright manner. Au contraire, President Bill Sinkford seems to have carefully evaded acknowledging this serious problem of the U*U World and implementing any processes that could solve it. As far as I am concerned this UUA national marketing campaign is putting the marketing cart before the welcoming horse. The millions spent on this dubious marketing campaign might have been much better spent on internal programs of various kinds that would serve to make U*U congregations more genuinely welcoming to God believing people. A national marketing campaign of this nature might not be necessary at all if God believing people were not made to feel rather less than welcome in many U*U "churches".
Most ironically the "parting shot" marketing slogan of one of the San Francisco/Bay Area marketing videos says,
"Don`t let someone else`s idea of God keep you from going to church. Discover Unitarian*Universalism"
What happens when newcomers visit Unitarian*Universalist "churches" only to discover that there is precious little God in them and that "someone else`s idea of God" is not only that God does not exist but that people who believe in God are stupid or deluded? For example, one atheist "Humanist" U*U minister`s idea of God as he quite dogmatically preached it during a Sunday sermon, is that God is "a non-existent being" and that belief in God "seems primitive". . . What happens when God believing people show up at Unitarian*Universalist "Welcoming Congregations" only to discover that they are not particularly welcome there?
September 28, 2007 5:20 AM
I have a bit more to say on the subject however so here is my point by point response to the email message of President Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter -
:Can We Talk?
Any time Bill and Gini. I am ready to talk whenever you are. In fact Bill knows very well that I have repeatedly asked to talk with him over the last several years but he has repeatedly refused to talk to me. . .
:On October 5th the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years will begin.
So just what is with this business of referring to the ONLY national Unitarian*Universalist media campaign in the less than 50 years of the existence of the Unitarian*Universalist Association as "the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years" Bill and Gini? That questionable description of the UUA's national marketing campaign comes across as being just a tad fraudulent. If your own and other UUA official's misleading description of the campaign is itself misleading and even somewhat fraudulent it does not inspire confidence that the actual content of the national marketing campaign itself is not misleading or even outright fraudulent false advertising.
Surely you are both aware that the Unitarian*Universalist Association is less than 50 years old, having been formed in 1961, so it is simply an impossibility that the Unitarian*Universalist Association could have had ANY advertising campaign over 50 years ago, let alone a national marketing campaign. I am sorry to have to say so but I belierve that the most reasonable explanation for your own and other Unitarian*Universalist U*Us insistence on publicly calling it "the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years" is to give the appearance that the Unitarian*Universalist Association is significantly older than 50 years old when in fact it is still a few years less than 50 years old.
:Look in TIME magazine for a full page ad which asks the question, "Is God Keeping You Out of Church?"
Don't worry Bill and Gini. You can be quite sure that I will be doing just that and seeingh what other questionable marketing slogans and misleading or outright false claims are made in the Unitarian Universalist Association's national media campaign. Just for starters please allow me to inform you both that it is almost certainly a dearth of God, or even intolerant, disdainful and contemptuous, to say nothing of outright hostile and abusive, reactions towards God believing people in general and Christians in particular that is keeping a great many americans and Canadians out of Unitarian*Universalist "churches."
:Over 20,000,000 Americans read TIME each week.
Wow! 20,000,000 Americans to be "illusioned" by the highly misleading, if not outright fraudulent false advertising, of the Unitarian Universalist Association's national marketiong campaign.
:Some of them will be coming to your congregation to find out if Unitarian Universalism can become their religious home.
And I fully expect that some, if not most. . . of those Americans who do bother to visit Unitarian*Universalist "churches" as a result of the UUA's national marketing campaign will quickly become disillusioned by what they actually experience in U*U "Welcoming Congregations" that are rather less than genuinely welcoming to God believing Americans.
:How will they be welcomed?
Excellent question Bill and Gini. My I suggest that you and other UUA administrators might have been very well advised to ask that important question *before* embarking on a multi-million dollar national media campaign that might attract God believing Americans to rather less than welcoming U*U "churches"?
:Gini Courter and I want to invite you to a conversation about how we prepare our congregations to welcome these guests.
So Bill and Gini. Just how did you prepare U*U "Welcoming Congregations" to welcome these expected guests? Just what did you and other UUA administrators do, prior to launching your multi-million dollar national marketing campaign, to prepare U*U "churches" to welcome guests of the God believing persuasion?
:We'll be using a technology that allows hundreds of UU leaders to be on a single call, ask questions and have those questions answered.
That will be a sight to see. Or perhaps I should say, that will be a sound to be heard. . .
:We would love for you to join us next Thursday, October 4th, at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time to reflect together on what we are called to do to welcome those new seekers who will come. Just dial this toll-free number (877-844-6052), and join the call.
I will mark that in my calendar Bill and Gini.
:Gini and I will say a few words at the beginning, but the conversation will be shaped by the questions that you will ask.
Wonderful!
:Needless to say this is new technology for us, another experiment, if you will.
What if U*Us won't? What if U*Us are fed up with questionable UUA "experiments"?
:Between now and next Thursday, check out the new resources on welcoming guests at uua.org. Just click on the announcement of the marketing campaign on the Home Page. Scroll down to find the "Related Content" box on the right hand side (below the TIME magazine cover). Click on "Belonging and Welcoming Resources."
Been there. Done that.
:This is a very exciting and important time for our faith.
Indeed it is Bill and Gini. It may well be a very exciting and important time for your faith in ways that you had not imagined. . .
:We'd love to have you in the conversation about how we can make the most of it.
Really Bill and Gini? Are you quite sure of that?
:Can we talk?
:Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter
Sure Bill and Gini. Feel free. . . Any time. . .
In fact I cordially invite both of you to come here and talk all you want in the comments section below. After all, as Rev. Charles Eddis, founder of the Canadian Unitarian Council and minister emeritus of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, declares in his own highly misleading if not outright fraudulent false advertising for Unitarian*Universalism,
"We jealously guard the right to know, to speak, and to argue freely, according to conscience, within our own church and in society at large. . . We believe that truth stands the best chance of emerging under conditions of freedom."
I look forward to hearing from you both and engaging in some bona fide "talk" aka dialogue. . .
Here is what Rev. Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter said in their email message -
Can We Talk?
On October 5th the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years will begin. Look in TIME magazine for a full page ad which asks the question, "Is God Keeping You Out of Church?" Over 20,000,000 Americans read TIME each week. Some of them will be coming to your congregation to find out if Unitarian Universalism can become their religious home. How will they be welcomed?
Gini Courter and I want to invite you to a conversation about how we prepare our congregations to welcome these guests. We'll be using a technology that allows hundreds of UU leaders to be on a single call, ask questions and have those questions answered. We would love for you to join us next Thursday, October 4th, at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time to reflect together on what we are called to do to welcome those new seekers who will come. Just dial this toll-free number (877-844-6052), and join the call.
Gini and I will say a few words at the beginning, but the conversation will be shaped by the questions that you will ask. Needless to say this is new technology for us, another experiment, if you will.
Between now and next Thursday, check out the new resources on welcoming guests at uua.org. Just click on the announcement of the marketing campaign on the Home Page. Scroll down to find the "Related Content" box on the right hand side (below the TIME magazine cover). Click on "Belonging and Welcoming Resources."
This is a very exciting and important time for our faith. We'd love to have you in the conversation about how we can make the most of it.
Can we talk?--
Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter
Here is how I responded to that post on Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell's blog.
1 comments:
Robin Edgar said...
I would be very happy to talk to UUA President Bill Sinkford and UUA Moderator Gini Courter about the UUA's highly misleading, if not outright false and fraudulent, national marketing campaign.
Some of the people, if not most of the people. . . who will be coming to U*U congregations to find out if Unitarian*Universalism can become their religious home will be God believing people. How will God believing people of various kinds be welcomed in U*U "churches"? I do not know exactly how bad the situation is in the USA but I know that a good number of U*U "churches" harbour fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" U*Us who are intolerant of, if not outright hostile and abusive towards, God believing people in general and Christians in particular. So asking how will God believing people be welcomed ion so-called U*U "Welcoming Congregations" is a very important question and it is one that UUA President Bill Sinkford and other UUA officials have no clear answers to.
I long ago asked President Bill Sinkford to responsibly address this serious problem of U*Uism but he never responded to me directly and I see no evidence whatsoever that he has ever dealt with this problem that makes some, if not many, U*U congregations anything but genuinely welcoming to the God believing people, who make up the vast majority of the "market share" of people who might want to go to a U*U "church" on any given Sunday, in a firm and forthright manner. Au contraire, President Bill Sinkford seems to have carefully evaded acknowledging this serious problem of the U*U World and implementing any processes that could solve it. As far as I am concerned this UUA national marketing campaign is putting the marketing cart before the welcoming horse. The millions spent on this dubious marketing campaign might have been much better spent on internal programs of various kinds that would serve to make U*U congregations more genuinely welcoming to God believing people. A national marketing campaign of this nature might not be necessary at all if God believing people were not made to feel rather less than welcome in many U*U "churches".
Most ironically the "parting shot" marketing slogan of one of the San Francisco/Bay Area marketing videos says,
"Don`t let someone else`s idea of God keep you from going to church. Discover Unitarian*Universalism"
What happens when newcomers visit Unitarian*Universalist "churches" only to discover that there is precious little God in them and that "someone else`s idea of God" is not only that God does not exist but that people who believe in God are stupid or deluded? For example, one atheist "Humanist" U*U minister`s idea of God as he quite dogmatically preached it during a Sunday sermon, is that God is "a non-existent being" and that belief in God "seems primitive". . . What happens when God believing people show up at Unitarian*Universalist "Welcoming Congregations" only to discover that they are not particularly welcome there?
September 28, 2007 5:20 AM
I have a bit more to say on the subject however so here is my point by point response to the email message of President Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter -
:Can We Talk?
Any time Bill and Gini. I am ready to talk whenever you are. In fact Bill knows very well that I have repeatedly asked to talk with him over the last several years but he has repeatedly refused to talk to me. . .
:On October 5th the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years will begin.
So just what is with this business of referring to the ONLY national Unitarian*Universalist media campaign in the less than 50 years of the existence of the Unitarian*Universalist Association as "the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years" Bill and Gini? That questionable description of the UUA's national marketing campaign comes across as being just a tad fraudulent. If your own and other UUA official's misleading description of the campaign is itself misleading and even somewhat fraudulent it does not inspire confidence that the actual content of the national marketing campaign itself is not misleading or even outright fraudulent false advertising.
Surely you are both aware that the Unitarian*Universalist Association is less than 50 years old, having been formed in 1961, so it is simply an impossibility that the Unitarian*Universalist Association could have had ANY advertising campaign over 50 years ago, let alone a national marketing campaign. I am sorry to have to say so but I belierve that the most reasonable explanation for your own and other Unitarian*Universalist U*Us insistence on publicly calling it "the first national Unitarian Universalist media campaign in over 50 years" is to give the appearance that the Unitarian*Universalist Association is significantly older than 50 years old when in fact it is still a few years less than 50 years old.
:Look in TIME magazine for a full page ad which asks the question, "Is God Keeping You Out of Church?"
Don't worry Bill and Gini. You can be quite sure that I will be doing just that and seeingh what other questionable marketing slogans and misleading or outright false claims are made in the Unitarian Universalist Association's national media campaign. Just for starters please allow me to inform you both that it is almost certainly a dearth of God, or even intolerant, disdainful and contemptuous, to say nothing of outright hostile and abusive, reactions towards God believing people in general and Christians in particular that is keeping a great many americans and Canadians out of Unitarian*Universalist "churches."
:Over 20,000,000 Americans read TIME each week.
Wow! 20,000,000 Americans to be "illusioned" by the highly misleading, if not outright fraudulent false advertising, of the Unitarian Universalist Association's national marketiong campaign.
:Some of them will be coming to your congregation to find out if Unitarian Universalism can become their religious home.
And I fully expect that some, if not most. . . of those Americans who do bother to visit Unitarian*Universalist "churches" as a result of the UUA's national marketing campaign will quickly become disillusioned by what they actually experience in U*U "Welcoming Congregations" that are rather less than genuinely welcoming to God believing Americans.
:How will they be welcomed?
Excellent question Bill and Gini. My I suggest that you and other UUA administrators might have been very well advised to ask that important question *before* embarking on a multi-million dollar national media campaign that might attract God believing Americans to rather less than welcoming U*U "churches"?
:Gini Courter and I want to invite you to a conversation about how we prepare our congregations to welcome these guests.
So Bill and Gini. Just how did you prepare U*U "Welcoming Congregations" to welcome these expected guests? Just what did you and other UUA administrators do, prior to launching your multi-million dollar national marketing campaign, to prepare U*U "churches" to welcome guests of the God believing persuasion?
:We'll be using a technology that allows hundreds of UU leaders to be on a single call, ask questions and have those questions answered.
That will be a sight to see. Or perhaps I should say, that will be a sound to be heard. . .
:We would love for you to join us next Thursday, October 4th, at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time to reflect together on what we are called to do to welcome those new seekers who will come. Just dial this toll-free number (877-844-6052), and join the call.
I will mark that in my calendar Bill and Gini.
:Gini and I will say a few words at the beginning, but the conversation will be shaped by the questions that you will ask.
Wonderful!
:Needless to say this is new technology for us, another experiment, if you will.
What if U*Us won't? What if U*Us are fed up with questionable UUA "experiments"?
:Between now and next Thursday, check out the new resources on welcoming guests at uua.org. Just click on the announcement of the marketing campaign on the Home Page. Scroll down to find the "Related Content" box on the right hand side (below the TIME magazine cover). Click on "Belonging and Welcoming Resources."
Been there. Done that.
:This is a very exciting and important time for our faith.
Indeed it is Bill and Gini. It may well be a very exciting and important time for your faith in ways that you had not imagined. . .
:We'd love to have you in the conversation about how we can make the most of it.
Really Bill and Gini? Are you quite sure of that?
:Can we talk?
:Bill Sinkford and Gini Courter
Sure Bill and Gini. Feel free. . . Any time. . .
In fact I cordially invite both of you to come here and talk all you want in the comments section below. After all, as Rev. Charles Eddis, founder of the Canadian Unitarian Council and minister emeritus of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, declares in his own highly misleading if not outright fraudulent false advertising for Unitarian*Universalism,
"We jealously guard the right to know, to speak, and to argue freely, according to conscience, within our own church and in society at large. . . We believe that truth stands the best chance of emerging under conditions of freedom."
I look forward to hearing from you both and engaging in some bona fide "talk" aka dialogue. . .
Comments