Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Methodist Movement

It’s Easter morning and I’m driving home from the sunrise service at The Fields Church in Carlsbad and listening to NPR’s Weekend Edition because it’s early and the voices on NPR are so soothing, when I hear a commercial — for a church. “What if church was a verb? Would you come?”

Well, no, I think to myself, because I’m a godless, liberal NPR listener.* Don’t these people know that fans of public radio hate religion* and would find the notion of an active church — as opposed to one that just sat still on Sunday morning — especially alarming?

Sponsored
Sponsored

But the ad presses on: “What if church considered ecology part of theology?” Ah, saving the earth. There’s something the godless and the Good Steward can agree on. Maybe this isn’t such a terrible use of ad dollars. By the time it’s over, I’m curious enough to check the website at 10thousanddoors.org.

Well, now, this looks good. (The site, as it turns out, was designed by college-age interns from Belmont University — a smart move.) Clean, bold, and conceptually simple, with a different door for each category: FIND (Looking for something? Odds are we can help), WATCH (People making a difference in their own backyards), NOW (Access headlines, people, and causes), TALK (Here’s a place to ask those questions...), and most interesting, GO/DO (Google Earth locates needs across the globe). And down at the bottom: US (We are the people of the United Methodist Church).

“The Methodist movement didn’t start as a church,” says United Methodist Communications chief executive, Rev. Larry Hollon. “John Wesley, during the Industrial Revolution, went out into the streets and preached to coal miners in Birmingham. The poor people were attracted to his preaching, and every study group was expected to have a dispensary for medicines. From the very beginning, there’s been a connection between the very practical needs of people and their spiritual needs. We would like to recapture that sense of the movement. Jesus taught in the synagogue, but He often taught on the street corner — with the woman at the well, with workers in a field. I think if Jesus were to speak to us about this campaign, He would say, ‘Welcome. I’ve been out here in the streets all along. I’m glad the United Methodist Church is joining Me once again. Go to it.’” Open the door and go outside.

Also: open the door and invite folks inside. The 10,000 Door project, says Hollon, “is a follow-up on eight years of hospitality and welcoming training we’ve done to create a sense of openness for people who are not familiar with the church and who are looking to connect. There’s this whole body of research that says that people identify themselves as spiritual but not religious. They’re searching for spiritual understanding and for personal understanding about their own place in a religious context, but they don’t have the language or the handles to do it. There’s a lot of Google-searching that goes on about religion. We’ve purchased several key words, and we’ve created a Google-search database that is unique to the United Methodist Church. We’ve actually purchased a Google server specifically for those searches. We’ve also put online a United Methodist 101 course. People can sign up and get involved in a direct interchange with other people — it’s a moderated course, and they can raise questions in a safe environment. We’ve had 1200 to 1300 people go through.”

Also: there are lots of doors. “There are many ways to engage the church, and they’re not all through the front door. Some are through the side door, some through the back.” For instance, “we’ve set a goal of starting 600 new places for people to gather for worship and study — not necessarily new local congregations with churches. Storefronts, urban settings, suburban settings. There is no fundamental departure from worship that is traditional, but there is a willingness to offer different forms of worship and worship that speaks to people in different ways.”

And maybe worship — or even God — isn’t the first thing you talk about. “We are targeting folks who are thinking about social justice and global issues. One of the things that makes us distinctive is our focus on both personal holiness and social holiness — meaning active engagement in mission projects or in public policy advocacy that is consistent with the ethical teachings of the church. Faith has been a province of individual change and individual behavior, but one of the things we’re finding in our research now is that people want to effect a broader change on the whole world. Our efforts at eradicating malaria are not the work of one church but a combination of churches.” Hollon cites a case where the UMC in Texas raised $1 million for bedding nets to be distributed in the Ivory Coast. The UMC in the Ivory Coast joined in the effort, “and that galvanized a national response” with the eventual result of “a national health benefit of $34 million from the Global Fund.”

Concludes Hollan, “Ads on NPR and CNN and in National Geographic — ads for people who are concerned about the environment and global issues — are part of the strategy: reach people where they are. If you’re comfortable in the NPR environment, we want to address you where you’re comfortable. We are simply extending an invitation to give us a look.” — Matthew Lickona

*It’s a joke. Honest.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024

It’s Easter morning and I’m driving home from the sunrise service at The Fields Church in Carlsbad and listening to NPR’s Weekend Edition because it’s early and the voices on NPR are so soothing, when I hear a commercial — for a church. “What if church was a verb? Would you come?”

Well, no, I think to myself, because I’m a godless, liberal NPR listener.* Don’t these people know that fans of public radio hate religion* and would find the notion of an active church — as opposed to one that just sat still on Sunday morning — especially alarming?

Sponsored
Sponsored

But the ad presses on: “What if church considered ecology part of theology?” Ah, saving the earth. There’s something the godless and the Good Steward can agree on. Maybe this isn’t such a terrible use of ad dollars. By the time it’s over, I’m curious enough to check the website at 10thousanddoors.org.

Well, now, this looks good. (The site, as it turns out, was designed by college-age interns from Belmont University — a smart move.) Clean, bold, and conceptually simple, with a different door for each category: FIND (Looking for something? Odds are we can help), WATCH (People making a difference in their own backyards), NOW (Access headlines, people, and causes), TALK (Here’s a place to ask those questions...), and most interesting, GO/DO (Google Earth locates needs across the globe). And down at the bottom: US (We are the people of the United Methodist Church).

“The Methodist movement didn’t start as a church,” says United Methodist Communications chief executive, Rev. Larry Hollon. “John Wesley, during the Industrial Revolution, went out into the streets and preached to coal miners in Birmingham. The poor people were attracted to his preaching, and every study group was expected to have a dispensary for medicines. From the very beginning, there’s been a connection between the very practical needs of people and their spiritual needs. We would like to recapture that sense of the movement. Jesus taught in the synagogue, but He often taught on the street corner — with the woman at the well, with workers in a field. I think if Jesus were to speak to us about this campaign, He would say, ‘Welcome. I’ve been out here in the streets all along. I’m glad the United Methodist Church is joining Me once again. Go to it.’” Open the door and go outside.

Also: open the door and invite folks inside. The 10,000 Door project, says Hollon, “is a follow-up on eight years of hospitality and welcoming training we’ve done to create a sense of openness for people who are not familiar with the church and who are looking to connect. There’s this whole body of research that says that people identify themselves as spiritual but not religious. They’re searching for spiritual understanding and for personal understanding about their own place in a religious context, but they don’t have the language or the handles to do it. There’s a lot of Google-searching that goes on about religion. We’ve purchased several key words, and we’ve created a Google-search database that is unique to the United Methodist Church. We’ve actually purchased a Google server specifically for those searches. We’ve also put online a United Methodist 101 course. People can sign up and get involved in a direct interchange with other people — it’s a moderated course, and they can raise questions in a safe environment. We’ve had 1200 to 1300 people go through.”

Also: there are lots of doors. “There are many ways to engage the church, and they’re not all through the front door. Some are through the side door, some through the back.” For instance, “we’ve set a goal of starting 600 new places for people to gather for worship and study — not necessarily new local congregations with churches. Storefronts, urban settings, suburban settings. There is no fundamental departure from worship that is traditional, but there is a willingness to offer different forms of worship and worship that speaks to people in different ways.”

And maybe worship — or even God — isn’t the first thing you talk about. “We are targeting folks who are thinking about social justice and global issues. One of the things that makes us distinctive is our focus on both personal holiness and social holiness — meaning active engagement in mission projects or in public policy advocacy that is consistent with the ethical teachings of the church. Faith has been a province of individual change and individual behavior, but one of the things we’re finding in our research now is that people want to effect a broader change on the whole world. Our efforts at eradicating malaria are not the work of one church but a combination of churches.” Hollon cites a case where the UMC in Texas raised $1 million for bedding nets to be distributed in the Ivory Coast. The UMC in the Ivory Coast joined in the effort, “and that galvanized a national response” with the eventual result of “a national health benefit of $34 million from the Global Fund.”

Concludes Hollan, “Ads on NPR and CNN and in National Geographic — ads for people who are concerned about the environment and global issues — are part of the strategy: reach people where they are. If you’re comfortable in the NPR environment, we want to address you where you’re comfortable. We are simply extending an invitation to give us a look.” — Matthew Lickona

*It’s a joke. Honest.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.