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ACR NEWS RELEASE
* The Association for Church Renewal *---
December 4, 2004
Contact: Steve Rempe, (202) 969-8430
Mainline Renewal Leaders Call for UCC to Pull Television Commercial
Washington, DC - Leaders of the Association for Church Renewal (ACR) asked
the United Church of Christ (UCC) to withdraw its controversial 30-second
advertisement that is running on some broadcast and cable networks. Diane
Knippers, President of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and
Vice-Chair of the ACR, explained: "We defend the right of the UCC to
communicate its message in mainstream media. But we believe that this ad is
dishonest and insulting to other Christian churches. It violates the UCC's
stated commitment to respectful ecumenical dialogue. The UCC should
voluntarily pull this ad."
The UCC commercial depicts two "bouncers" standing in front of a church
building. The bouncers choose who is and who is not admitted into the
church. Among those denied entrance are persons who appear to be a
homosexual couple, a handicapped man, and a woman of Hispanic descent. Then
viewers see the words: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." At
the end of the commercial appear images of a diverse crowd of happy people,
apparently in a UCC congregation.
The UCC ad is already running on several broadcast and cable networks. But
network officials for both CBS and NBC rejected the ad as "too
controversial" for airing. UCC officials have attributed the refusal to the
networks' fear of possible negative reaction from conservative Christians.
The denomination is pressuring CBS and NBC to reverse their decisions.
"We support the right of religious groups to make public statements, no
matter how controversial," said ACR chairman James Heidinger, President of
Good News (United Methodist). "We also acknowledge the right of private
broadcasters to determine what they will air. In general, we hope that the
media would err on the side of openness. They need to put aside
restrictions that uniquely obstruct religious speech." Heidinger noted that
the networks regularly air situation comedies and "reality" shows that are
extremely offensive to conservative Christians. "We think that there should
be room for the UCC to express forthrightly its views on sexuality, as there
should also be room for Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist teachings."
Knippers added: "It should be up to the churches to ensure the integrity
and civility of their public statements. It is here that the UCC fails.
Its current ad tries to boost the UCC by maligning all the other churches.
It insinuates that the typical American church turns away ethnic minorities,
the disabled, and homosexuals, whereas the UCC is uniquely welcoming of all
persons. The facts do not bear out this false picture."
A recent study by the Hartford Institute for Religious Research indicated
that only two or three percent of mainline church congregations (including
the UCC) could be considered racially "integrated" (defined as having at
least 20 percent minority membership), compared to eight percent of
conservative Protestant churches, and 20 percent of Roman Catholic parishes
nationwide. Despite attempts at outreach, the UCC has lost over 32 percent
of its total membership since 1967.
While the UCC commercial emphasizes the denomination's inclusiveness, there
is no attempt to define what the denomination believes or promotes, other
than inclusiveness itself. "While a friendly welcome is an important first
step in bringing people into the church, there is a need to explain what the
church has to offer of substance," commented David Runnion-Bareford,
Executive Director of Biblical Witness Fellowship, a renewal movement within
the UCC. "Jesus offers much more than a welcome. He offers forgiveness of
sins, a new way of living, now and eternally. The Good News of the Gospel
is much, much more than a tolerant and inclusive club."
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The UCC ad may be viewed at
http://www.stillspeaking.com/default.htm.
Further information on the Association for Church Renewal may be found at
www.ird-renew.org/Issues/IssuesList.cfm?c=9.
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