The Inspiration Room

Rejection Hurts at Church

The United Church of Christ have produced their third television commercial on the theme of welcome, aiming at people who have been hurt by institutional religion. This is the denomination who produced, “Still Speaking”, featuring bouncers outside a church. See my post from December 2004.

In their latest TV spot, “Ejector Pews”, the inclusive USA denomination present themselves as an organisation sensitive to the experience of rejection.

A white middle class family walks into a gothic-style church building and take their place on one of the pews. They look sideways as they notice a young mother with a crying baby. The camera shows a hand pushing the ‘eject button’. Mother and child are sent into the air, ‘rapture-style’. A gay couple reading their Bible are ejected, along with more and more churchgoers, including an elderly person with a walker. Finally, as a woman takes her seat in their pew, the middle class family slide sideways to avoid her.

The super: Feeling Rejected by Religion? Share Your Story. rejectionhurts.com.

The Rejectionhurts web site features stories of people’s responses to the ad, naming the United Church of Christ as the group who don’t reject people. “God doesn’t reject people. Neither do we”. The commercial is available for download in flash 8, windows media and quicktime at http://3×3m.com/files/rejected/

POSTSCRIPT – The Rejection Hurts domain name has been allowed to lapse. See the ad online at Still Speaking.

Gotham Incorporated is the advertising agency behind the campaign.

Thanks to Dabitch at Adland Ad-rag.com for the tip. See the United Church of Christ News article with the story on the launch of the ad today.
To see other ads by the United Church of Christ that feature inclusiveness visit the Commercial Closet site.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Inspiration, TV Ads Cinema and Online Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Church advertising, Gay, GLBT, Gotham, homosexuality, lesbian, Still Speaking, transgender, United Church of Christ

Posted in Inspiration, TV Ads Cinema and Online Videos

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1. 100Revs Say Sorry To Gays and Lesbians | Pacific Highlander says:

   May 18, 2008 at 11:07 pm

   [...] Church of Christ in the United States (to which Barack Obama belongs), in their Still Speaking and Rejected by Religion [...]

   Reply