What are they thinking?
This puts a bad taste in my mouth....ugh!
Church gives away iPods to draw new members Lars Jacoby
The Arizona Republic
May. 12, 2006 12:00 AM
IPod Shuffle giveaways have been used to lure people to open bank accounts and buy cars and as bait by online hucksters. Well, now even churches are getting in on the craze.
Leaders of the Interfaith Unity Church, 1731 W. Baseline Road in Mesa, are hoping to capitalize on the gadget's popularity and entice people to try out their 10:30 a.m. Sunday service.
"What we really want to do is we want people to know that we want them to come, we want them to possibly shuffle in and soar out," the Rev. Julianne Lewis said. Lewis said whether someone wins the Shuffle or not, she hopes the church's message sticks with people and they continue to come back after the promotion ends June 11. advertisement
To win the iPod Shuffle you must be a congregation member at least 14 years old who also has a parent that is a member. If you're a guest of the church, you must be at least 18 years old. You must be present at the time of the drawing, and one winner per household.
posted by Rochelle @ 10:22 PM
8 Comments:
At 9:06 AM,
Adam said…
Interesting. I'm not surprised it's from a church in Arizona, to be honest. A lot of churches there do some pretty weird things to attract people.
At 2:31 PM,
tenahawkins said…
This is pretty sad. If churches have to stoop to the level of marketing products to get you to come to church, then the future looks real bleak! Wonder if it's more about getting the numbers to make herself feel better?
At 12:48 AM,
Mike said…
let's not bash these churches so quickly. don't we tend to market to people by the type of music we offer, by the type of programs we have, or even by the fact that we have donuts and coffee? the point isn't in how they get people to come, the point is in whether it is working or not. isn't that the real issue? maybe they have just found a very effective way of getting people, who would otherwise not come, to at least check it all out.
At 6:14 AM,
Rochelle said…
I would be curious to see if it works or not as far as drawing in people more than 1 time... something about it just doesn't sit right with me..Maybe they just need to give an ipod shuffle to everyone :)
At 2:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
Amen Mike! We are guilty too, but ours just isnt as obvious. Theirs is just a little more apparent.
At 7:42 PM,
darker than silence said…
I kinda like it. Maybe that's cause I want an IPOD. Hah.
At 12:12 AM,
Adam said…
"What you win them with is what you keep them with..."
If you win them to your church with a bribe, then you keep them at your church with more?
At 7:54 PM,
tenahawkins said…
I agree with the statement you just made Adam. Regardless of how much we're 'marketing', we're always going to have to do something more to keep them there. That becomes exhausting. The question I've been wondering as we've started a new journey in visiting other churches is "What does it really take to win people to Jesus?" It's not products, it's not music, it's not coffee and donuts...it's being a friend.
BUT I'm still sticking to the OPINION that it's sad that an ipod raffle has to be used to get people through the doors of a church.
And yea Mike I do have issues with how churches market themselves and YES I know I'm a part of that machine. There's no proof of marketing in the early churches.
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