ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 1, 2008  

ELCA Television Spots are Broadcast on the Travel Channel
08-166-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) is adding television to a pilot advertising
campaign with the tag line, "God's work. Our hands."  The
Travel Channel is broadcasting two 30-second spots a total
of about 60 times from Sept. 29 through Oct. 12 on cable
and satellite television.
     The limited run of television spots is meant to "give
ELCA members an idea of what it would be like to see this
church's ministry stories being told in a very public way,"
said Kristi S. Bangert, executive director, ELCA Communication
Services.  A grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans,
Minneapolis, helped make possible this "taste of what a
complete, nationwide advertising initiative would look like
for the ELCA," she said.
     One television spot -- "Hope" -- shows a woman quizzing
her daughter as they walk along a road near Yeumbeul, Senegal.
It highlights Senegal Lutheran Mission, which teaches women
how to start their own businesses.
     The other spot -- "Dignity" -- opens with workers setting
tables in a fancy restaurant.  The "restaurant" is actually
Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck, N.D., and volunteers are
preparing a banquet for homeless neighbors.
     The television spots are showcased in an "Our Brand"
section of the ELCA Web site: http://www.ELCA.org/GodsworkOurhands
     "We hope that through television, billboards and print
media, members of the ELCA will be equipped to own and tell
this church's story, the story of what God is doing in us
and through us for the sake of the world," Bangert said.
     The ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod and 61 ELCA congregations
in the Denver and Boulder, Colo., area were involved in a
pilot advertising campaign of billboards, newspaper ads, bus
signs, banners, bookmarks, church bulletins, postcards,
posters and the http://www.ELCA.org/love Web site in
September 2007.
     The "Our Brand" Web pages include three print ads from
the Denver campaign.  The print ads tell the stories of the
Senegal Lutheran Mission, the Bismarck banquet and a Denver
program at Our Savior's Lutheran Church that helps low-income
students train to become nurses.
     The Travel Channel is part of Travel Channel Media owned
by Cox Communications.  The channel is available to cable
television subscribers in more than 90 million homes across
the United States.
-- -- --
     A video report, "ELCA Ad Campaign Pilots in Denver,"
is at http://archive.ELCA.org/news/video.html on the Web.
The home page of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Denver, is
at http://www.oslcdenver.org/ on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog