Title: New Website, Identity Project Ads Introduced by ELCA in March
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 1, 1999

NEW WEBSITE, IDENTITY PROJECT ADS INTRODUCED BY ELCA IN MARCH
99-08-46-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA)   The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
initiated new efforts March 1 to welcome people outside the church who
are seeking information on issues related to religion and faith.
     Efforts involve the introduction of a new site on the World Wide
Web, www.sharingfaith.org, and a series of print and broadcast
advertisements known as the ELCA Identity Project.
     The Sharing Faith Web site is intended to attract "seekers" to the
Christian church in a non-threatening way, said Paul Edison-Swift,
director for resource information and networks, ELCA Department for
Communication.  Those who visit the site will find faith stories, daily
devotions, a Bible tutor, prayers, scripture readings for children, an
online magazine for teens, answers to frequently asked questions and a
series of ELCA resources and projects.  Site visitors can also link to
the ELCA home page, www.elca.org, he said.
     The new site is "our witness to the world," Edison-Swift said.
     Staff of the ELCA's Division for Outreach, Division for
Congregational Ministries and  Department for Communication designed the
new site.  Members of the "Witness to God's Action in the World" team,
one of several teams working with the ELCA's "Initiatives for a New
Century," were involved, too.  The initiatives are based on a series of
seven critical areas for ministry in the 21st century.
     The Web site will also become known to the public through the
Identity Project ads that will appear for the first time this month,
said Kristi Bangert, director for internal church communication and
marketing, Department for Communication.
     The advertisements are designed to raise awareness of the Lutheran
church, increase membership in Lutheran congregations and provide
encouragement and positive reinforcement to ELCA members, Bangert said.
     Ads, which include the new ELCA emblem, will appear as billboards,
in newspapers and magazines, and on television and radio.  They are the
result of audience research and planning.  Most of the ads include
references to the Sharing Faith Web site.
     "The research identified two 'target' groups for this campaign,
those most likely to respond positively to such an effort," Bangert
said. "They include Baby Boomers, who care about children, and
Generation Xers."
     The ELCA Church Council supported development of the Identity
Project with $1.4 million in 1998 and 1999.  Aid Association for
Lutherans, a fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis.,
provided another $1.5 million to help congregations and regional groups
use the materials.
     Groups that wish to use the Identity Project materials must attend
a one-day training session, Bangert said. A Spanish-language campaign is
expected to be developed later this year, she added.
(Editors: for preview copies of the ELCA Identity Project ads, please
call Brenda Williams at (773) 380-2963 or send e-mail to
[log in to unmask])


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