Apparently chocolate Jesus isn’t so far fetched. The Church of England is launching a new program called “Back to Church Sunday” to entice people who have left the church to return. It’s more of a temptation really, offering people goodie bags with chocolate bars.
But it’s not simple bribery or some lame gimmick. The chocolates are fair trade chocolate bars:
“When people come and receive the chocolate they discover it is not just a gimmick, it’s not an ordinary kind of chocolate fondant. This is a piece of fair trade chocolate.” says Bishop Nigel McCulloch. “The point then to make is that church isn’t just about going to a cosy club, it’s about belonging to an organisation which has a job of trying to bring justice and fair trade across the world.”
Now there’s some marketing with a message. Far from sucking, I’d imagine it’s down right tasty.
m
October 1, 2004
Kind of an immaculate confection?
Rhinoguy
October 1, 2004
Hail Mary, full of nougat …
(… is that brimstone I smell? uuuuhhhh-oooohhhh!)
Linda Grenz
October 1, 2004
This might not be such a bad idea. We have lots of downtown churches — often with huge facilities and small congregations. Those buildings could be converted into income producing assets by creatively adding a business. Imagine a restaurant on the ground floor of the parish house….or condos built on several top floors….or whatever both produces income and serves an evangelistic purpose. Sure would be better than crying about not being able to afford the upkeep on the buildings and eventually closing the church!