I just about died when I saw this flier. It comes from The Refuse, a Colorado Springs church that submitted their web site for this week’s peer review, and it sounds like they inherited the flier from their parent church, Scum of the Earth. At any rate, I can’t remember a funnier bit of church advertising.
The site to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ
Nuns with Guns
October 6, 2005 by Kevin D. Hendricks
Kevin D. Hendricks
When Kevin isn't busy as the editor of Church Marketing Sucks, he runs his own writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere. Kevin has been blogging since 1998, runs the hyperlocal site West St. Paul Reader, and has published several books, including 137 Books in One Year: How to Fall in Love With Reading, The Stephanies and all of our church communication books.
21 Responses to “Nuns with Guns”
Peter Davidson
October 6, 2005
That’s brilliant. Last week’s flyer peer review could learn a lot from this flyer. A picture worth a thousand words means you don’t need 100 words. A visual that makes an impression is more memorable than lengthy copy.
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
Stu Mcgregor
October 6, 2005
i put this in the other column but thought i should post it here too. sorry about the double up.
i think it’s too easy for cutting edge churches to define themselves against the mainstream and to that end, undermine the very fundamental ethos that the mainstream is generally genuine in trying to connect with the same Jesus. it’s better to focus on what we stand for rather than what we stand against. the irony of the nuns with guns poster (next post) is that it explicitly rejects the catholic heritage which has so much richness and depth if only we respect it enough to find it…(and i’m a baptist by the way).
this is the kind of ad i’d expect from Coca Cola or a streetwear label because it gives the finger to the fuddy duddy realm that gen-x and mosaics are differentiating themselves from.
i think we can do better than that in churches. unity of diversity, equality of all, crossing cultural boundaries are where i think we need to be distinct from ‘the world’.
this ad crosses the line imho even though i really quite like it (and that’s the po-mo tension i live with).
Stu's a-Musings
October 6, 2005
nuns with guns
From church marketing sucks i thought i’d bring to your attention some comments about this ad from the refuse church.
my comments are as follows:
think it’s too easy for cutting edge churches to define themselves against the mainstream and to that end,
Andrew Beeston
October 6, 2005
That’s funny, I just saw a Rage Against The Machine shirt last week with this same picture, but I think ( didn’t get close) they had violins? Maybe not… maybe they were guns.
Way of Hope Blog
October 6, 2005
Nuns With Guns
…And now for something a little different: Nuns with Guns via Church Marketing Sucks, found at the Refuse. …
KC Wahe
October 6, 2005
That rocks!
kevin
October 6, 2005
Hey Stu, I think it’s kind of funny that you say that. I didn’t see the flier as rejecting Catholic heritage. I saw it as taking a staid and uptight image of the church and turning it on its head. These are nuns with attitude. It’s poking a bit of fun at nuns, and encouraging them to lighten up, but I don’t think it’s meant to slam nuns or reject their tradition.
Stu Mcgregor
October 6, 2005
yeah i know it’s supposed to do that, but i wonder how a nun would feel about that? BTW i think i sounded a lot heavier than i really feel about it…if someone in my youth group came up with the idea thoug, i think i’d throw caution to the wind…
Brian Behm
October 6, 2005
If anything, it was only meant to be humorous. I love nuns… and there are all sorts of photos of nuns enjoying themselves. If it’s saying anything, (and I’m the designer, for lack of a better word)It’s saying that sometimes the original view of something isn’t necessarily the right one. Maybe the staid nun really isn’t so staid… and maybe that translates to God…
Stu Mcgregor
October 7, 2005
and it is humorous! and i see your point (i could see it straight away), but can you see my point? i’ve done similar things : posters of St augustine holding a record under his arm…it’s ironic, but as i think about it i am saying “hmmm, i wonder if that is appropriate…”, then i shrug my shoulders and go “oh well, what’s for dinner tonight.” i think we’re generally on the same page, but i wanted to see what people thought about defining ourselves as ‘not that’ instead of ‘this’.
chewing fat…that’s all. keep up the good work, i think you’ve got some great stuff and shouldn’t feel got at in anyway as that’s not the intention.
kevin
October 7, 2005
Brian, you said exactly what I was trying to say. Stu, I think most of us would agree with your point that we should show what we stand for, not what we stand against. And I think Nuns with Guns are doing that. Refuse stands for a different perspective on Christianity, i.e., nuns holding guns (obviously we’re not talking about nuns in the NRA, but the picture is a metaphor for something unexpected from nuns).
I think the same thing can be said for their garbage truck T-shirts and their very name. That’s what we are as Christians–it’s not some slam on other churches.
So, bottom line, I think they’re doing a good job standing for something (as opposed to against) in these marketing materials. Perhaps they could do a better job of that on the text on the web site. That’s a point worth hearing.
Brian Behm
October 7, 2005
and I DEFINITELY hear that point. The website is up, but it’s definitely still a work in process…and I’m also not necessarily the best writer in the world, just the one that happened to have the downtime at my office to do it. :-). We’ll definitely be working on text.
Stu, I definitely didn’t take it as any sort of a slam. I was just explaining what the original intent was. The other thing to keep in mind is that because they’re handbills, they’re usually handed directly to a person by another person and that while it’s an invitation, it’s more of a reminder of the verbal invitation.
Stu Mcgregor
October 7, 2005
cool, if they’re actually given to someone i can see how that makes a huge difference. nothing can surpass human contact…
now what is for dinner? :)
Brian Behm
October 7, 2005
It changes every week. It’s a potluck, so whatever shows up gets eaten. There ARE day old bagels from Einstein Brothers every week though. (I think that’s the obligatory offering of the postmodern church)