Creating a television commercial to promote a local church to spiritually sensitive viewers

Many churches and denominations are using television to promote their organizations to a media saturated society. Though church-sponsored PSAs have been around for years, forays into paid advertising are relatively recent and partly a result of reduced production and airtime costs and the success of a multimillion dollar campaign by the United Methodist church. Many denominations have begun national media campaigns or increased their efforts in existing ones (Cooperman, 2004).; Local churches are also interested in television advertising. Some have the opportunity to use ads produced by their denominational headquarters. Churches without this option can purchase pre-made, customizable commercials from third-party vendors or use talent, volunteers, and resources available at the church to produce their own commercials (Donnelly, 2000).; When and where the commercial is aired plays an important role in its effectiveness. Primetime airtime on broadcast networks is the most effective and expensive option. Airtime on popular cable television stations purchased from local providers is a more cost-effective option (Donnelly, 2000), however homes not serviced by cable television service may not see the ad.; This thesis documents the process of creating a television commercial for Faith Evangelical Free Church of Trexlertown, PA. Faith Church has about 850 members and an average Sunday morning attendance of 1,250 people, some of whom have experience working in electronic media. The producer included these individuals in a media team led by the producer and overseen by the church's Pastor of Congregational Life.; Based on the results of a meeting with the church's pastors, the media team developed the concept and script. The producer shot and edited the commercial. Narration and background music was provided by a member of the media team with audio expertise. The commercial uses a "felt needs" approach and shows a father pondering the spiritual well-being of his family. The commercial then transitions to an overview of the activities and ministries available at the church, ending with contact information, the church's logo, and the slogan "Faith Church, A Great Place to Start."; The commercial was evaluated by 24 viewers from the church. Commonly critiqued areas were audio and narration quality, the choice of video footage used, and continuity. The commercial was also evaluated by the pastors of the church, who had similar concerns, though one pastor commented that it looked ready to air with no further revisions.; Changes based on the result of the evaluations are planned. Though airtime has not yet been purchased, both the researcher and the Pastor of Congregational Life are confident that the commercial will be suitable to air once the revisions are made. Where and when to air the commercial will be discussed by the pastors and the researcher using the information found during research.; The researcher found creating the commercial challenging. More participation from the church was originally anticipated. It is the hope of the researcher and the church that this project will be effective as an outreach tool, as well as spur interest in future media projects at the church.