{"id":1441,"date":"2011-02-15T01:58:50","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T01:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html"},"modified":"2011-02-15T01:58:50","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T01:58:50","slug":"in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html","title":{"rendered":"In the News: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, I admit that the USA Today<\/i> headline caught my eye: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message.”<\/a> So what’s the story?<\/p>\n

\"jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg\"<\/form>\n

New Day Church, a new church in Indiana, is using a marketing campaign that features ads that ask: “What happens when God gets between the sheets?” The church is using their pastor’s four-week series on sex to draw the crowds. <\/p>\n

According to Philip Goff, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, what we see happening at New Day Church is part of a national trend among new churches. Says Goff: “One of the things many of these new churches are trying to do is
\nimitate culture to bring in people, instead of sitting back and
\ncritiquing it. This is a trend that is going to be with us
\nfor a long time, because preachers are realizing they may have to turn
\nto non-traditional means to attract younger members.”<\/p>\n

According to USA Today,<\/i> other churches have tried different, edgy strategies: “Some have services or events at non-traditional locations, such as
\ntattoo parlors, music venues or even bars. They may host heavy-metal
\nconcerts, skateboard competitions, motorcycle shows or even
\nbody-piercing events to spread their message.” <\/p>\n

A parishioner at New Day defends his church’s unusual outreach program:
\n“It has become more necessary to show non-believers we are just regular
\npeople with the same problems they have. We aren’t here to
\njudge you or look down on you but to share the love of Christ.”<\/p>\n

If it seems like churches like New Day are simply fitting into the culture, USA Today<\/i> notes that most of these churches preach “straight from the Bible.” So their means of reaching out to new people may be just a tad unorthodox, but their message appears to be pretty much in line with the straight and narrow of Christian tradition. <\/p>\n

Of course not all churches are choosing an edgy, risky marketing strategy. The billboard in front of the church I attend in Boerne, Texas, recently proclaimed: “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” Yes, I do attend a Presbyterian church, PC(USA), at that. Not exactly the most innovative message, but you can’t fault it for its faithfulness to Scripture.<\/p>\n

So what do you think about this? How far should the church go to market itself? Is something lost when the church imitates the culture’s way of promotion? Or is this a valid way of reaching out in an increasingly secular culture?  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, I admit that the USA Today headline caught my eye: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message.” So what’s the story? New Day Church, a new church in Indiana, is using a marketing campaign that features ads that ask: “What happens when God gets between the sheets?” The church is using their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189,202],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-and-culture","category-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nIn the News: "Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message" - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the News: "Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message" - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yes, I admit that the USA Today headline caught my eye: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message.” So what’s the story? New Day Church, a new church in Indiana, is using a marketing campaign that features ads that ask: “What happens when God gets between the sheets?” The church is using their…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-15T01:58:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In the News: \"Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message\" - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In the News: \"Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message\" - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"Yes, I admit that the USA Today headline caught my eye: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message.” So what’s the story? New Day Church, a new church in Indiana, is using a marketing campaign that features ads that ask: “What happens when God gets between the sheets?” The church is using their…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2011-02-15T01:58:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html","name":"In the News: \"Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message\" - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg","datePublished":"2011-02-15T01:58:50+00:00","dateModified":"2011-02-15T01:58:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/jesus-is-coming-soon-5.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/02\/in-the-news-start-up-indiana-church-uses-sex-to-sell-message.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In the News: “Start Up Indiana Church Uses Sex to Sell Message”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}