| Tampa area nets grant for television ads
By The Rev. Tim Ehrlich
BRANDON — The combined efforts of the Tampa
and St. Petersburg districts earned a grant from the Igniting Ministry
office of United Methodist Communications (UMCom) to help buy nearly
100 television ads this Lent.
Igniting Ministry is the denomination’s
four-year media campaign which kicked off last September. The third
series of national United Methodist Church television commercials will
begin airing March 18.
UMCom announced last month that the two
districts will receive a $17,689 grant, half the money needed to buy
96 thirty-second ads on the local ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox network
affiliates. The ads will be aired during the weeks of March 20 and 27
and will run between 6 a.m. and midnight.
The local campaign will reach 77 percent of the
3.5 million viewers in the Tampa Bay area an average of three times,
according to Jackie Vaughan, an Igniting Ministry staff member.
“With the help of media partners like Tampa
Bay area United Methodist churches, we hope to speak to and invite as
many people as possible to our churches, particularly those we have
never before contacted,” Vaughan said.
The Tampa and St. Petersburg districts are both
in the same media market and will each raise $8,844.50 to match the
grant.
The Rev. Albert Blomquist, Tampa District
superintendent, said he is excited about the possibilities the grant
provides. “We’re delighted that the Tampa District of the United
Methodist Church will be able to raise awareness of our churches
through a grant from our denomination,” Blomquist said. “We look
forward to sharing the gospel and preparing to welcome new people to
our congregations.”
The districts are using six of the commercials
produced by UMCom, but adding a tag line that attributes the ads to
the Tampa Bay-area United Methodist churches.
Staff and volunteers of St. Andrew’s United
Methodist Church in Brandon made the grant application on behalf of
the area churches and worked with three area pastors who are
coordinating their districts’ efforts in support of the national
media campaign.
Those efforts include training for churches on
how to be welcoming and receive visitors. The districts are also
working on long-term plans to place the Igniting Ministry message in
print and on billboards and radio over the next three years.
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