By J.A. Dunn

LAKELAND — Wait a second before you change that channel. You don’t want to miss 30-second television commercials several churches in the Florida Conference will be airing this September to reach out to their communities.

The churches are able to fund the commercials through the Igniting Ministry matching grants program. Igniting Ministry is the denomination’s four-year national media campaign approved at the 2000 General Conference. It is supplemented by regional and local church efforts.

Igniting Ministry offers churches new evangelism tools, highlighted by a series of national cable network commercials designed to raise awareness about the United Methodist Church. The commercials strive to meet a target audience of 25- to 54-year-olds who are either unchurched or don’t have a relationship with a church family.

So far two groups in the Florida Conference have received grants through this current grant process.

Sara Jane Bush, communications director at First United Methodist Church, Sarasota, said the commercials are reaching people. Her church received $708 through the Igniting Ministry matching grant program to air commercials locally during the back-to-school time in September. That is when the third year of the campaign kicks off and the first set of ads for the new year air. The church received an additional $708 to air commercials during the 2004 Advent season, during the second national flight of ads. The third flight of Igniting Ministry commercials will air nationally during Lent.

The Igniting Ministry grant process requires that 96 commercials be aired during each of the commercial times.

Bush said placing the commercials in her community works because the church independently ran 54 commercials during the 2003 Lent season and had visiting families tell the pastor the commercials were driving factors in their attendance.

“We are excited about the matching grants,” Bush said from her summer home in Salem, S.C. “We are going to be able to reach people in the cable viewing area, but the ads are only the first step. Once the people come you’ve got to have programs to keep them interested, so we’re working on that, as well.”

Jackie Vaughan, director of the Igniting Ministry matching grant program, said the local commercial spots work well with the national commercials targeting women between the ages of 25 to 54 who have children under the age of 18 living at home.

Vaughan said about $660,000 of the $1 million available annually for matching grants has been distributed this year. A total of 98 matching grants have been awarded to local churches nationwide since the program’s inception.

“We want to make the most of the dollars. That’s why it’s great when churches air their commercials when the national campaign is going on,” Vaughn said from her Nashville office. “And for those churches who can’t afford to have air time, that’s why we have the national campaign.”

United Methodist churches in the Tampa Bay area may be in that category this year.

The Rev. Timothy Ehrlich, associate pastor at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, said the Tampa and St. Petersburg districts were awarded $18,881.50 from Igniting Ministry to air commercials during September, but due to financial circumstances the St. Petersburg District may not be able to fund their half of the $9,000 amount needed to pay for the commercials. Since it is supposed to be a combined effort among the two districts, Ehrlich is doubtful Tampa churches could pay the entire amount alone.

“We have run the commercials in the past, and I think it has been successful,” Ehrlich said. “I have taken written surveys and virtually everyone in the church has seen them. I think it’s something like everyone had seen them three times over, so it’s effective in reaching people and improving the morale of the church.”

Igniting Ministry is also a coordinated and comprehensive series of efforts offering resources to assist local churches in strengthening their welcoming and marketing skills. All of it is aimed at helping make disciples of Christ. The purpose is to proclaim the gospel and increase awareness and recognition of the United Methodist Church’s basic beliefs; foster among non-members a positive feeling and willingness to visit a United Methodist church; and renew a sense of commitment in United Methodists.