I would like to thank everyone who participated in the previous discussion regarding a commercial for the Brothers of John the Steadfast. Some people asked what I would do differently. I’m no public relations person, but I’m willing to try:
Traditional Lutheran liturgy and preaching continue to deliver Christ crucified for sinners today. To all who received him, who believed in his name, the Gospel of John writes, he gave the right to become children of God.
Martin Luther and other Lutheran reformers attempted to return the catholic church from practices that focused on what man did for God to practices that focused on the Gospel: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.
Some things never change. The Gospel is still under attack from inside and outside the church. The cross is still our theology. The Bible and the Lutheran Confessions keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
We’re the Brothers of John the Steadfast. We seek to preserve Lutheran doctrine and practice so that everyone may hear and believe the Gospel. If you’re interested…
I think this puts a friendlier face on things. I haven’t timed it, but if it’s long the first paragraph can be tossed. What do you think?
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Sounds great!
Thank you, Dan. I do think it is way too long and wordy. If you listen to the current spots they are just a few sentences. The ads need to pack a lot of punch in a very, very short amount of time. Probably the final two paragraphs are about as long as we can go (although I’m just going on memory and cannot give you an actual time length or number of words).
Maybe you could send your copy to Norm for feedback? If the copy gets whittled down to the desired length, would you have the capability of recording/producing the spot? (Realize that I have no authority to “hire” you (haha–as if we “hire” anyone, considering we have no money to do so) or to put anything that is submitted on the air–I am just asking questions, trying to keep the conversation moving along productively–the decision to accept/approve your ad for broadcast would have to come from the BJS leadership. But a first step would be to send your suggested ad to them.
I’ll be happy to work with you all on it. Details to come your way.
This looks great. I’m looking forward to hearing the new ads!
PrBW
I like it!
I took Dan’s and made it bite sized:
“Ancient liturgy. The preaching of Christ Crucified. The Reformation of a Church ever going astray. The world will tell you about what men have done, but we want to tell you about what One Man has done for you. We’re the Brothers of St. John the Steadfast, a Lutheran fraternity dedicated to remembering that the Word of God never changes, and neither do the devil’s assaults.
Scripture. The Confessions of Concord. Eyes fixed on Jesus because Jesus has his sights set on saving you. That’s Lutheran doctrine and practice. Find it at http://www.steadfastlutherans.org”
—-
Oh, and for the record, comments made in a public online forum deriding public online forums for being derisive seem the height of irony to me. I feel the same way every time someone doesn’t put the best construction on my words by telling me that I haven’t put the best construction on someone’s words……
Great stuff Pastor Fisk. It’s almost like Web 2.0 or something. Thank you!
revfisk,
I think you are one of the most gifted communicators in our church today. Your rewrite nails it, in my opinion, and preserves some of the edginess of the original without going all negative. The only thing that would make it better is putting it over a video clip of marching smurfs.
Maybe Pastor Fisk could work with Dan and Norm to also create a YouTube commercial for BJS. I’m sure many of us would embed the video on their blogs and websites.
oh…and
+pax+
Dan’s suggestion or Pastor Fisk’s rewrite would lead me to the BJS site.
Three 30 second bits have been recorded and sent in to BJS.
Minor detail, but for a little extra polish, make sure to have a good mic. The audio quality of the original ad seemed lacking.
I recorded the spots with the same mic I use for Time Out.
I wrote, produced and recorded the spots you currently hear on Issues, Etc.
I read all of the last thread and this one.
I appologize for the offense I have caused and the disrepute I have brought on Steadfast Lutherans.
I would have liked to record some new commercials, but I have not had the time in about a year due to various issues.
I have Dan’s recordings and I am working on mixing them down and producing them.
In the recordings, I was shooting for an 20 to 40 year old male demographic with the message, we aren’t an old boys club, we’re different and we are here to offer an alternative to the trash you are being given in the majority of mainstream Lutheran.
To all that I have hurt or offended, please forgive my attempts at humor and sarcasm and know that Steadfast Lutherans is a good organization, with noble goals.
Jon Townsend
Jon,
You are forgiven.
And please forgive me as I think the language in my comment was too strong. It would be more accurate to say that I was bothered than offended. I am a huge fan of Issues, Etc. and I know that BJS was founded to support that program and urge confessional education and discussion. I am in complete agreement with those goals.
I am also grateful for guys like you that do the unpaid work of advancing those causes. It sounds like the outcome of this discussion will be some winsome new ads for BJS and I can’t wait to hear them.
http://issuesetc.org/podcast/548080410H2S1.mp3
1st new commercial made it in at 14:00 minutes into the above.
Nice, Jon, thank you!