12^th May 2009

The Gruen Church?
One of the few TV shows I ‘religiously watch' is The Gruen Transfer. Screening on ABC TV, it is a show about advertising - how it is done, how it influences us and interestingly for a medium stereotyped as devoid of values and ethics, consideration of significant moral questions. It has rated very well, averaging 1.25 million viewers a week, across all adult demographics. Produced by Zapruder's Other Films*, with Executive Producer, Andrew Denton, The Gruen Transfer is named after Victor Gruen, the guy who designed the very first shopping mall. The term describes that split second when the mall's intentionally confusing layout makes our eyes glaze and our jaws slacken... the moment when we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers." (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/theshow.htm)
It is also a show that complements parts of the emergent church and could be a way of learning about the pervasive influence of the visual media culture in our society. After all, who hasn't seen an ad, or perhaps even bought advertising. Most churches advertise, whether for staff positions or programmes and events. Our church publications rely on advertising for a significant part of their overall budgets.
The panel on The Gruen Transfer is led by Wil Anderson, host and certainly quick wit, always ready to pounce on a comment and turn it to his advantage. He is joined by Todd Sampson, CEO of Leo Burnett, who provides the trendy and emergent connection, and Russel Howcroft, Chairman and Managing Director of George Patterson's Y&R, who shows the slightly older conservative connection. Together they actually demonstrate elements of what some emergent churches are like, an attempt to bridge culture, generational outlooks and moral frameworks.
What are the features that connect?
Firstly there is no communal singing - the ‘congregation' or audience is primarily that - an ‘audience'.
This is partly about being pragmatic as well as contemporary, as it enables one to avoid the whole issue of what music to use in church. In advertising you use music when appropriate, and primarily as background or entertainment, but you do not have to have one form of music for all, as it can target an audience. In ads, music can be critiqued - you can genuinely show your love or hatred and people realise this is a personal issue.
There is time for sharing by the leaders - In the ‘Ads we talked about section', popular ads are considered and people are made to feel part of the overall discussion even though they are not physically contributing. Especially significant is the ‘ad of the Week' and a more considered exposure of significant issues within advertising.
There is a practical orientation designed to illustrate and engage with people at the time - an ad just for you as you watch.
In the segment ‘The Pitch', The Gruen Transfer allows ad agencies creative freedom to take on a hard sell - something usually the opposite of what is culturally or logically accepted. There are two agencies involved, allowing a competitive approach, which is the hallmark of an ad campaign - making a pitch to a client, and these ads are usually lateral approaches. I have been fascinated by attempts to make cane toads the favourite Australian pet, or trying to get Australians to hate Don Bradman, or literally selling ice to eskimos.
In the emergent church these segments could replace the traditional word based sermon - as the group it is aiming at is more visual by experience, and by nature want to feel that the worship is designed for them on that night - no continuing rituals needed as it is one-off messages that make it special.
An issue provides the focus - emergent churches usually focus on issues. The Gruen Transfer has this tailor made as advertising has a serial issue orientation. The issues are often socially oriented, or relevant for contemporary discussion and debate, and also aid continuing discussion long past the screening. Substantial discussion has centred around cigarette advertising, Child Abuse awareness, and environmental themes. There is also an attempt to consider moral dimensions of contemporary advertising.
Many churches are still grappling with moral issues, even if some churches only publicly find morality in certain areas of the other's political world. In The Gruen Transfer on 25th March 2009 there was a helpful consideration of the now Infamous "I'm Heidi - please help me find the man in the jacket" You Tube spot, which as everyone except for those who have never watched TV, used the web, or read a newspaper or magazine, would know was simply a beat up by an ad agency for a new clothing range. This was actually a form of word of mouth advertising. Various styles are used in this way, such as the placement of cigarettes in see-through bags carried by attractive women, or hiring models to spend time in new bars. The discussion of the morality of the Heidi ad provided a vivid discussion about the nature of truth and trust. Most of the panel thought this ad was a type of blatant lie, which went too far, especially as the organisations involved even made fun of the media organisations which took up the ‘story'.
When is an advertisement not an advertisement? For people like me who are naturally distrusting, or at least aware of the concept of total depravity, I actually did not believe it for a second, but then sadly I now rarely believe the crying husband on TV asking for help to find their wife's murderer.
Word of mouth advertising is very important in churches today - in fact they were one of the earliest proponents of this, and it is one of the reasons why churches struggle today as many members find it difficult to promote their own church in a personal way. It is also clear that the trust that churches once automatically commanded has been removed from the equation, and people are more inclined to think of negative impressions when the church is raised, rather than positive community impressions.
Matt Jones, a guest panellist on 6th May 2009, provided insight into the Heidi ad. One could actually work his comments in a mini-sermon - like the Sermon on the Mount for Gen X. In his short explanation of this form of advertising and why it breached contemporary understandings of relationship, opinion and identity he reiterated the foundations for developing trust:
? Say who you are representing
? Say what you think
? Say who you really are

How do you end contemporary worship?
Lastly, when does emergent church worship end? There is often no traditional ending of a service, with a word of mission and blessing, and interestingly there is the lack of a formal end as well in The Gruen Transfer, with credits mingling with a final quirky ad before people morph to their computers for further contact. It is the web community that continues - the show is the starting point, and the web is the next logical step to keeping your audience. The web also allows you to watch the show when you want to, join in and make an ad, re-cap the main points and share material with friends. This is part of the convergence of technology today, and it is something the emergent churches have used well. When away, people can take their church with them.
There is significant debate now appearing about the emergent church, and certainly in the area of worship, there should be debate, and in the area of cultural appreciation, it is worth considering again the impact of contemporary culture on the church.
Peter Bentley
8 May 2009
* As I explained in my review of God on My Side, the Denton documentary on the 2006 Religious Broadcasters Convention (USA), this is a reference to the most famous short film of all time - the Zapruder family „home movie? of the assassination of John F Kennedy.