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Pastor Jeff Elliott of Meadowdale Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Washington, wasn't sure what to expect when Impact Productions approached him about doing TV commercials for the congregation. As the part-time pastor of a church with only 55 members, Elliott says, "I wasn't sure if it was some thing we could handle. The idea of doing commercials just didn't seem feasible."

After Elliott watched a tape from Impact, he realized how commercials could fit within the church's plans for community outreach. He then presented the idea to his congregation. As a show of faith, Elliott contributed money to the project from his other job as an electrical engineer.

The congregation purchased exclusive rights to broadcast two commercials created by Impact and personalized for Meadowdale Baptist. Two commercials would run locally for two years and one for four years. In addition to paying $2,500 for the commercials, Meadow dale Baptist spent $3,500 for air-time fees to run the commercials three times a day, seven days a week, for one year, on local cable television.

The church has a Web site, but Elliott thinks television has more potential to build a local community presence. "Unless they're specifically looking for that church, Web surfers won't go there," he says. A Web site tends to be more international; TV, more local."

Visitors have shown up at Meadow dale Baptist each Sunday since the ads started running prior to Easter, Elliott says. But he knows the commercials aren't a magic bullet. "It takes a while for commercials to be out there and attract attention, but we do expect people to come to the church as a result," he says.

It's no secret that we live in a sight-and-sound generation. According to Nielsen Media, the average American household watches more than seven hours of television per day. Naturally, churches are seeking new ways to tell the old, old story in visual ways that will attract people in and outside of the church.

Television can be an excellent way to target a church's message to thousands of channel surfers in its area. Turn on the TV almost any day of the week, and you'll see live and taped church services from congregations in the area and across the country. With the sharp increase in the number of cable stations in the past decade, churches have many more outlets for their message—and at a cost most can afford. (Thirty minutes of air time from my local cable provider in California costs about $150 before volume discounts.)

But what about commercials? How can a church use a 30- or 60-second television commercial to spread the Word in its community?

If your church is considering television commercials, media companies such as Impact Productions suggest that pastors first sit down with their media teams and set goals for church advertising. Many churches that venture into television advertising have two main goals: sharing the gospel with the community and attracting spiritual seekers. Many church commercials run on popular cable networks such as CNN, Lifetime, or ESPN, and they reach thousands of viewers in local communities who may otherwise never hear the gospel. TV commercials offer churches the opportunity to present themselves as attractive, welcoming, and nonthreatening to people who aren't regular church attenders. Having a vision for your television outreach will go a long way in helping your church remain focused on its goals.

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