Tomorrow Ted Haggard, disgraced former head of the National Association of Evangelicals, will be on Oprah. I will certainly write about this later in the week, but just in case you want to tape it I bring this to your attention. (Unlike other shows, you still can’t watch full episodes online.)
Happy viewing.
Just as Oprah has been doing worldwide online events, now Joel Osteen has his online extravaganza. Below is the information from the email, and here’s the link to the webcast.
Dear Mara,
Today is your day!
Victoria and I want to invite you to join us TONIGHT for our special LIVE webcast from Lakewood Church, at 7 PM CT. During this special time together, we will be celebrating our Dare to Believe Day.
We believe God has incredible things in store for you! The pain of the past can be easier to believe than the promises of God’s plan. But you have the power to choose and we want to inspire you to find the courage to believe.
We’ve set aside this encouraging time to join you in believing for your dreams, pray over your future and celebrate what God is already doing to make them come to pass. Invite a friend and be sure to join us online at 7 PM CT to celebrate!
We look forward to joining with you tonight!
Joel Osteen
This article is from today’s Advertising Age. I’ve put the whole article here, because I wasn’t sure if you needed a subscription for access.
Reader’s Digest Communes With Rick Warren
Magazine Brand Based on Pastor’s Teachings Includes DVDs, Workbooks, Social Network
by Marissa Miley
Published: January 26, 2009
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — You’ve read The Book, now buy the magazine.
Reader’s Digest Association thinks it has found a new model for launching a mass magazine brand in this digital era: Plug into an existing community, preferably a really, really big one that’s incredibly devoted and highly likely to evangelize the product. That’s what RDA is banking on with today’s debut of Purpose Driven Connection, a multimedia platform built around the teachings of Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and best-selling author of “The Purpose Driven Life.”
Sense of purpose: ‘We’re not just launching a magazine; we’re launching a multimedia platform community,’ said RDA’s CEO.
RDA President-CEO Mary Berner said Purpose Driven Connection is much more than a magazine. She sees the quarterly — which makes its debut today after a year and a half of planning — as just one piece of a network, and that readers become members, not subscribers.
“We’re not just launching a magazine; we’re launching a multimedia, multiplatform community,” she said. “That is absolutely at the core of what our strategy is globally and in the U.S.”
For an annual fee of $29.99, members receive the magazine, four spiritual DVDs, four workbooks and access to a social-networking website that aims to be a Christian Facebook. The magazine will also be sold in retail stores such as Walmart for $9.99, and congregations get a discounted rate of $19.99 for the entire package.
Built-in audience
The magazine will start out with a base rate of 500,000, but RDA expects to build the rate base to 1 million by the magazine’s third issue this fall. It is a massive endeavor in this economy, but RDA believes it has a large built-in audience, a strong message as well as a capable, famous and charismatic leader.
RDA sent out 100,000 print copies of the magazine to pastors in Mr. Warren’s network, and electronic copies to an additional 500,000 pastors. It also reached out to 3 million Christian consumers RDA has identified in its own database and Mr. Warren’s. Many of RDA’s U.S. titles and websites, including Allrecipes.com, are promoting the new offering. And in two months, it will test international waters, most likely in Korea, said Ms. Berner.
A study published last year by WPP Group’s MindShare North America found that Evangelicals are some of the most influential and engaged consumers. The 100 million Americans that identify as Evangelicals have a combined household income of $2.1 trillion, according to the study.
“Clearly, the numbers themselves prove that they would be of substantial view,” said Tata Sato, MindShare’s head of research. “Evangelicals are very receptive to the right messages.”
She believes family-oriented consumer products, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, financial companies, and auto companies would be particularly well-received as advertisers. But Ms. Sato said that “it’s an uphill battle” to get mainstream marketers to do so. “No marketer is on prime time waving and saying, hey, Evangelicals,” she said.
Leveraging local networks
As a national magazine, Purpose Driven’s challenge will be to give aggregate voice to a whole population, while also respecting its individual parts. Evangelicalism “is a very locally driven movement,” Ms. Sato said. “Their lives often times are very anchored to the church. The challenge might be to how to tap into these local networks [and] leverage what already exists.”
Purpose Driven Connection “could appeal to a variety of advertisers,” said Stephen Carlson, media director for Publicis Groupe’s Spark Communications, part of Starcom Mediavest Group, which also owns Starcom, the agency of record for Procter & Gamble.
Not your average glossy: Warren’s magazine will feature stories such as ‘What God Knows About You’ and ‘25 Bible Promises for Hard Times.’
“Inspirational lifestyle could be a big fit for a lot of people,” he said. “The community has a big following, and if you could connect with that community, there is an opportunity to sell a lot of products.”
Mr. Carlson noted, however, that “there are some things you’d have to give a heads up” about; for example, Mr. Warren supported California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage — and that this might turn off some advertisers.
In the debut magazine issue, Procter & Gamble is the only mainstream brand to advertise. It bought a two-page spread promoting its Children’s Safe Drinking Water effort. All other advertisers were Christian organizations or Mr. Warren’s own products.
Few competitors
Publisher Bridget Johnson said the Purpose Driven brand has a combined subscription and advertising-based business model. Marketers can buy ads in the print magazine or on the website and also sponsor content online. She said Purpose Driven is also open to working with marketers in new ways so that “our members can touch and feel those marketers’ products and services.”
In scope and size, Purpose Driven has few competitors. Rev. Billy Graham’s Christianity Today has a circulation of just 140,000, according to its website. Guideposts is a spiritual monthly magazine with a 2.3 million rate base in the first six months of 2008, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations — but it is not a strictly Christian title. Online, ChristianityToday.com attracted 565,000 and Guidepostsmag.com attracted 339,000 unique visitors in the U.S. in December 2008, according to ComScore. News Corp.’s Beliefnet.com, which encompasses all religions, led the online religious and spiritual category with an audience of 2.2 million.
The magazine, titled Purpose Driven Connection, has the look and feel of a glossy. Its content, however, is anything but the usual service editorial. Among the featured cover stories: “What God Knows About You” and “25 Bible Promises for Hard Times.” Inside, content aims for a decidedly youthful crowd, with articles such as “God Called Us to Reach the Hip-Hop Generation” and a multipage spread on tattooed bikers that call themselves the Bible Thumpers, Christian rockers and saved surfers. The premiere issue also comes with a 6-lesson DVD and 52-page study guide based on Mr. Warren’s teachings.
“We realized how powerful he is, and how passionate he is, and we knew he had something to say to the world,” said Alyce Alston, president of RDA’s Home & Garden and Health & Wellness divisions. “It was our job to create products to disseminate that message.”
I finally had a chance to clean off my desk today and ran across a number items regarding Rick Warren. First, there were the marketing postcards from Saddleback. One was for a series of conferences called NEXT. These are conferences to aid churches in developing their small group ministries. As most people in the field know, small groups are the backbone to any successful megachurch. For more information on these conferences, you can go to www.lifeway.com/NEXT.
The other postcard I got was for 40 Days of Love. This, of course, is a follow-up program to 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community, which are programs that Warren sells to churches. 40 Days of Purpose was originally a PR campaign created to help sell The Purpose Driven Life, the best selling non-fiction book of all time. Entire churches commit to following these programs for 40 days at a time and the programs are supplemented by materials from Saddleback. If you want to see my personalized web page for this program, you can go to www.40dol.com/MaraEinstein. I have to say even as a long-time marketer, this personalized web site freaked my out a little.
But these things are small potatoes in comparison to the last item I found — an article in the New York Times about Pastor Rick’s multimedia partnership with Reader’s Digest. According to the article:
Together, they are creating a Christian membership organization, The Purpose Driven Connection, built on Mr. Warren’s call to faith and charitable work. Paying members will receive a quarterly magazine edited by Mr. Warren, with DVDs and pull-out study guides in each issue, and access to a social networking Web site.
While we may all think this is quaint and maybe the last time you saw Reader’s Digest was in your grandmother’s bathroom, the reality is that it is the highest circulation consumer magazine in the country. Its rate base is 8 million (the number of people who buy the magazine) while with pass along that number climbs to more than 37 million people. Plus Reader’s Digest Association has access to a database of more than 100 million people through it’s various print and online ventures. While the personalized web site made me a bit uncomfortable, this makes me downright apoplectic.
While the Pope has just discovered the Internet, it seems evangelicals are taking to heart the adage that “sex sells.” (My regular readers will note that this has come up — excuse the pun — a number of times in the last few weeks.)
In this month’s Utne Reader, there is an interesting article about how evangelicals are using the wonders of spiritual sex to sell the faith. (Those familiar with Tantric Sex will know that spirituality and sex have been combined for centuries. As well, Kosher Sex became quite popular based on the book by Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, which later spawned numerous Web sites.)
An increasing number of evangelical authors are touting the wonders of “soulgasm, [a term used] to describe the joys that await the evangelical wife: incredible orgasms plus intimate emotional connection with the husband plus the presence of God.” To aid in reaching these new heights, products are sold through Web sites like My Beloved’s Garden. This site promotes itself as “Your ‘one stop shop’ for Marital Aids to enhance your Christian Marriage, while keeping Christ at the center.” This site includes a number of these books including titles like “Sexual Skills for the Christian Husband” and “Sexual Satisfaction for the Christian Wife” and “When Your Husband is Never in the Mood.”
This is a very good reason why sex is being used as a come-on. According to the article’s author, Dagmar Herzog:
Repression just isn’t a very good marketing tool. It’s the promise of pleasure (and lots of it) that is building a new following for the religious right. Even more insidious, though, is the fact that the evangelicals haven’t confined their erotic message to religion. Instead, they’re moving into the realm of psychological health, even taking over the language of New Age therapy.
Herzog suggests that sex is being reframed as a mental health issue. Too much sex leads to low-self esteem as does sex before marriage; Sex is not immoral, but rather improper sex can lead to depression. Thus, yet again sex has been packaged as something “dirty.” This is a problem because sex education in America is still wrapped up in Bush era politics as I note at length in Brands of Faith.
As I’ve noted here before, the issue of sex is nothing if not confusing for religious institutions. When it is harnessed as a means to sell faith, this becomes doubly true.
Additional confirmation that Catholics are lagging behind other religious groups in promoting their faith is the announcement this week that the Vatican is only now creating a channel on YouTube.
Whether this is a move to attract more young people or to provide access to a worldwide audience is beside the point, because the Church obviously needs both. I was going to say “better late than never” when it comes to this move, but given Catholicism’s declining numbers this is a move they should have made long ago.
Thought some of you might be interested in the email that Rick Warren sent out today to his list of pastors and friends. What I thought might be of particular interest his is live telecast on Wednesday, after the inauguration. The link is in the text.
You are one of the many pastors and friends I’ve known, served, or partnered with over the past 35 years. It has been my humble privilege.
I bleed for pastors, and I pray for pastors all the time. I understand the frustrations, share your hurt, and rejoice in your victories whenever you write.
Praying for other co-laborers in ministry is far more important than many of the things I do, because your ministry of pastoring - the calling to care for a local Body of Christ - is the greatest responsibility one can be given on earth. If you understand what life, the Cross, the Church, and the future are all about, you know that nothing else compares in significance. Period.
Today, our culture idolizes entertainment, sports, business success, political power, and prosperity. While these have their place, Jesus did not die for any of these things. He died for the people that you care for, feed, and lead.
Nothing matters more than the Church. We forget that the reason God created the entire universe is because he wanted a family, and that family is the only thing that will last forever with Him. Everything else on this planet is temporary, no matter how much attention it gets.
The upcoming U.S. presidential inauguration on Tuesday has received so much attention, and regardless of how each of us voted, we all can celebrate the historic installation of our first African-American President. To live in a free nation of unlimited possibility where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of leadership is a privilege we must never take for granted.
But, in God’s eyes, and in the perspective of his eternal purposes, what you are doing will actually last longer than what any political leader will do. Your ministry will impact eternity. Think about that! While no nation lasts forever, God’s family will. Remember, prominence and significance are not synonymous.
Why am I writing? To urge you to keep on, no matter what you’re facing right now. 30 years ago this week, as a 25 year old, I started Saddleback with a public commitment to stay 40 years. It’s never been without it’s challenges, but God-willing, I’ll fulfill my commitment to pastor this local congregation that I love so much.
Please pray that I’ll bring glory to God and represent all pastors well on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, we’ll share our next Pastor’s Connection Webcast from our nation’s capitol. I hope you can join us for more encouragement. I’ll have a lot to share! Join us live at 2:00pm (EST) for the conversation. If you can’t join me live, we’ll post the video here.
Never give up! Love God, and everyone else! Fear nothing on earth. Overcome evil with good!
Rick Warren
Saddleback Church
Purpose Driven Network
P.E.A.C.E. Coalition
Don’t have a lot of time to write this week because I’m working on the new book proposal — more to come on that — but I wanted to draw your attention to a piece in the New York Times. This is about the bit off-color pastor of the Mars Hill Church, a 7000+ megachurch.
What I found also interesting and having nothing to do with the piece itself was that the advertising on the page was for a $5000 Christian Louboutin shopping spree at Bergdorf’s. I couldn’t help but wondering if the advertising placement software was matching up the “Christians.”
There a new blog called Dear God. It was started by Bill Tikos, founder of The Cool Hunter.
The Cool Hunter is, according to its web site:
The Cool Hunter celebrates creativity in all of its modern manifestations. Since its inception in 2004 The Cool Hunter has become the world’s most-read culture and design site, a leading authority on all things creative and a truly global hub for what’s cool, thoughtful, innovative and original. We value global relevance, not trends, channeling our discoveries to our worldwide audience.
It’s so cool that the site won the 2007 Webblog Award for the Best Culture site.
The Dear God site — tagline “Hear us, One prayer at a time” — is designed in much the same way as the Cool Hunter site. Prayers can be posted under numerous categories including belief, confessions, death, dreams and about a dozen others. They come from all over the world and the posts are accompanied by beautiful photography. These postings are real (I hope), but certainly appear heartfelt. They are sad and revelatory and some are just down right funny. The picture below is from a posting about how Jesus needs to upgrade his PR image.
Do take some time and check it out.
We’re used to people using the media to promote God. This is the first time I’ve seen someone trying to promote no God. Check out the story from the New York Times.