Church Marketing Sucks, the blog “to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ”, supports the view that banning Atheist Bus Campaign adverts in New Zealand was wrong. It’s okay to let others express their views and that you shouldn’t be afraid of the hard discussions.

[Archdeacon Glyn] Cardy has a great point here, and it’s one that we’d do well to heed as believers in our local communities. I see three great nuggets of truth for local churches to pull out of his response to the pulling of these ads:

We’re not the only ones who get to play. Too often, we have an “I’m going to take my ball and go home” mentality when things don’t seem to go our way. But it’s important to remember that just like we can advertise and communicate our ideas, so can anyone else. (And all the more reason not to suck at it.)

Support those you hope to reach. You’ll get a lot further in affirming and connecting with people unlike yourself if you support them. You don’t have to agree with them or adopt their theology, but you should affirm their right to speech and opinion.

Don’t be afraid of hard discussions. Topics like the existence of God and the virgin birth are admittedly difficult. We hold them very dearly, and it’s easy to feel attacked when someone challenges the ideas we hold dear. But we should be confident as we communicate those issues and communicate that confidence to those around us.

http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2010/03/an_archdeacon_l.html