Arkansans viewing prime time television recently were treated to commercials advertising Catholicism and the Catholic Church.
Catholics Come Home, a national evangelization program for inactive Catholics based in Roswell, Ga., placed the national television buy to coincide with the Christmas season when many people were thinking of issues related to faith and Jesus and about resolutions for the new year.
“The world is in great need now. So many people are struggling in despair because of challenges in the world. There is no time like the present for this national evangelization initiative. Why wait when so many souls are in desperate need?” said Catholics Come Home founder Tom Peterson.
The 30-second commercial was a shortened version of their “Epic” commercial and featured the importance of Jesus and the historical significance of the Catholic Church in the lives of people and the world.
The campaign began Dec. 16, with the last spot running during the BSC National Championship Game Jan. 9.
 On the web Catholics Come Home: www.catholicscomehome.org Católicos Regresen: www.catolicosregresen.org Diocese of Little Rock Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cdolr Arkansas Catholics Coming Home Facebook page: www.facebook.com/arkansascatholicscomehome |
The spots ran on network and cable stations, and included highly rated news programs, dramas and sitcoms and major college football bowl games. The estimate was that the ads, which ran in English and Spanish, would reach 250 million people with a cost of approximately $3.2 million.
Donations and prayers made the national campaign possible, and Peterson hopes for more opportunities in the future to reach out to a wider audience through the media.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could run this every year? What impact could we have with an ad in the Super Bowl? We will continue to work at the diocesan level,” he said,” but would love to do this again.”
On the Diocese of Little Rock’s Facebook page, discussion about the commercials was positive and hopeful that they would reach many people. One person indicated the commercials were successful by commenting, “They are great and have helped me return to my faith and church.”
The exact impact of the ads in the state may never be known. Sometimes it’s hard to measure what exactly brings a returning Catholic back to the Church.
Sometimes it just means they were ready, said Pat Kaminsky who leads the team for the program welcoming back Catholics at St. Jude Church in Jacksonville. St. Jude aired testimonial television commercials when they began a similar program in March 2011.
Often, Kaminsky said in an e-mail interview, people will come back without contacting anyone by phone, in-person or e-mail.
Chuck Ashburn, director of the Office of Religious Education and Christian Initiation, wants to continue to build on the success of current programs and the increased visibility brought by the TV ads.
His office is currently working on making sure programs are available around that state to support returning Catholics.
“It’s fantastic that they’re going to put these ads on TV, and without a doubt some people are going to come back to Church as a result of them. The question is what will they find when they get back to Church? The same thing that they left or something they needed? We have begun a dialogue in this area about having programs to be there for these Catholics who come back,” he said.
The commercials are a good awareness and first step in leading many back. While it’s aimed at welcoming back those who’ve left the Church, Peterson said, it also welcomes non-Catholics to learn more about the Catholic Church and encourages practicing Catholics to be more involved in their faith.
Ashburn himself saw this within his own family, which discussed the ad while they were watching television together.
“One of the things that first got me was that it said that the Catholic Church compiled the Bible. My daughter said ‘No, we didn’t.’ And I said, ‘Yes, we did. It was the Church that put it all together over those years, 400 or so years, together.’ It gave me a chance to do some explaining within my own family about who we are as Church. It was a great opportunity.”
The Diocese of Phoenix served as a test market for the Catholics Come Home media evangelization campaign in 2008. As a result, the diocese saw a 12-percent increase in Mass attendance and approximately 92,000 Catholics return to the Church.
Since that time, the non-profit has partnered with 30 dioceses and archdioceses to offer a comprehensive evangelization campaign. On average, those who participated saw an increase in Mass attendance of 10 percent.
The original campaign in the Diocese of Phoenix averaged out to less than $2 per person returned.
Ashburn feels the focus needs to be on helping those who return to stay, rather than cost.
Without the programs in place to support their return, Ashburn said, the Church may lose them again if they don’t do it right.
“The priority has to be that we have something in place for them. If they come back, and they will come back, how many will stay? Will they leave again because they’re still not being fed?” Ashburn said. “If we lose them a second time, we won’t get them back. We have to be ready to do it right. We’re not going to get a second chance at this. This is our second chance.”
One day, Ashburn said he’d like to see Arkansas do a similar diocesan-wide campaign.
For now, Ashburn said, Catholics Come Home provided the diocese with well-done commercials advertising the Catholic faith, which is like an answer to a prayer — one that Catholics in Arkansas will continue to build upon.
“The fact that a lot of people have seen it is a good thing,” Ashburn said. “People always say how much does it cost to bring one person back to the Church … In my mind, it’s priceless.”
