Always the whole truth

From Marie Willermark´s blog. The Swedish TC explaining the new Comminication platform:

It is exciting when a new ad campaign launch garners the desired attention. Indifference is the worst that can possibly happen when there’s something truly important to say. When the Salvation Army in Sweden today launched its new profile targeting the general public I received many and differing reactions.

In addition to a revamped and more attractive SA red shield, which has been our most visible symbol since the late1980s, we also added the slogan "Faith is only half the story."

When such an expression suddenly lands in front of our eyes we might easily think about it as being, either, or? "What, the Salvation Army deals with half-truths?"

When we have something to say it is not the only message that matters, but to whom we say it. This slogan is not an attempt to describe why God has raised up The Salvation Army and to define our complete identity. We have indomitable pride in God's whole truth about His perfect salvation from sin and His holy will to keep us holy.

An effective slogan ought not be lengthy or seek to provide a full explanation. For us its purpose is to quickly reach people who have little or no knowledge of the Salvation Army. It serves as an appetizer, a teaser. Precisely, as has already happened, it will raise questions about the larger picture. People whom we reach through our advertising campaigns and fundraising letters often assume that social work is ‘all there is’. We want to garner reflections that allow us to clarify that faith is the substance; the whole of our reality. But we do not attempt to say everything at once.

When one uses a short expression,eg., “Faith is only half the story”, it's just an expression, an entrance leading to something larger. It has never been our intent or contention that there must be a literal expression of our theology.

When we formulate ourselves in this way, I feel a strong association with Jesus' way of communicating. He says for instance that ‘if the eye or hand offend us we'll pull it out, cut it off’.(Matthew 5:29-30) - but we don’t take the words literally!

When Jesus spoke in parables and images, it was often with exaggeration and unexpected twists to gain attention and attract questions that led to seeking the deeper truth.

When we commit ourselves to communicate with the general public we can never with words alone present the whole truth. It occurs only in the encounter between a seeking people and a living God.There is no public relations campaign in the world that can replace the live interaction between people. The whole truth about God's love and goodness is expressedcompletely through social work as well as in our worship services (SA meetings)

Our new way of communicating can neither improve nor diminish the good works of Christian discipleship that is ongoing every day in our (SA) businesses – programmes and projects. What we want to achieve through public relations is to ensure that the Salvation Army does not remain a closely guarded secret for a large proportion of the Swedish population.

Posted on January 11, 2012
Commissioner Marie Willermark