If you have driven west on M-72 towards Traverse City recently, you may have seen a new billboard just after the Bill Marsh auto dealership. The billboard features a smiling family of 6 sitting at home on their couch with the words, “Community is just a click away.” The only other text on the board is a url, kccwired.com.
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| Pop-up on kccwired.com |
Those who visit the website, which is a local church, are greeted with the same photo on the home page and a drop-down message that says, “I saw your bulletin board” along with a button that says, “Ok!” Clicking “Ok” invites the user to share their contact information. By doing so, a relationship is created allowing the church staff to send automated emails and text messages. The initial message in part reads:”Dear <<Name>>,
Welcome to a faith community, a group of people who trust in God and believe He loves every one of us. His plan was that we do life together, not apart. Despite not being physically together, we have found ways using technology, media, and communications to stay together. We care for each other. We pray for each other. We love each other.
We want to give you a place to belong, a place to find community during these unprecedented times. The COVID pandemic has put a halt to so many opportunities to come together. We’ve had to figure out different ways to stay connected with one another. We may not have a substitute for being together in person, but we want to at least attempt to stay in touch. People are home, alone, and tired of living life isolated…”
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| Filling out the Community Card will connect you with KCC |
The church billbaord didn’t openly claim to be connected with a religious organization, and that was on purpose. The concept was to simply appeal to people in the area who may feel isolated, alone and in seach for connection, for community.
If an individual did take the step to share their contact information, they were then invited to participate in the Christian community by doing things such as “liking” the church Facebook page, watching Senior Minister Andy Bratton’s Morning Dive, watching Sunday morning Worship services, and more.
Another billboard sponsored by the church will be going up in February/March on the south end of town. Be sure to look for it. It’s sure to create a lot of buzz around town.