"It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down'. That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are – just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore; it's a pitch. And you're not a human being; you're a marketing rep."
(The Big Kahuna- Roger Rueff 1999)
It is often said that Unitarians do not “do evangelism”. On one hand it is an attraction of our sensible and humane liberal faith that we are not compelled to go out and proslytise in the streets. On the other hand, part of the purpose of our Urban Unitarian group is to make the case for growth and outreach in our movement. Whilst Rosslyn Hill is a thriving community, the message we hear from other unitarian congregations is that standing still is not an option. For this reason, General Assembly meetings now have a specific focus on Growth and Renewal. One of the initiatives that came out of the 2009 annual meeting was the idea of a “lift pitch” to take our message to our friends and colleagues. The idea is as follows:
1) Wear you “chalice logo” badge into work.
2) If anyone is curious and asks what it is, come up with an articulate, one-sentence reply that encapsulates what it means to you. It needs to be short enough to be able to communicate in a journey in an office lift- hence a “lift pitch”. Examples include.
It's my personal guiding light that connects me to all other Unitarians in the world. A symbolic shared flame of light, love and hope for a better world.
The Chalice is the symbol of the worldwide Unitarian movement. It is our caring community holding and nurturing the living flame of our spiritual lives.
In the spirit of learning to articulate and share our deepest beliefs, the Urban Unitarians invite everyone to have a go at writing their “lift pitch”. If you forward them to urbanunitarian@googlemail.com we will put them up on our weblog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PkOc-B64dY
http://www.unitarian.org.uk/info/growth.shtml
3 comments:
I wear my badge nearly every day, but only one person has asked about it, and I had already explained Unitarianism to them. My pendant from Great Hucklow got a few comments (one person said it looked like a cross - humph!)
You need a Blog Archive widget to display a listing of your previous posts - go to layout, click on add a gadget, select Blog Archive, and save. I would like to read some of your past posts but don't want to have to keep scrolling and clicking on Older Posts.
Thanks Yewtree! Blog archive now added. Scott
So glad I stumbled on your blog, I hope you keep writing for a long time -- good stuff! Thanks for including the link to "Around the World in 80..." I never knew about this series, and am looking forward to watching it.
Peace
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