AUSTRALIA
Christian Today
Andre Mitchell 04 December 2016
The third largest church in Australia is reportedly shying away from any references to Jesus Christ and supposedly also steering clear of religious symbols as part of its rebranding and new advertising strategy.
Australia’s Uniting Church adopted a new public relations strategy scrapping faith-based language, primarily to distance itself from allegations of child sexual abuse that has tarred the reputation of religious institutions, the Herald Sun reported.
Peter Worland, executive director of Uniting, which acts as the services and advocacy arm of the church, acknowledged these changes.
“You are right to highlight that sometimes we do not mention Christ’s name in our advertising,” Worland was quoted by the Herald Sun as saying. “Since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, faith-based organisations like ours are perceived pejoratively. So, sometimes we are overt with our religious language, sometimes we are not.”
He nevertheless said the Uniting Church is not entirely abandoning religious symbols. For instance, he said the new logo still has a crucifix in it.
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