Inner wealth—now that’s something worth talking about

To be rich would be a Utopia for many people. But there is also a state of wealth that can be assessed inwardly: I am rich because of my joy, my children, or the fulfilment of wishes. Inner wealth: there are many possibilities.

At the start of every year, the Public Relations Work Group of the New Apostolic Church publishes a new poster series. It is comprised of twelve different motifs destined for over 2,000 display boards adorning New Apostolic church buildings all across Europe. For the coming year 2019, the motto on which the series is based reads: “I am rich”. This refers to “being rich” in faith, in the congregation, with God, and in Christ—in other words, the kind of inner wealth that comes into being when people receive gifts. In terms of presentation, the style remains the same as in previous years: all the posters bear the same motto. An additional line of text clarifies the meaning of the motto for each of the persons depicted. With the church building in the background, a member of the Church expresses what the caption “I am rich” brings to mind. This results in a personal statement.

Authentic statements

The people appearing in the posters express that it is possible to be rich in answered prayers, experiences of faith, divine services, and divine help, for example. “We wanted to maintain this same style, with its authentic ‘I-message’ in the text beneath, in the coming year as well,” says the Public Relations Work Group. On the one hand, the advantages of this approach lie in its recognition value, and on the other hand, in the low production costs of a recurring layout. To date, the group says, this idea of authentic communication has resonated encouragingly well.

Congregational members from Western Germany

In September 2018, the poster actors had their photos taken in front of or inside New Apostolic Church buildings in Bad Schwalbach, Bielefeld, Gießen, Marburg, and Wiesbaden. The statements are to be short and worth pondering. “Posters are intended to reach passers-by with a short message,” the group confirms. And the statements are to be positive, unexpected, timely, and within the church context.

And they are also intended to have another effect: “In terms of content, the idea is to feature the annual motto published by the Chief Apostle every New Year’s Day in the various media.” The poster series of the last three years can be downloaded from the download archive of the website of the New Apostolic Church International.

You can read more background stories on the new poster series for 2019 on the website of theNew Apostolic Church of Western Germany.

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Peter Johanning
12.12.2018
Media, Congregational life