People are already waiting for them: starting May 2024, a new series of posters will be displayed in the showcases of many of our New Apostolic churches. They will also be shared online. This time, the Church was inspired by a trend to show that there is Christian potential in everyone.
Meet Eva. She knows what happened on Pentecost. In May, many churchgoers and passers-by mainly in Europe will see the photo of Eva and Elena from the congregation of Aschaffenburg (Germany) hanging in their display cases in front of their church. “It’s a good opportunity to profess my faith publicly,” Eva says.
Grabbing the chance and taking selfies
The 28-year-old is convinced of her faith. And she is someone who loves to get involved. “I like to get out of my comfort zone and do something new. If I get a chance, I grab it,” Eva says. That is why she did not hesitate for a minute when she heard about the poster campaign at a district youth evening. “I knew immediately that this was for me,” she says. Her youth leader gave Eva all the documents. Together with her fellow Deacon Elena, she arranged to take selfies.
“We wanted to pick up on this selfie trend,” reports Frank Schuldt from the Working Group Communication Europe, which was in charge of this project. For years, the showcase posters have been produced and designed by a panel of experts chaired by Apostle Franz Wilhelm Otten. Until April this year, for example, the Church will be showing silhouettes of brothers and sisters to convey the idea to anyone passing by: there is a place for you here too; the churches are open and everyone can get involved in different ways.
Starting May, real people will smile down from the posters again. “Not perfectly shot photos this time,” Frank Schuldt says. As a matter of fact, “These are photos taken by the people themselves or by their friends.” The pictures are not always professional quality, but you can see that the people shown are authentic New Apostolic Christians with their friends or neighbours.
Where is your Christian potential?
The motto this time: there is Christian potential in all of us. “Even if someone may not be living it right now,” Frank Schuldt explains, “there is Christian potential in all of us.” This is to be brought across by means of statements. For example, on one of the posters it says “One of these two prays for others”. Which of the two people in the picture this is is not revealed, Frank Schuldt explains. “All it tells us is that at least one of them prays for others.”
In the case of Eva and Elena, the statement applies to both of them. The two of them not only took the photos together, but also had an intensive exchange about which of the statements applied best to them. Do you want to get married in church? Is Holy Communion important to you? The more boxes they checked on the slip of paper, the greater the likelihood that their photo would end up on one of the posters.
Being open to dialogue
It was a positive side effect that there were also discussions of faith, says Frank Schuldt. This was also the case with Eva and Elena: “Elena and I talked about what our Christian faith is all about. Where are we? Where do we stand?”
And there was something else that caught Frank Schuldt’s attention this time: “Many people were already asking in January when the new showcase posters were coming,” he reports. Because shipping and mail is always tricky in December on account of the holiday rush, the decision was made to start the new poster series in May. The current poster campaign ends with the April poster. Frank Schuldt is encouraged by the many enquiries, “We were really pleased that so many enquiries came in, because it shows that the posters have caught on and that they are also being displayed.”
Eva is already a little nervous. She will no doubt be asked about it when friends see her photo in the display case outside her church. But she is already looking forward to the conversations about her faith and that others can see that she practises the New Apostolic faith.