|PIC1|At the Anglican Synod, Archbishop Peter Jensen endorsed the campaign in his remarks, briefly wearing a Jesus. All about life cap during one session. Synod members were given bottles of Jesus. All about life water to remind them of the living water that only Jesus offers to quench thirsty souls.
Some churches took the opportunity to register at the Jesus. All about life table on the last day of Synod.
"The JAAL prime time media campaign fits neatly within the 'Connect 09' outreach that the churches of the diocese are gearing up for," said Rev Greg Burke, St Anne's Ryde and a member of the JAAL working group. "We believe that God has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to use the media exposure of JAAL to enhance the Connect 09 outreach of individual churches," he said.
He encouraged all Anglican Churches in the diocese to register as soon as possible to take full advantage of the community wide build up to the JAAL campaign that will begin early next year.
The motion passed by Synod read:
Synod encourages parishes to register with the Bible Society's "Jesus. All About Life" campaign so that our Connect 09 outreach will be enhanced by the $2.5million prime-time television, radio and billboard advertising planned for September and October 2009."
At the Australian Christian Churches NSW State Conference held at Port Macquaire, Joel A'Bell encouraged churches represented to register to be a part of the 'Jesus. All about life' campaign.
"This is a great opportunity for churches of all denominations to get behind the message of Jesus and also give the people in our churches the opportunity to share their faith as awareness is raised through this media Campaign," said Joel.
Peter Hopkins of the Uniting Church Board of Mission was given the opportunity to present the JAAL campaign to 450 members of the Uniting Church at the recently held 2008 NSW Synod. The presentation included a viewing of the promotional news story produced for the official launch of JAAL.
The synod was challenged to recognise the significant opportunity to unite with other denominations under the JAAL banner and live out their "Uniting" heritage.
Peter also asked the synod to consider how individual congregations might participate in ways that are consistent with the contexts they are engaged in.
"With the theme of Synod being inclusion and the accepted diversity across the UCA it is believed that this church is well placed to provide a unique, thoughtful and significant contribution to this campaign
I hope uniting churches can invite people to experience and engage in discussion about the Jesus who truly is "all about life""
There was a positive response following the presentation with many representatives collecting promotional materials to take back to their congregations to consider how they can engage the opportunities that the JAAL campaign will provide.
Rachel Hockings, Project Manager for the Sydney Campaign said 145 churches had already registered. 'This a great response and a good start towards our target of 2,000 by the middle of next year," Rachel said.
Churches can register at www.jesusallaboutlife.com.au