UPDATE: Satan Speaks For One UCC Church
Update: It appears now that the rather humorous and odious tag-line was a potential hack. I appreciate Bene Diction Blog for having actually written for a response from the church in question. Good advice to not jump on the bandwagon. Certainly the UCC movement has enough other difficulties without adding onto the pile.
However, it is still striking that they mention that hacker did not remove it. No mention of hackers placing it there. They only say thank you for pointing out the problem and that using on-line tools requires that they would look at the whole quote in context. Ahhhhh… yeah. That might be a good idea. Well, here is their quote.
We were recently made aware that the former quote we had posted in the header on our site was actually not based on the word of Jesus but was a quote posed to him during his temptation. As soon as we were made aware of this we removed the quote from our site. We removed it…not hackers as some ill-informed bloggers would have you believe. This unfortunate lesson is a demonstration why when using tools on-line to identify quotes that you think deliver the honest and sincere message you intended you should always view the quotes in their whole context.
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For years I have known that many churches are clueless when it comes to good marketing of their message. So it was with mild humor that I found a site called “Church Marketing Sucks.” So I bookmarked the site and check it on occasion. Just when I though I had seen everything, they pointed out a United Church of Christ which lets Satan do the talking when it comes to PR.
The St. James U.C.C. in Limerick, PA has the slogan “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” – Luke 4:7. Perhaps it may seem a trifle to most readers but the passage is quoting Satan who is tempting Jesus Christ to worship Satan. The sad thing is that it only reveals just how little anyone on staff or the church know the Scriptures to allow that as their slogan.
On the other hand it certainly shows how tolerant they are as America’s most liberal church. To hold on to that title requires the liberal adaptation of many Scriptures, not just Luke 4:7.
It appears everyone has communicated and connected.
The webmaster of St. James has been to blogs and St. James Church has a statement up on the webpage.