Church turns to Diana to boost attendance

THE Church of England is hoping to swell its Easter congregations by tapping into the public outpouring of grief after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Posters depicting a pile of floral tributes, cuddly toys, hand-written messages and candles similar to scenes outside Kensington Palace following last September's tragedy will be displayed on billboards in the run-up to Easter. The slogan reads: "If this all started you thinking, carry on at Church this Easter."

This weekend 36,000 order forms for the campaign will be distributed to churches of all denominations across the country. The campaign was devised by the Church's Advertising Network and is designed to awaken interest in those outside the Church. It is the Network's second Eastertide advertisement. In 1995, posters exclaimed: "Surprise!" in reference to the resurrection Last year a plan to use The X-Files logo with the slogan: "The Truth is out There" was thwarted by a copyright dispute.

The 1996 Christmas poster featuring the Virgin Mary with the words: "Bad Hair Day?!! You're a virgin, you've just given birth and now three kings have shown up" was generally deemed misguided. The Rev Robert Ellis, communications officer for Lichfield diocese and a member of the Network, admitted that this Easter's campaign was "high risk" and could draw accusations that the churches were "cashing in" on the Princess's death.

The campaign echoes the desire expressed by the House of Bishops last autumn for the Church to minister more successfully to the public's need for spiritual consolation after the Princess's death. Mr Ellis said: "In recent years we have witnessed the collective outpouring of grief after events such as Hillsborough, Zeebrugge, Kegworth and the death of the Princess of Wales. We wanted to harness that feeling, and, through this campaign, to point people towards the next step.

"Whenever there's a national disaster, the bank of flowers symbolises something that it's our job to meet. People have criticised the Church for not responding adequately to the emotions people felt after Diana's death. Here we are trying to respond to it positively by saying we can help.

"Another person's death reminds us of our own mortality. Quite often emotions hidden for years come to the surface. We believe it's okay to be human - to cry, mourn or be angry - but we know we have some answers worth sharing."

He denied that the Church was exploiting Diana's death. The advertisement should be seen as a positive contribution because the Church was "trying to help people", he said, citing a survey of people's reactions to the poster, in which only 50 per cent immediately linked the picture with Diana's death.

"But advertising has to be in your face - you have to engage with it if it's going to work," he added.