Methodists to distribute postcards in drive to boost church attendances among young

The Methodist Church is distributing 500,000 postcards in cinemas, bars, universities and further education colleges to encourage young people to go to church.

The campaign asks people to think what the 11th commandment would be in 2004. The postcards feature a combination of serious and quirky images, including pictures of war cemeteries and a naked man accompanied by the caption “remove all packaging”. The flipside of the postcard invites people to text message the Methodists, who are offering a camera phone as a prize for the best suggestions.

The Methodists are also planning to publish a book with the responses in association with the website, shipoffools.com.

The move is a first for the Methodist Church, which is using the campaign as an experiment to see if it can attract the interest of younger people, who are considered the least likely to go to church.

Methodist Church co-ordinating secretary for worship and learning Jonathan Kerry has overseen the campaign. Boomerang Media is producing and distributing the postcards, which were created by the Methodist Church’s in-house design team.

Methodism was founded by 18th-century preacher John Wesley, and the Methodist Church is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the UK.