Highest Ever Response to the Christian Enquiry Agency

Of the many thousands of people who saw 'The Passion of the Christ' film over 2,600 sent in response cards to Christian Enquiry Agency (CEA) asking about Jesus Christ. "We have never known anything like this before and had to pull out all the stops to cope with the demand for information about Jesus. Whilst the demand stretched our resources considerably, it is great to be able to help so many people," said Andrew Taylor at the CEA Enquiry Office.

Around 150,000 response postcards were placed in cinemas across Britain in an ambitious outreach campaign to reach people who don't attend church. Churches snapped up thousands more of the cards for outreach. Those who sent the enquiry card back to CEA received a free copy of the 'True or False' booklet produced by CPO, which relates to the film, plus a personal letter offering further help and ideas. These included a free copy of one of the gospels in a magazine format, details of local Alpha courses, a telephone helpline, prayer and contact with a local Christian. Hundreds of people came back with questions and requests for help.

Commenting on the campaign, Jeff Bonser, the CEA Director, said:

We felt it was vital to provide an opportunity for people to find out more about Jesus while they were still in the cinema and thinking about what they had experienced. Cinema is the most popular form of cultural activity outside the home, attracting over 80% of the entire population in one year and more than 60% of all cinemagoers are under 35. This is the age group that is missing from churches and the film offered a great opportunity to reach them with the reality of the cost of God's love for us all.

Unique content on rejesus website

The response postcard also referred enquirers to the evangelistic website, www.rejesus.co.uk. The website had background notes to moments from the film, covering the Last Supper, King Herod, the shadowy 'devil' figure, and other details - plus a special page on 'what happened next'. These pages received thousands of visits.

Deo Gloria Trust was one of the many organisations involved in the funding and distribution of the Passion of the Christ reply cards.