[Episcopal News Service]
With a marketing technique more common to airlines or retailers trying to build client loyalty, a church in northern Germany has issued confirmation cards entitling the parish's younger members to discounts in local shops.
The Rev. Josef Kalkusch, a Lutheran pastor in Sachsenhagen, near Hanover, has created a plastic card identifying teenagers enrolled in his church's confirmation class.
As with loyalty cards that qualify their holders to join a club, benefit from a sales promotion or accumulate bonus points towards a free flight, the Sachsenhagen confirmands can use their confirmation cards to get reductions on certain purchases.
Each card has a photograph of the holder, which helps the teenagers feel special and identify with their confirmation group, Kalkusch told ENI.
'One of our tasks in preparing these kids for confirmation is standing by them during one of their most difficult times of life,' he said. 'They are going through puberty trying to find their place in life and society.'
Kalkusch convinced 25 business owners in Sachsenhagen--including a hairdresser, a cinema, a drugstore and a department store--to join the confirmation card program. Every month, one of the stores offers a discount to the confirmation class.
In a town with a population of only 2,000, Meier does not expect to gain new clients from the campaign yet he thinks it's positive that the program encourages the young consumers to shop in Sachsenhagen.
In return for their privileges, the confirmands have certain responsibilities. At the end of the year, shortly before confirmation, they are expected to volunteer for two weeks in a community institution, such as the senior citizens' home or the hospital, or to perform some other social service.
|
