London Underground Church Ad

December 17, 2004 7:46 AM

Does anyone know where that curiously preserved and unintentionally hilarious church advert on the London Underground is? Everyone seems to have heard of it - it's a large ad, on one of the stops, and is styled is a page out of a comic book, with various mustachioed characters with leather jackets saying stuff like, 'Leave us alone, man, we just want to have some groovy fun,' and a nun replying 'The true way to fun is through Jesus' teachings', etc. I can't remember what stop it's on or find any information on the web about it.
posted by adrianhon to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

I've always meant to try and find out what that's about. No answers here. (Sorry Matt. Sorry God.)
posted by hugsnkisses at 7:51 AM on December 17, 2004

"various mustachioed characters with leather jackets saying stuff like, 'Leave us alone, man, we just want to have some groovy fun..."

Is it 'vintage', adrian? You say curiously preserved... your description of the characters seems to imply a modern, Village People-y promotion of the sinful gay lifestyle!
posted by dash_slot- at 8:43 AM on December 17, 2004

You can see the advert on the northbound Piccadilly line platform at Leicester Square, definitely. And possibly also in Charing Cross, but can't remember exactly where, possibly northbound Bakerloo line.
posted by ascullion at 9:04 AM on December 17, 2004

It's an advertisement for the Metropolitan Tabernacle (an evangelical Baptist church), and can be glimpsed on this page, with the caption: 'Our Underground posters in Central London Tube stations for over 25 years have silently persuaded many to come and hear the Gospel.' The Metropolitan Tabernacle is near Elephant and Castle tube, and you will find the advertisement at nearby stations on the Northern and Bakerloo lines, including Waterloo.
posted by verstegan at 9:32 AM on December 17, 2004

Does anyone have a clearer image of this? It sounds Jack-Chicklike, and I'd love to get a look at it.
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:38 AM on December 17, 2004

I'm afraid it isn't anywhere near Chick hilarity.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 11:18 AM on December 17, 2004

Metropolitan Tabernacle is a damn impressive building though. Probably advertises itself quite effectively.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 11:19 AM on December 17, 2004

This is the best image of the poster I can find, and here is a brief description of it:

The Tabernacle also uses evangelistic posters which are positioned on key central London underground stations. The design is changed from time to time. The current posters depict various things that keep people from attending church to hear the Gospel. The title at the top asks, "WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM HEARING THE GOSPEL?" Beneath are six common excuses people give for not attending church or giving attention to the Bible. These include "I didn't come to London to get religious", "Christianity is nothing but Hebrew myths, old people and hypocrites", and "What would my friends say if they knew where I'd been?" The posters reply briefly to these ideas and invite the reader to "come, hear and decide for yourself" and to "FACE THE FACTS AT THE TABERNACLE NEXT SUNDAY AT 6.30 pm".

I seem to remember the older version of the poster had a hippie holding up his hand in a 'peace' gesture and saying something like: "But who knows the meaning of life, man?" to which the answer was, of course: "JESUS KNOWS!"

Historic London landmark, Tube esoterica .. this would be a perfect subject for diamond geezer's blog. I wonder if he's reading this?
posted by verstegan at 12:03 PM on December 17, 2004

Thanks, verstegan! Nice searchin'.

P_G: right you are. No Chicktastic nuttiness here. Still, pretty interesting.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:09 PM on December 17, 2004

Here's another image. You can just about read all the text if you squint.
posted by gubo at 8:30 PM on December 17, 2004