31 March 2011
Submitted by George Monsivais
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) — A movie theater ad firm has rejected a Southern California church bid to advertise its Easter service because it uses the name of Jesus.
Compass Bible Church pastor Mike Fabarez says he tried to pay for an ad to run at a local movie theater for the Aliso Viejo congregation’s annual Easter service at the University of California, Irvine, Bren Center. The ad is aimed at attracting nonbelievers to the service.
NCM Media Networks, which handles pre-show advertising for many Orange County theaters, gave Fabarez content guidelines, which prohibits nudity, drug use and promotion of religious figures.
The Orange County Register says NCM Media released a statement explaining the ad was rejected because Compass Bible Church chose not to revise the ad to meet content guidelines.