ASA Adjudication on Emmanuel Church

Ad

A regional magazine ad for a church event, headlined “Nathan Morris, International Speaker; coming to Dartford”. The ad stated “Do you need physical, emotional or spiritual healing? Do you want a life of hope, purpose and wholeness? Are you looking for freedom from pain, addiction or guilt?” The ad went on to say that “Nathan himself had serious drug and alcohol addictions until 2002 when a powerful encounter with God resulted in him being totally set free. Nathan has witnessed the deaf, blind and lame be miraculously healed and has seen his own life as well as thousands of other lives changed around the world."

Issue

1.  The complainant challenged whether the ad, and especially the claims about healing from physical diseases and addictions, were irresponsible and likely to exploit the vulnerable.

2.  The ASA challenged whether the claims in the ad were likely to discourage people from seeking suitably qualified medical advice for serious medical conditions.

CAP Code

Response

1. & 2.  Emmanuel Church said the belief that God could heal was an essential part of their belief and inseparable from the Christian faith.  They argued that proselytising or seeking to convert someone to a particular faith was a central part of Christianity and could have a public benefit. They also acknowledged that there were certain circumstances where the method of proselytising could have an adverse affect on people in distress or need.  Emmanuel said their church would never discourage someone from seeking appropriate medical advice and stated that they had several medically qualified people amongst their congregation.  They argued that it was their responsibility to promote their faith and its benefits.

Assessment

1. & 2. Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that Emmanuel Church sought to promote the Christian faith and the spiritual healing it could offer.  We were concerned, however, that the ad referred to treating those suffering from pain and addiction and considered that the use of the claim "Are you looking for freedom from pain, addiction or guilt?" directly targeted those who were suffering from medical conditions, some of whom might be vulnerable.  We concluded that, because the ad went beyond offering emotional or spiritual healing by implying attendees were likely to be cured from physical ailments or addictions, the ad could discourage people from seeking suitably qualified medical advice and thereby exploit the vulnerable.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Social responsibility) and 50.3 (Health & Beauty products and therapies).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We told Emmanuel Church to avoid references to serious or prolonged medical conditions in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)