Religion: Many Are Called

Next to Muzak and talking cash registers, few spin-offs of modern technology are as irritating as the junk phone call. At virtually any hour of the night or day, the unsuspecting telephone subscriber is likely to receive unsolicited sales pitches -- some of them prerecorded -- for anything from opera tickets to Oriental rugs. But what about Dial-a-Communicant? That is just what a number of church groups across the U.S. have taken up in an effort to found churches or attract additional members.

A pioneer and chief practitioner of this new art is Norman Whan, a former insurance telemarketing consultant, who runs a nonprofit Los Angeles-based organization called Church Growth Development International. Whan, 46, a Quaker, specializes in starting up brand-new churches, using a target of 200 members as the number needed for a self-sustaining congregation. "When you ask 20,000 people," explains Whan, "you can get at least 200 to do anything." In addition to canvassing, Whan has conducted "The Phone's for You!" seminars for 2,000 Protestant congregations from Canada to Florida (cost per attendee: $295). Another of the telemarketers, Church Growth Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., helps existing churches expand their membership rolls.

"Most ministries realize how to reach rural people," says Whan, "but there are millions in cities, in high-rises and behind gates." To reach these urban populations, the telephone has proved to be a handy -- and safer -- substitute for door-to-door buttonholing and an ideal pastime, especially for older churchgoers. Whan claims that about 10% of those dialed by churches seem mildly interested at first contact; after follow-up letters and calls, some 1% of them end up visiting worship services. Calvary Church, in a yuppie enclave outside Tampa, did even better. After eight volunteer canvassers phoned 10,000 new residents, 200 turned up for the first service. Today 600 belong.

Whan's ultimate goal is to phone every household in North America each year with a personal invitation to attend church services. That would require 2 million callers to contact 100 homes apiece -- a total of 200 million heavenly junk calls. No problem, says Whan. "It literally could be done in three hours." Even St. Paul might be impressed. If the telephone had existed in his day, he could have evangelized from his living room instead of wandering over land and sea for two decades. Just imagine the sales pitch: "How are you this evening? Good. My name is Paul, and I'm calling from Antioch. Some of your neighbors are starting up a new church over there in Corinth and . . ."