The United Church of Canada has responded to the atheist bus ad campaign by launching a campaign all its own. The Freethought Association of Canada had announced that it would be funding a bus ad campaign in three Canadian cities similar to the campaign in London. Through the Emerging Spirit campaign (which is responsible for wondercafé and the bobblehead Jesus ads), the United Church of Canada has engaged in a kind of pre-emptive strike, posting the following ad in the Globe and Mail:
The UCC’s moderator, Rt. Rev. David Giuliano, delivered a pastoral letter to all clergy in the UCC explaining the motivation for the response. In it, he states:
This ad … is directed not at ourselves, but rather at people who might be questioning the reality of God. We know from research that a more direct message, such as “There is a God,” would not resonate with most of these people. It is what would be expected from a church. Our intention instead is to invite people who are questioning to join us in conversation about their beliefs. Hence the tagline, “Join the discussion at wondercafe.ca.”
Giuliano views the atheist bus ad campaign in a positive light — promoting important conversation.