Attention, pastors: Walt Disney Pictures is so eager for churches to turn out audiences for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which opened yesterday, that it's offering a free trip to London — and $1,000 cash — to the winner of a promotional sermon contest.

The only requirement is that sermons must mention "Narnia," based on the hugely popular children's books by C.S. Lewis about four British children who walk through an uncle's magic armoire into an enchanted kingdom.

Sermo-mercials are just one of the ways promoters hired by Disney and its production partner, Walden Media, are peddling "Lion" as a kind of Christian-themed "Harry Potter."

Some Hawai'i preachers have indeed mentioned "The Chronicles of Narnia" in their sermons — but none interviewed said they wrote those sermons with a prize from Disney in mind.

When Episcopal priest the Rev. Ann McElligott, dean of St. Andrew's Cathedral, heard about the contest, she was so flabbergasted she couldn't speak for a minute.

"Oy vey!" she finally said.

"I have used snippets from the chronicles occasionally, because its imagery fit beautifully in the sermon," said McElligott, explaining that Anglicans like herself — and, notably, Lewis — follow a liturgical text for services and, therefore, sermons.

"I'm OK (mentioning) the movie coming out, but I am very cautious about this. To me, (the contest is) just gross commercialization, to get more people to go to the movie. It makes me want not to (mention the movie)."

CONTESTS NOT UNUSUAL

Mary Donovan Turner, academic dean of Pacific School of Religion in California, an interdenominational seminary, said sermon-writing contests with monetary prizes are not unusual — especially for seminary students, who are encouraged to use winnings to help pay for education or ministry-related expenses.

Turner backs contests that encourage preachers to foster and recognize good sermonizing. But those usually are based on the content of the sermon. Disney's contest is a drawing.

Turner, a professor of preaching, found the Disney contest "amazing" — and not in a good way.

Mere mention of "Narnia" and tying it to a prize "would lead one to question the intentions and motives of those who put the contest together," Turner said.

"Of course, we have to be concerned with motives and incentives. (The Disney contest doesn't seem) intended to improve preaching or seemingly has no concern with any issue of integrity: how the movie is used, what purpose — all things we would use to evaluate a sermon's context, etc., is not part of this contest. It's virtually ignored. From the perspective of a preaching professor, it's extremely problematic. ... I wouldn't hand this out to my students. That's the bottom line."

Not that Turner has a problem with preaching on topics of the day. She teaches a class on film preaching and pastoral care.

"The fact that people are using 'Narnia' in sermons makes sense to me," Turner said. "To be aware of what's happening in any kind of media informs preaching and often gives a relational tie to what's happening in the lives of people in their community. It's good and right."

AIMING FOR CHRISTIANS

As for promoting through churches, Hollywood has been doing this sort of thing since "The Ten Commandments" in 1956, when Cecil B. DeMille had study guides sent to schools.

Tacky or not, Disney's goal is to create the kind of buzz among Christians — especially evangelicals — that made Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" such a box-office smash in 2004. For the Christian devout, however, the approach is downright lamblike.

"Invite your community to explore the inspirational truths found in 'Narnia,' " reads a promotional magazine sent recently to tens of thousands of Christian congregations.

Through hired agencies, Disney is encouraging churches to paint lion faces on their preschoolers; show preview trailers to their congregations; discuss "Narnia" in Sunday school; and develop "Narnia"-themed Christmas pageants.

Dennis Rice, senior vice president for marketing at Disney, said the company regularly promotes its films to Christian groups. Only 5 percent of "Narnia's" marketing budget — reportedly $80 million, though Rice would not confirm that — is aimed at "faith groups," he said, adding McDonald's restaurants will be offering Happy Meal "Narnia" action figures in a week or so.

Howie Mandel, president of Learning By Grace Inc., a Philadelphia-based provider of teaching materials and online education to Christian homeschoolers, said he has been "astonished" by the response to the free, online "Narnia Academy" his staff created weeks ago.

"I thought it would be great if we got 1,000 kids signed up," Mandel said last week. "We've already got more than 30,000."

IT'S EVERYWHERE

In Hawai'i, "Narnia" can be found in study groups, in children's ministries and even in Web site tie-ins.

Hope Chapel Kaneohe put the movie trailer on its Web site, and its bookstore is stocked with at least 35 related products. Hope Chapel volunteers handed out about 10,000 "Chronicles of Narnia" postcards at the Kane'ohe Christmas parade last weekend.

Senior pastor Ralph Moore has incorporated "Narnia" graphics in his presentations. Midweek Bible studies will be follow-ups to a series of sermons on the themes brought up in Lewis' story, Moore said.

It's all for a good cause, said Moore, who hadn't heard about the sermon contest before embarking on his "Narnia" program: "Basically, it's the theme of redemption. That's what Aslan's all about. ... If I can get adults to read the 'Narnia' books, I can get them to read (Lewis') 'Mere Christianity.' "

Even mainline Protestant churches are getting into the act: Gary Van Brocklin at First Presbyterian of Honolulu said the church held a "Narnia Sunday" last weekend, with movie posters and giveaways such as a woolen cap with an Aslan on it.

At St. Andrew's, Associate Rector Tim Reston did a Sunday morning class on the book last week, and the class is following up with a trip to the movies tomorrow.

Last Sunday, Central Union Church finished a four-week series of small discussion groups about the symbols in the book.

But it's important to keep the lines from being blurred, said Pacific School of Religion's Turner, and steer clear of getting caught in the marketing trap.

"All sorts of things can potentially 'buy' a preacher: safety, security, powerful voices," she said. "This is a new way to buy a preacher and I really don't like it. It'll be really interesting to me what kind of response (Disney) gets, who responds, where they're from."

LEARN MORE:

www.sermoncentral.com/narnia/sweepstakes.asp. The winner will be chosen Jan. 9 by random drawing.

Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer Mary Kaye Ritz and Knight Ridder News Service contributed to this story.