Church Challenges Atheists With Bus Ads Of Its Own

In the beginning, an Indiana atheist group bought ad space on the sides of 25 CTA buses to promote the message that it was man who created God.

Now, two months later, a South Side church is running ads of its own on the same number of buses but with a competing message: "God is still God whether you believe it or not...just believe."

The New Life Covenant Oakwood Church spent $5,000 to buy the space for a month, according to the Sun-Times, the same amount that the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign spent on its ads in June.

New Life pastor John Hannah told the Sun-Times the message was selected from a contest among the church's 7,000 members.

"We wanted to represent our city and the Christian community," Hannah said. "I felt like the atheists, to come in and say there probably isn't a God, that's an attack against our faith. We wanted to be loud just as they were loud."