wfn.org | Kinnamon meets with ecumenical communicators

[Philip Jenks <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Kinnamon initiates a dialogue with ecumenical communicators

Denver, November 10, 2008 -- The General Secretary of the National Council  of Churches tonight began what he said would be an ongoing conversation wit h ecumenical communicators about the theology of communication and the way  the NCC story should be told.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, who was elected General Secretary a year ago , addressed the NCC Communication Commission on the eve of the annual Gener al Assembly of the NCC and Church World Service and said he knows less abou t the communicators' work than that of the Council's three other program co mmissions.

But Kinnamon, who in 1968 was on the night news staff of KSL in Salt Lake C ity and anchored the nightly news program on his college station, said he w as deeply concerned about the issue of "credible communication" when he was  on the Geneva staff of the World Council of Churches in the early 1980s.

"Tonight I want to raise questions with you that I hope we will be able to  discuss more thoroughly in our future meetings together," Kinnamon told com missioners who represent communications offices of the NCC's member communi ons and other church organizations.

For example, he said, "is there a need for more work in articulating a theo logy of communication?" He quoted Dr. Pauline Webb, an internationally-know n religious broadcaster, writer and ecumenical leader from London, England,  who warned against a church tendency to reduce communication to technique  and not ask what is the purpose of communication in God's plan.

"Communication in the Christian perspective is inherently personal," Kinnam on said. "It begins with God's communication with us, most especially in th e person of Jesus Christ," and results in the building of community.

Kinnamon also asked the communicators how churches can balance the tension  between the freedom of communication and the need to protect those who are  harmed by various forms of communication.

"Some groups don't have equal access to media," he said, and many are victi ms of distorted media stereotypes. "Communication has the power to divide u s as well as the power to bring us together in community," he said.

A third question Kinnamon raised was about the style of ecumenical communic ation. "Face-to-face communication or direct dialogue has been the central  discipline of the ecumenical movement," he said, citing the series of churc h-to-church visits that are taking place among member communions this year.  Given the development of new communications technologies, he said, it was  worth discussing how this discipline could be maintained.

Kinnamon's fourth question invoked one of his central themes since he becam e General Secretary. "Is there a tendency among communicators to think of t he National Council of Churches as a cooperative agency rather than a commu nity of the churches?" he asked. "Churches think they have joined an organi zation that does ecumenical things on their behalf. But our constitution is  quite clear that the essence of the Council is a community of Christian co mmunions (that) come together as the Council in common mission."

"The purpose of the Council," he said, "is to renew the church through the  sharing of gifts."
In a brief discussion that followed before Kinnamon left for another meetin g, the Rev. Dr. William F. Fore, retired chief of NCC Communication, made a n ironic reference to the questions, saying, "I hate 'em because they're di fficult to deal with, but they are the right questions."

One of the basis roles of ecumenical communicators, Fore said, "is to tell  our stories -- how we got here, what we went through, what we did. There ar e a number of ways we can do this -- drama or music or one-on-one -- but te lling the stories is important."

The General Assembly of the NCC and Church World Service, consisting of mor e than 200 representatives of NCC and CWS member communions, will be called  to order Tuesday afternoon and will adjourn following a celebration of the  100th anniversary of the Federal Council of Churches Thursday night.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228, NCCnews@ncccusa.org