wfn.org | Electronic media brings General Con

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

June 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1797
Electronic media brings General Convention to "people in the pews"

by Diane Walker
   (ENS) Following events and decisions of the 1997 General
Convention will be considerably easier and more "user-friendly" than in
past conventions, thanks to the plethora of electronic tools available.
   This convention's electronic offerings include greatly expanded Quest
and Internet coverage, three teleconferences, two videocassettes, one
scheduled broadcast via the Odyssey Cable TV channel, and extensive in-
house use of electronic media to support the convention's work.

Quest/Internet coverage
   Official Internet coverage of the convention will be offered both
through the Episcopal Church web site (www.ecusa.anglican.org) and
through the QUEST Inter-Anglican Information Network, an Ecunet
partner network.
   Convention news stories will be posted both to the Episcopal News
Service online meeting on QUEST and to the web site. The church's
Internet web site also will offer brief audio segments from news
conferences and an online photo essay of scenes from the Philadelphia
convention center.
   With national church agencies offering news in as many electronic
media formats as possible, for perhaps the first time in General
Convention history, news dissemination will be targeted directly to news
consumers, and not just for publication editors.
   "With background information, news and official documentation
from the Office of General Convention being posted on networks and the
World Wide Web, we could potentially have a far more informed church
membership and leadership," said the Rev. Clement "Kris" Lee, director
of electronic media.
   Deputies and bishops, many of whom will be logging on to the
Internet regularly to give and receive updates on convention activities,
will be better prepared for legislative work, and the church at large will
be better equipped "to understand the actions of General Convention and
their implications for mission and ministry in dioceses and parishes,"
added Lee. "But it's like a news stand or library: the reader must take
initiative to access the information in order to benefit."

Unofficial Internet coverage
   In addition to official 1997 General Convention coverage from the
Office of the Presiding Bishop, the General Convention Office, Episcopal
News Service and the Convention Daily, media-wise Episcopalians will
have, during and prior to Convention, access to postings from a variety
of ministry networks, individuals and special interest groups.
   This year biographies and voting records were available for all major
potential candidates for the office of presiding bishop; e-mail addresses
for deputies and bishops are available online; and several web sites and
public and private QUEST meetings 
have offered opportunities for extended discussion on the issues that will
be considered at convention.
   "While it is heartening to see that groups which represent differing
church 
viewpoints are all using the new media," said Lee, interpretation of
what's available on 
line "may vary considerably depending on the posting organization or
individuals." The readers or the "persons in the pew," he said, must
decide which versions of the stories they trust and find helpful. 
   "With the advent of low-cost e-mail, group communication networks
and online publishing being used to voice concerns or mobilize
supporters, readers will face a daunting task of learning more about the
individual authors, whether they represent more than themselves
individually, and what their agendas are, if any," Lee said.
   For those ministry networks which need help posting their news or
preparing 
web pages, technical assistance will be available in the Electronic Media
Office at convention. 

Teleconferences and videos
   Three teleconferences originating from the convention will be aired
on the Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network (ECTN)

Children at Risk (Thursday, July 17, 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern time) 
Live satellite coverage of the Episcopal Church Women Triennial's joint
session with the General Convention, which will focus on "Children At
Risk." Presentations will be followed by small group discussions at
convention and at the downlink sites, moderated by ECW leaders.
Participants will be invited to sign a diocesan covenant to become
involved in ministry with children at risk and their families or guardians.

Eucharist with the Archbishop of Canterbury (Saturday, July 19, 6:30 to
9 p.m., Eastern time) 
Highlights from Convention Eucharist and Archbishop Carey's homily,
with live updates of legislative actions, including phone-in questions from
downlink sites.

Celebrate Presiding Bishop Browning's ministry and meet our new
presiding 
bishop-elect (Wednesday, July 23, 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern time and again at
7 to 9 p.m., Pacific time) 
Segments from the event celebrating Presiding Bishop Browning's
ministry and 
excerpts from the first news conference of the presiding bishop-elect.
This 
teleconference will also offer live update coverage of the ECW Triennial
Meeting, General Convention legislative issues and actions, and will
include phone-in questions from downlink sites.

To register as a downlink site or for information about how to organize a
downlink site in your community, call the Episcopal Church's national
downlink site coordinator, Ethan Flad, toll free at 888-965-9659 or check
the Episcopal Church web site (www.ecusa.anglican.org).

Videotapes
   The electronic media office also will produce educational video
cassettes covering forum presentations and highlights of convention
events and legislation and the ECW Triennial Meeting for churchwide
distribution and sale, including:

a) A half-hour video documentary on the Episcopal Church Women
meeting offering segments with the presentations of major speakers at the
Triennial Meeting, suitable for parish study group use. There will also be
a highlights segment giving viewers an overview of ECW goals and
ministry and a glimpse of sessions and activities at the Triennial Meeting.
$15.00

b) "Let The Whole World See" will be a half-hour videocassette program
reporting on the legislative debates and official actions of the General
Convention, including segments showing the convention in session and
interviews with key leaders. $15.00 

The videocassettes may be ordered from Eurith Jackson at the Episcopal
Church Center, 800-334-7626, extension 5380.

In addition, an 18-minute video called "Turning Life Around" on 10
ministries supported by the United Thank Offering will debut at the
Episcopal Church Women's Triennial. Included are segments on outreach
by a San Diego parish to Sudanese refugees to Haiti, by students at the
University of Kansas serving meals to the homeless, and by volunteers in
northern Virginia who provide mentoring for unwed teenage mothers.
"Turning Lives Around" was produced by Fred Huff of Scottsdale,
Arizona, and will be available for sale in both English and Spanish at the
General Convention Exhibit Hall at the United Thank Offering and
Episcopal Parish Services booths, or through Episcopal Parish Services at
800-903-5544.

Odyssey Telecast
   On Sunday, September 18th at 8 p.m., Eastern time, the Odyssey
Cable-TV
Channel will air a one-hour special telecast, based on the "Let The
Whole World See" video, and will report on the work of the church and
the ECW, with an emphasis on interpreting how and why the General
Convention and the ECW Triennial Meeting are important to viewers,
whether Episcopalian or not. The Odyssey Channel reaches 28 million
households.

And on the convention floor:
   Electronic media in use during convention will also include
multi-media
presentations of the Episcopal Church Center ministries exhibit, the
report of Executive Council to a joint session of the convention,
convention floor IMAG (image projections of speakers) and "legislation
text" large screen projections. As a service for journalists, continuous
audio and video feeds will be connected to the official news room at the
Philadelphia Convention Center whenever the House of Bishops and the
House of Deputies are in public (not executive) session.

Communications resolutions:
   In order that this unprecedented level of information provision may
begin to 
be available on a diocesan and parish scale as well, a number of deputies
and bishops are submitting resolutions calling on the church as a whole,
from parishes to churchwide agencies, to enhance their communications
capabilities. Most initiatives emphasize better cooperation and a
comprehensive and accountable strategy for inter-communication and
information sharing, seeing information provider media specialists as
inseparable partners with the doers of ministry.  
   "Whether by convention action or not, it would increase the
effectiveness of the church's use of ALL electronic media--radio,
television, satellite transmissions, multi-media productions, corporate
video, teleconferencing, Intranets, and the full range of current and
emerging Internet communication tools--if those already engaged in this
ministry could form or increase cooperative planning," said Lee. "We
need to be poised for flexible adoption of goals and methods, readily
modifying plans as new enhancements or techniques become viable."  

--Diane Walker is a free-lance writer living on Shaw Island, Washington,
who will serve as assistant editor on the Episcopal News Service press
team at General Convention.