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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (416
notes).

Note 412 by UMNS on Oct. 28, 1997 at 16:26 Eastern (7158 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Green				  600(10-71B){412}
	    Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Oct. 28, 1997

Team members recruited to expand
church’s communications efforts

	MESA, Ariz. (UMNS) Members of the United Methodist Association of
Communicators (UMAC) attending their annual association meeting here Oct.
23-25 were invited to become part of a churchwide team to expand
communications ministries across the connection.
	Extending the invitation were new Connectional Resourcing Team (CRT) leaders,
the Rev. Steven Horswill-Johnston and Barbara Nissen, who joined the staff of
United Methodist Communication this fall.  
	The CRT concept was developed by the governing body of United Methodist
Communications (UMCom) to replace the agency’s earlier field staff located in
each of the church’s five U.S. jurisdictions.
	Horswill-Johnston and Nissen stressed that they will not respond themselves
to every request and inquiry but will connect the expressed need with
appropriate human and financial resources.
"Our job is to get to know your gifts and put your gifts to use," said
Horswill-Johnston as he invited UMAC members to fill out forms stating their
willingness to share skills and expertise with others. He is director of the
team; Nissen is networking specialist.
Some communicators expressed concern that the field staff positions were
terminated but Horswill-Johnston and Nissen sought to assure their audience
that the new approach will mean more human and financial resources, not less.
Often help is out of reach or price range, Nissen observed,  but the CRT is
prepared to connect communicators with "qualified creative expertise" to do
the required job. 
"CRT doesn’t merely connect you with resources at United Methodist
Communications," Nissen explained. "Resources may be in the form of a
colleague located within the same jurisdiction who has the appropriate skills
to provide assistance or a communications firm or agency nearby that can
assist."
She said the three-member team in Nashville, including administrative
assistant Deborah Jarrett, "intends to work together to listen to serve the
needs of communicators as they contact us and we contact them. It’s a team
effort."
During their presentation, the two team leaders said they anticipate a wide
range of requests related to topics such as video and radio projects,
benevolence interpretation, internet access, communications training and
audits, newspaper layout and design, television advertisement placement, and
media disaster preparedness.
CRT plans announced here included:
· a Website aimed primarily at conference directors of communications, editors
and commission members;
· an Internet homepage for UMAC;
· an e-mail system for conference communicators to hold topical discussions;
· quarterly conference calls featuring United Methodist Communications staff
or conference communicators answering questions and sharing ideas.
The team has already established a toll-free number: (888) CRT-4UMC.
In a luncheon address, the Rev. Robert Edgar, Claremont, Calif.,  vice
president of United Methodist Communication’s governing body, said the CRT was
developed as a way for UMCom to "break out in new ways" to serve the
communications needs of the denomination’s 66 U.S. annual conferences more
effectively.
He said a challenge of the church is to put resources outside the church where
the gospel is needed. He applauded the work UMCom is doing in connecting
church and society through "News Odyssey," a weekly religious cable news
program. 
Edgar defended UMCom’s decision to spend $750,000 on the show during its
second year of production. "We should be spending 50 million on television
today as a connectional church," he said.  The agency is studying the
possibility of a major initiative for consideration by the 2000 General
Conference that would support an image campaign with a heavy emphasis on
television spots.
He said he hoped someone could be found with the "insight to put a billion
dollars into the Foundation for United Methodist Communications to connect the
church and people in society.
Although "News Odyssey" was the recipient of an outstanding achievement award
from UMAC, critics at the meeting said the money could be spent on more
appropriate projects. 
Some members have argued that the channel does not attract the unchurched. At
the 1996 annual meeting, UMAC members approved a resolution from the
Southeastern Jurisdiction Fellowship of Communicators asking UMCom to be alert
to communications opportunities beyond the Odyssey Network.
The Rev. Alvin Horton, Richmond, Va., UMAC president, expressed "dismay" that
UMCom "in this lack of funds era" supports "News Odyssey." 
Wil Bane, producer of the news program and an executive at UMCom, expressed
hope that other ways of funding the program will be found.  "There are many
ways to spread out the costs and allow it to find an audience," he said. 
By remaining as a supporting agency, UMCom can have a "seat at the table" and
influence decisions about programming and spokespersons, he said. 
Bane said success will be indicated when "the Nielsen ratings show a million
viewers each week and the program has support from sponsors and the
foundation. 
The Rev. Bob Bonnot, a Catholic staff member of the Odyssey Network,
championed the news program at the UMAC meeting, saying it provides a platform
for United Methodists and the religious community to provide a "reference
point where more and more people will turn."
Horton objected, saying the issue is "relative value of the program in a time
of limited resources." 
This year UMCom budgeted $1.3 million for the program in addition to the
network’s $260,000. For the second year, the cost of producing the show has
been split 50-50 between UMCom and Odyssey Network with each paying $750,000
for production costs. Bonnot said cutting United Methodist contributions to
the network by 50 percent "is pretty dramatic."
Dawn Hand, an association member from Charlotte, N.C. and member of the board
of governors, argued that the 1998 budget for News Odyssey was to have been
zero. Referring to the commission’s recent decision to give the program
$750,000 in 1998, she said "I call that a $750,000 increase, not a $750,000
decrease."
Bane acknowledged that it was previously suggested that UMCom would not be
required to provide funding for the second year but "circumstances changed . .
. this is not the time to abandon something we helped start." He noted the
agency has earned revenue from programs produced by UMCom for the Odyssey
Network.
 During business sessions, association members called for the development of a
statement on "editorial beliefs and principles" applicable to all levels of
the church. Of concern was what one participant called the "turtleling
instinct" of church leaders who close meetings and avoid having to deal with
the church and secular news media.
UMAC members also requested that a task force be appointed to design
cooperative ventures whereby communicators can participate with the general
church to tell the church’s story through television, radio and print 

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