wfn.org | Lutheran communicators gather for Training

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

"Critical role" of communication

LISLE, Illinois, U.S.A./GENEVA, 14 September 1998 (elca/lwi) - More than
165 communication professionals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) gathered here from August 27 to 30 to share views on
communication issues, examine technologies for effective communication and
receive training for launching the ELCA's nationwide identity campaign.

Organized by the ELCA's Department for Communication, the conference
offered workshops on web page design, radio and television ministry, crisis
communication, news and publication development.

"Our collective passion and ability to tell the story of Jesus Christ is
what is central," said Kathy Tunheim, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church,
Stillwater, Minnesota "Communication is not a staff job or a list of tasks.
Instead, communication is a critical role of leadership. Communication
people are measured by whether they do things right in terms of time,
grammar and technology, but doing the right thing is more than that."

Tunheim, president of a marketing consultants firm in Bloomington,
Minnesota, set forth three points as guidelines to assure that
communicators are "doing the right thing": clarity, reach and relevance.
"Communication is about being clear, reaching those we have a call to reach
and articulating what we have to change. Communication people must take the
risk of becoming leaders."

"Communicators are meant to be trainers," said Terry L. Bowes, of Longmont,
Colorado, who unveiled the identity campaign and led three sessions to
prepare ELCA communicators to "roll out" the project.

In line with this idea, he continued, "the ELCA identity project is a
multilevel, multimedia campaign designed to raise public awareness of the
Lutheran church, increase membership in Lutheran churches and provide
encouragement and positive reinforcement to those who are currently members
of the ELCA."

"The ELCA and all communicators have relationships to draw upon in the
identity campaign," said the Rev. Paul W. Devantier, executive director of
the Board for Communication Services for The Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod.

"Don't try to do it alone," Devantier told the group. "Lutherans do a lot
of trying to do everything ourselves. Relationships are God-given. Life can
be a whole lot more exciting when working with others."

In his years in communication, Devantier said, he learned that "simplicity
and relationships" are key components for communication. "The more
technologically sophisticated we become, the more I am convinced that
simplicity still works best."

"America is still a very Christian country," said Kenneth W. Inskeep, ELCA
director for research and evaluation, in a presentation entitled "Where are
the Lutherans?". Inskeep said the ELCA is "still a relatively unknown
church despite its size."The ELCA has 5.2 million members in 11,000
congregations in the United States and Caribbean.

"Thirty percent of ELCA congregations are in rural settings, and about 35
percent are in small towns or in cities with a population of up to 50,000.
Half of ELCA members live in five states: Minnesota, Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois," said Inskeep.

*       *       *
Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/