wfn.org | Church's TV ads should reach 'hungry hearts,' scholar says

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Oct. 14, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{541}

NOTE:  A photograph is available.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A proposed media campaign for the United Methodist
Church could be a valuable means of not only building brand-name awareness
for the denomination but also reaching "hungry hearts," religious scholar
Martin Marty says.

First, however, the church must liberate itself from the idea of doing a
"mass media" campaign, said Marty, a Lutheran pastor, author and longtime
instructor at the University of Chicago. 
"We have to purge ourselves of that notion that there are any such things as
mass media," he said. He noted that a hotel room where he stayed had 58
channels, which is a fraction of what will soon be available, and the day of
mass-circulation periodicals has long past. "You could get more readers for
a magazine for ... left-handed, Korean, ex-nun yachtspersons than you could
for the Saturday Evening Post," he quipped.

Marty spoke to trustees of the United Methodist Communications Foundation
and top executives of United Methodist Communications (UMCom) at a dinner
Oct. 13. The gathering capped a daylong meeting of the foundation trustees,
who are trying to establish a financial base to support the work of the
communications agency.

A major topic on the foundation's agenda was the Igniting Ministry media
campaign, a four-year television ad initiative that UMCom will propose to
General Conference when the lawmaking body meets next May in Cleveland. The
campaign is aimed at increasing awareness nationwide of the United Methodist
Church, fostering a positive feeling among nonmembers about the church, and
giving current members a renewed sense of commitment. 

UMCom is seeking $20 million in funding from the General Conference for the
2001-2004 effort. Additional funds will come from other sources, including
the agency itself.

Marty is the author of 50 books and a columnist for Christian Century. He
taught for 35 years at the University of Chicago and directed the Public
Religion Project there.
The proposed television spots should emphasize name recognition for the
church, he said. "A connectional denomination ought to have something of a
brand-name awareness."

However, television is not a good institution for converting people, Marty
said. Less than one-third of 1 percent of adult Americans who acknowledge an
adult conversion credit the media as being the influence. Most credit
someone telling them the story and inviting them, he said.

Marty outlined nine points for using the media effectively:

1)	Christianity derives from a story, and Christian communication must
reflect that. "Christianity is made for media in that sense." People are not
lured to the faith by doctrine, which, along with dogma and theology, is
"second order."
2)	Christian communication is formed in the community. It derives power
from it and is responsible to it. "A big thing that has to come across here
is the value of community." Often, people are looking for community but
don't know that they are.
3)	Christian communication is nurtured in conversation. That means not
"thundering" at people or taking an argumentative approach to winning them
over. Instead, the conversational approach involves being attentive,
listening and even teasing the viewer into considering something else. 
4)	Christian communication is rooted in persuasion. The person who is
communicating should embody something about the faith and must identify with
the audience. The church also must have something to say. "You have to read
the hungry heart; you have to read the situation of the potential viewer."
5)	Christian communication conveys a sense of action. Preaching the
Gospel by action leads someone to be curious about the printed message. For
example, during testimony before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, people whose loved ones had been killed on either side of the
struggle over apartheid were able to face the killers and attempt to be
reconciled. Commission Chairman Desmond Tutu's impulse in holding the
hearings was to seek reconciliation instead of revenge - the Gospel in
action.
6)	Christian communication demands clarity. The church must be clear in
its message and speak to people on their level and not down at them.
7)	Christian communication must understand the "rules of the game." For
many people, the media is part of their "play." The church has to have a
sense of play in order to engage them. Its communication can't be all
one-way, but should incorporate a sense of free play and serendipity.
8)	Christian communication is confirming. The media often confirm for
people what they're about. The TV spots should connect people "to the home
base" and be inviting.
9)	Christian communication is "niched." The church must talk
differently to different kinds of people, just as the apostles did on
Pentecost and Paul did in his travels.

The church will have to ask itself what it is after with the TV spots, Marty
said. "I'd like to think we're after the hungry heart, people who are into
spirituality, who've had enough of mere secularization. ... They haven't
given the Christian community a chance, or the Christian community has not
known how to reach out to them, and you would be one of the representations
of it."
# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns