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Episcopal Communicators meet in Texas, honor best work in past year

2001-90

Episcopal Communicators meet in Texas, honor best work in past year

by James Solheim
jsolheim@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) At their annual meeting at Camp Allen near Houston, Episcopal 
communicators were honored for the best work of the past year, sharpened their 
skills in an array of workshops, and were challenged to serve as the church's 
conscience.

     In a stirring keynote address, Bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean 
of Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts, said that the current climate in 
the church is threatening the ability to tell the truth. "Much of what passes for 
news in the Episcopal Church today is propaganda--an attempt to manipulate the 
mission," he said. It is vital to the health of the church for its communicators 
to help it understand its mission. Instead "the process is being "distorted," 
putting the church in "serious jeopardy."

     "You are in the mission of liberation, reconciliation and peacemaking," 
Charleston said, helping the church understand where it is going, urging members 
to "participate in the mystery of living the faith." But he also warned that 
"when the media is subdued or suppressed, the partisan passes for the prophetic--
and that's a tragedy." He implored the communicators to commit to what he called 
"evangelism of the truth." 

     "Our challenge," he concluded, "is to release the media in the church, not 
inhibit it." 

     Bill Blundell of California, former staff member of the Wall Street Journal, 
agreed with Charleston that communications in the Episcopal Church is "tainted by 
ideological spin doctors" and "muffled by propagandists." In a series of three 
workshops, he helped participants examine the principles of news judgment in 
light of their constituents. "It is part of our job to celebrate the good in 
people," he said, holding up examples from diocesan publications.

Barnwell elected president

     The communicators elected Carol Barnwell, director of communication or the 
Diocese of Texas and host of the convention, to a three-year term as president, 
succeeding Herb Gunn of the Diocese of Michigan. They also elected two new board 
members--Joe Thoma, director of communications for the Diocese of Central 
Florida, and Laurie Wozniak, editor of the paper for the Diocese of Western New 
York.

     Membership chair Ed Stannard, news editor of Episcopal Life, reported at a 
business meeting that the membership of the organization is now 191, "probably an 
all-time high." He called attention to an increasing diversity in the 
organization, still based on diocesan publications but moving to include more 
communicators in parishes and church institutions and in new media such as the 
Internet.

     Karin Hamilton, communications officer for the Diocese of Connecticut, 
reported the results of a recent membership survey. About two-thirds of the 
members work for dioceses, most of them full-time. Many express tensions centered 
on how the diocese defines their roles.

     Ted Mollegen of Connecticut outlined the plans of the 20/20 Task Force, 
charged with developing "a strategic plan for the Episcopal Church" to double its 
membership. He reported that the task force hopes to have the draft of a plan 
ready for the October meeting of the church's Executive Council.

     "We haven't really done evangelism across the board since the last century," 
he said in his presentation. In some ways, "our heritage has been an obstacle" 
because the Church of England, as a state church, had no real concept of 
evangelism and those characteristics were passed on to the church in the 
colonies. "We haven't been trying to grow," he said.

Communicators as conscience of church

     In an address during a business session at the April 18-22 meeting, Gunn 
said that communicators are "the conscience of the church, for without your work, 
the church does not know where it has been and will not know where it is going."

     He observed that "these are difficult and challenging times for the 
conscience of the church. There is heightened anxiety and a sense on the part of 
the church leadership that the church is being misunderstood. The Episcopal 
Church is struggling to articulate its position within the Anglican Communion. 
There is a small but very vocal group that, by virtue of these divisions, would 
cause schism within the Episcopal Church."

     As a result, Gunn said that many church leaders--especially Presiding Bishop 
Frank T. Griswold--are attempting to "hold the line and articulate a vision and a 
direction for the church and our dioceses." Communicators share those pressures 
and "have a vital role in these anxious times" because they must interpret what 
is happening," attempting to "seek the truth wherever it leads," a basic tenet of 
the organization throughout its 28-year history.

     A good journalist writes with the reader in mind, according to Gunn, 
providing a forum for debate on issues so that church members are able to make 
informed decisions. "If you donąt think this creates tension within a church 
body, you haven't really tried it," he said. "If you don't feel the tension….you 
might not be doing all you can to build the kingdom of God."

     Gunn decried what he called "a strong movement within the Episcopal Church 
to not talk about issues. . . to not explore the divisions and the diversity 
among us, to effectively "get rid of the tension between news and public 
relations. That is to stop asking the hard questions, to leave the hard questions 
about the church to non-church journalists." 

     Part of the job of Episcopal Communicators is to help the church understand 
how this will adversely affect the church, he argued.

     "Why is Episcopal journalism important to the Episcopal Church? Why should 
we risk telling the bad news if the church's business is telling the Good News?" 
Gunn asked. The church will never be free of bad news but "with God's help, the 
light will overcome darkness. Telling all the stories, all the news, with the 
confidence that darkness will be overcome by the light is the essence of the Good 
News."

Awards to best work

     In the annual Polly Bond Awards, named for a communicator from the Diocese 
of Ohio who has served as an inspiration for the organization, judges sifted through 
475 entries and granted 110 awards in a wide range of categories honoring work 
in print and electronic media. 

     In the General Excellence category, the top Award of Excellence went to The 
Net, the newspaper of the Diocese of Southeast Florida for newspapers with a 
circulation over 12,000, and the Award of Merit went to the Central Florida 
Episcopalian. An Honorable Mention went to Anglican Advance, the newspaper of the 
Diocese of Chicago.

     For newspapers with a circulation under 12,000, The Award of Excellence went 
to Cross Current in the Diocese of East Carolina, the Award of Merit to Plenteous 
Harvest in the Diocese of Kansas, and an Honorable Mention to Churchwork, Diocese 
of Louisiana.

     The Witness received the Award of Excellence in the magazine category and 
the Award of Merit went to Cathedral Age, published by Washington National 
Cathedral. An Honorable Mention was given to St. Stephen's School in Austin, 
Texas.

     Episcopal Life received the Award of Excellence for Newspaper/Agency. In the 
category for Newsletter/Agency, the top award went to St. Francis Academy in 
Kansas, an Award of Merit to St. Columba's Church in Washington, DC, and an 
Honorable Mention to Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 
Connections, Diocese of Southwest Florida, received an Award of Excellence for 
newsletters with a circulation of under 12,000.

     The board of Episcopal Communicators has chosen Washington, DC, as the site 
for its April 25-29, 2002 convention.

--Jim Solheim is director of the Office of News and Information for the Episcopal 
Church.