Tangled Christian Telecommunications

Untangling the groping tentacles of this growing area of ministry will require new discipline and a discernment of motives.

Recently there has been a hectic rush into telecommunications by the religious community. Whether this rush is the product of a sincere commitment to present the gospel through all media and to serve the church, or the fabricated sentiments of a covetous desire to become celebrity evangelists presiding over billion-dollar satellite empires is impossible to say. What is clear is that this rush to telecommunications has both a good and a bad side.

The bad side, of course, is intricately related to the celebrity evangelist infection, which drives us to try to get anything on the electronic media, with total disregard for the rules and grammar of those media. So we clog the airwaves, satellite transponders, and cable channels with “vanity video” and “make believe mission” in the interest of saying, “here we are.”

The other side is related to a sincere commitment to the gospel, and involves understanding the electronic media and working carefully and intelligently to use them to proclaim the gospel in its entirety, to call people into the community of believers, and to minister to the needs of the church.

Before undertaking to communicate via video/television, we need to become thoroughly aware of its nature. We must understand that television promotes ontological nominalism, whereas the gospel of Jesus Christ demands ontological realism. Furthermore, television itself, not its content, causes cognitive impairment and inhibits imagination, concentration, delayed gratification, and so on. A course in Television Awareness Training or a diligent exploration of the major sociological and psychological investigations of television is a must for understanding the nature of television, and enables television communication to be structured effectively.

Television is a tool that can perform certain functions quite well (motivating, selling, informing), and perform other functions quite poorly or not at all (educating, involving, disciplining, etc.). The first question to ask oneself is whether television will communicate what you want it to communicate—will it do what you want it to do? Inherent in this question is a wide array of ascertainment questions, such as: Why do you want to communicate (a call by God, vanity, dedication to a cause)? To whom do you want to communicate? What are your audience’s needs? Asking the right ascertainment questions will help you avoid “vanity video,” “make-believe mission” and “videolatry.”

Basically, “Vanity video” involves producing a program in order to make the producer, host, or star look good. If the reason you want to communicate is your own ego, this is “vanity video.” Much of the religious programming available today is in this category.

“Make-believe mission” is another problem entirely, and likewise comes from not asking the right ascertainment questions. It involves spending time, energy, and money to produce a program that is supposed to evangelize non-Christians, but which either ends up not being seen by such people because it is on a channel few watch, or scheduled at a time when not many are watching, or ends up being seen only by Christians. If the audience is not the non-Christian originally intended for evangelization, perhaps the purpose of the program is rather discipling, sanctification, Christian education, or renewal. Many religious satellite/cable programs produced today claim to be evangelistic, yet they are aimed exclusively at reaching the known Christian market to raise funds from that market—or to build up the ego of the “star.”

Real evangelism must take place in the middle of the marketplace or forum and must appear where the secular public is watching—that is, during the Superbowl or the R-rated evening movie, in the middle of the news, or wherever the ratings show audiences gather to watch television. If the program dedicated to evangelism is not in the marketplace or the forum reaching the secular public, then it is clearly involved in “make-believe mission.”

“Videolatry” lacks faith in God, transferring faith into television or telecommunications as a means of solving the church’s, community’s, and world’s problems. “Videolatry” is, as it sounds, the idol worship of television/video.

Asking the right ascertainment questions will avoid these three pitfalls as well as others too numerous to discuss here, and which face any Christian communicator dealing with the telecommunications media.

Each telecommunications medium has its specific functions. Broadcast television reaches the mass audience and is best used for emotive dramatic programming, of communicating the gospel to the world at large. Cable TV does not yet reach a mass audience, and is best used as a local medium for sharing, narrowcasting, and networking (multiaccess systems use).

Satellite owners point out that buying satellite time to reach a limited number of cable systems is expensive. If we are not concerned with immediacy, a better use of programming on cable systems is to “bicycle” it by mail. Since cable does not reach a mass audience, it is better used for local programming in the service of the local parish, tying in the viewer to the local community of believers. If we are interested in mission and reaching a mass audience, $1.00 spent on broadcast television goes sixty thousand times as far as $1.00 spent on satellite/cable distribution.

To use any of the telecommunications media appropriately and effectively requires training and experience. The misuse of the medium will burn us out—financially, physically, and spiritually. We must, therefore, be careful to use these media appropriately, both for “hands off” and for “hands on” productions.

“Hands off” production involves hiring the right people to produce programming. It is important to ask the right questions in order to secure the services of appropriately talented individuals. “Hands off” production is often the best type. In it the Christian communicator with the idea serves as executive producer, putting together the necessary professional talent to achieve the best production for broadcasting. Professionals with these talents may not always be Christians, but the production itself may become a form of mission and ministry to them as they work on it.

“Hands on” production involves personally producing the program, using easily accessible talent. “Hands on” production can be very successful for narrowcasting, sharing, or networking, but it often falls short of the quality demanded by broadcast television.

To produce powerful programs that will capture an audience, we must structure our communication for each medium. It does not cost any more to structure our communication properly, nor does it require any better equipment. What it does require is study of these media to learn the principles of dramatic communication.

There is an alarming concentration of ownership of the telecommunications media and a growing tendency of these media to probe ever deeper into the vices and desires of the public in an attempt to capture an audience. But even religious communications have become infested with commercialism. Driven from broadcast television, churches are madly rushing into cablecasting, trying to fill hours of time on cable channels that could best be described as religious ghettos, viewed by only a small portion of the public.

On one hand, the situation is worse than it has ever been. On the other hand, the negative telecommunications environment in which the churches find themselves offers a unique opportunity to learn how to use these media effectively and creatively to communicate the totality of the gospel. This is the aim of the Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation, which produces creative programming for a mass audience, such as “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and helps individuals, parishes, dioceses and others in the church to communicate effectively.

Now a Guide to Religious Video Tape/Disc Programs

The National Video Clearinghouse and David C. Cook Publishing Company have come to the aid of people and churches who are looking for religious video software. The Video Tape/Disc Guide: Religious Programs was recently released and should be especially welcomed by churches now using prerecorded video programming.

The 178-page softbound catalog lists in detail over 1,350 titles of programs on religious, ethical, and social subjects. It represents a first effort to provide information on all such programming in one source, and is as comprehensive as one can find. I counted 118 listings in the wholesale/distributor index, which includes such diverse groups as the Chidvilas Rajneesh Meditation Center and the Jewish Media Service. But Covenant Video, Broadman, the American Bible Society, and, of course, David C. Cook are among the many companies or organizations found there whose names would be instantly recognized by CT readers. Missing, however, are producers of some specialty programming, such as video Bible study courses or schools (National Institute of Biblical Studies, Grace Graduate School, etc.).

The Video Tape/Disc Guide: Religious Programs should be a real help to people who until now had to track down video software through a variety of sources. Titles are listed both alphabetically and by subject, and each program description includes a brief plot summary, available formats (Beta, VHS, or other tape; LVD or CED disc), audience level, and other pertinent information. There are also four extremely helpful introductory articles on using video in church and on buying video equipment.

The guide costs $12.95 and is available from David C. Cook, 850 N. Grove Ave., Elgin, Illinois 60120.

CAROL R. THIESSEN

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