Episcopal Communicators Meet in Texas, Honor Best Work in Past Year
Episcopal News Service. April 27, 2001 [2001-90]
James Solheim
(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 don't 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.