Episcopal Communicators Meet in Cleveland
Episcopal News Service. May 26, 1977 [77182]
Salome Breck
Cleveland, Ohio -- Means of effectively channeling the diverse news and points of view of the Episcopal Church out to its some 100 diocesan publications was the theme for the annual meeting of Episcopal Communicators in Cleveland, May 4-6. Here some 50 editors and other communicators were guests of the Diocese of Ohio and Bishop John H. Burt. Polly Bond, diocesan director of communications, was official hostess.
The three-day program was conveniently centered in three adjacent areas. Downtown Holiday Inn housed the conference. Here business sessions were led by the group's five-term president, the Rev. Canon Erwin M. Soukup, editor of Chicago's publication, Advance.
Cleveland State University's classroom facilities and faculty made workshops available. Professors Nancy Somerick, Jess Yoder and Leo Jeffries of the Department of Communication discussed problems of layout, interviewing, news gathering and reporting. Sanford Markey talked on the importance of community relations.
Niagara Anglican's editor, Larry Perks, long-time newspaper man and member of the faculty of Ryerson Tech School of Journalism, Ontario, Canada, covered other technical areas and evaluated diocesan publications.
Cleveland has considerable ecumenical radio/TV cooperation. This was described by Jerry Lackamp, executive producer of radio/TV for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, and Jan Giering, director of radio/TV for Greater Cleveland Interchurch Council.
A unique program idea for combining print and electronic media material and personnel came from Cleveland's Father Joseph Kracker, director of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese, and George Plagenz, religion editor for the Cleveland Press: These men air a popular weekly religion program on radio.
"Are we bringing readers what they want?" is a question every editor asks himself. Janette Pierce, editor for the Diocese of Pennsylvania and news editor for the Church's official publication, The Episcopalian, and the Rev. Leonard Freeman, chairman of Pennsylvania's Communication Commission presented ideas for readership surveys.
Trinity Cathedral was the setting for a service of Evening Prayer May 5. Music of the Renaissance period, played on guitar and recorders was provided by University students. Officient was the Rev. Carroll Simcox, editor of The Living Church. Dean Perry R. Williams of the Cathedral was homilist and host for the reception which followed in the Center for Communication Arts. Located in the undercroft, the eight year-old Comarts program serves Cathedral and neighborhood children week days (except, as one Cleveland person explained, when children from the inner city haven't enough warm clothes to walk to church).
Church School teachers are trained here. Space for the Dre program is given by the Cathedral with financial backing from the Diocese of Ohio.
Communicators voted to accept Jan Pierce's invitation to hold their next meeting in Philadelphia, where they will include a study of inner-city problems in their agenda.
The Rev. David G. Pritchard, editor of the Episcopal Church in Georgia was elected president and convenor for the communicators.
Other members of the Board of Directors are Polly Bond of Ohio; the Rev. Canon Larry Davidson, Oregon; the Rev. Burtis M. Dougherty, Virginia; the Rev. Carroll Simcox, the Living Church; C. Richard Lovegrove, Southwestern Virginia; and Salome Breck, Colorado.
Sessions closed with the Eucharist. Outgoing president Erwin Soukup was celebrant.
Much of the conference discussion centered on the responsibility of the religious press in presenting all sides of the numerous conflicting viewpoints found in the Episcopal Church today.
Because of this, the Communicators adopted a resolution, and asked that it be carried in every diocesan publication (resolution attached).
Adopted by the Episcopal Communicators meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, May 6, 1977.
- 1. The Church, as any organism, requires modes of expression in order to live. Commonly called communications, these build community.
- 2. The integrity of the Church requires an openness of communications. To maintain such integrity, it is the responsibility of persons in the communications field to acknowledge that the truth of Holy Spirit is expressed in differing ways and views. Integrity demands therefore that communications not be one-way only. There must be an unobstructed exchange of views to allow the freedom of Spirit to operate.
- 3. The Christian Church, as does any institution continuing in time, exhibits always a tendency to inhibit the freedom of exchange of views.
- 4. It is necessary that the Church build into its own systems not only the freedom to express oneself as an individual but a system of communications which is independent of the control of the other systems within and of the Church.
- 5. We communicators of the dioceses see such independence of the Church's own information systems as a prime necessity for the Episcopal Church.
Signed by:
Catherine E. Ambler, Western Mass.,Richard M. Barnes, Pittsburgh,Isabel Baumgartner, Tennessee,Polly Bond, Ohio,Salome Breck, Colorado,L. E. Davidson, Oregon,Burtis M. Dougherty, Virginia,Charles F. Frandsen, Western Michigan,Robert Hahn, Delaware,Mary Halstead, Iowa,Margaret M. Jacoby, Dallas,Dierdre E. Klick, Erie,James H. Littrell, Western N.Y.,John B. Lockerby, Olympia,C. Richard Lovegrove, Southwestern Virginia,Nell McDonald, Missouri,Caroll Mallin, Southeast Florida,Jay Mallin, Southeast Florida,George H. Martin, Minnesota,David G. Pritchard, Georgia,Barbara R. Rathell, Washington (DC),Fay F. Richardson, N.J.,Erwin M. Soukup, Chicago,Carroll E. Simcox, Milwaukee,Elizabeth Toland, MarylandGloria Vanderhoogt, Delaware