Electronic Media Brings General Convention to "People in the Pews"
Episcopal News Service. June 6, 1997 [97-1797]
Diane Walker, Free-lance Writer
(ENS) Following events and decisions of the 1997 General Convention will be considerably easier and more "user-friendly" than in past conventions, thanks to the plethora of electronic tools available.
This convention's electronic offerings include greatly expanded Quest and Internet coverage, three teleconferences, two videocassettes, one scheduled broadcast via the Odyssey Cable TV channel, and extensive in-house use of electronic media to support the convention's work.
Official Internet coverage of the convention will be offered both through the Episcopal Church web site (www.ecusa.anglican.org) and through the QUEST Inter-Anglican Information Network, an Ecunet partner network.
Convention news stories will be posted both to the Episcopal News Service online meeting on QUEST and to the web site. The church's Internet web site also will offer brief audio segments from news conferences and an online photo essay of scenes from the Philadelphia convention center.
With national church agencies offering news in as many electronic media formats as possible, for perhaps the first time in General Convention history, news dissemination will be targeted directly to news consumers, and not just for publication editors.
"With background information, news and official documentation from the Office of General Convention being posted on networks and the World Wide Web, we could potentially have a far more informed church membership and leadership," said the Rev. Clement "Kris" Lee, director of electronic media.
Deputies and bishops, many of whom will be logging on to the Internet regularly to give and receive updates on convention activities, will be better prepared for legislative work, and the church at large will be better equipped "to understand the actions of General Convention and their implications for mission and ministry in dioceses and parishes," added Lee. "But it's like a news stand or library: the reader must take initiative to access the information in order to benefit."
In addition to official 1997 General Convention coverage from the Office of the Presiding Bishop, the General Convention Office, Episcopal News Service and the Convention Daily, media-wise Episcopalians will have, during and prior to Convention, access to postings from a variety of ministry networks, individuals and special interest groups.
This year biographies and voting records were available for all major potential candidates for the office of presiding bishop; e-mail addresses for deputies and bishops are available online; and several web sites and public and private QUEST meetings have offered opportunities for extended discussion on the issues that will be considered at convention.
"While it is heartening to see that groups which represent differing church viewpoints are all using the new media," said Lee, interpretation of what's available on line "may vary considerably depending on the posting organization or individuals." The readers or the "persons in the pew," he said, must decide which versions of the stories they trust and find helpful.
"With the advent of low-cost e-mail, group communication networks and online publishing being used to voice concerns or mobilize supporters, readers will face a daunting task of learning more about the individual authors, whether they represent more than themselves individually, and what their agendas are, if any," Lee said.
For those ministry networks which need help posting their news or preparing web pages, technical assistance will be available in the Electronic Media Office at convention.
Three teleconferences originating from the convention will be aired on the Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network (ECTN)
(Thursday, July 17, 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern time)
Live satellite coverage of the Episcopal Church Women Triennial's joint session with the General Convention, which will focus on "Children At Risk." Presentations will be followed by small group discussions at convention and at the downlink sites, moderated by ECW leaders. Participants will be invited to sign a diocesan covenant to become involved in ministry with children at risk and their families or guardians.
(Saturday, July 19, 6:30 to 9 p.m., Eastern time)
Highlights from Convention Eucharist and Archbishop Carey's homily, with live updates of legislative actions, including phone-in questions from downlink sites.
(Wednesday, July 23, 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern time and again at 7 to 9 p.m., Pacific time)
Segments from the event celebrating Presiding Bishop Browning's ministry and excerpts from the first news conference of the presiding bishop-elect. This teleconference will also offer live update coverage of the ECW Triennial Meeting, General Convention legislative issues and actions, and will include phone-in questions from downlink sites.
To register as a downlink site or for information about how to organize a downlink site in your community, call the Episcopal Church's national downlink site coordinator, Ethan Flad, toll free at 888-965-9659 or check the Episcopal Church web site (www.ecusa.anglican.org).
The electronic media office also will produce educational video cassettes covering forum presentations and highlights of convention events and legislation and the ECW Triennial Meeting for churchwide distribution and sale, including:
| a) | A half-hour video documentary on the Episcopal Church Women meeting offering segments with the presentations of major speakers at the Triennial Meeting, suitable for parish study group use. There will also be a highlights segment giving viewers an overview of ECW goals and ministry and a glimpse of sessions and activities at the Triennial Meeting. $15.00 |
| b) | "Let The Whole World See" will be a half-hour videocassette program reporting on the legislative debates and official actions of the General Convention, including segments showing the convention in session and interviews with key leaders. $15.00 |
The videocassettes may be ordered from Eurith Jackson at the Episcopal Church Center, 800-334-7626, extension 5380.
In addition, an 18-minute video called "Turning Life Around" on 10 ministries supported by the United Thank Offering will debut at the Episcopal Church Women's Triennial. Included are segments on outreach by a San Diego parish to Sudanese refugees to Haiti, by students at the University of Kansas serving meals to the homeless, and by volunteers in northern Virginia who provide mentoring for unwed teenage mothers. "Turning Lives Around" was produced by Fred Huff of Scottsdale, Arizona, and will be available for sale in both English and Spanish at the General Convention Exhibit Hall at the United Thank Offering and Episcopal Parish Services booths, or through Episcopal Parish Services at 800-903-5544.
On Sunday, September 18th at 8 p.m., Eastern time, the Odyssey Cable-TV Channel will air a one-hour special telecast, based on the "Let The Whole World See" video, and will report on the work of the church and the ECW, with an emphasis on interpreting how and why the General Convention and the ECW Triennial Meeting are important to viewers, whether Episcopalian or not. The Odyssey Channel reaches 28 million households.
Electronic media in use during convention will also include multi-media presentations of the Episcopal Church Center ministries exhibit, the report of Executive Council to a joint session of the convention, convention floor IMAG (image projections of speakers) and "legislation text" large screen projections. As a service for journalists, continuous audio and video feeds will be connected to the official news room at the Philadelphia Convention Center whenever the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies are in public (not executive) session.
In order that this unprecedented level of information provision may begin to be available on a diocesan and parish scale as well, a number of deputies and bishops are submitting resolutions calling on the church as a whole, from parishes to churchwide agencies, to enhance their communications capabilities. Most initiatives emphasize better cooperation and a comprehensive and accountable strategy for inter-communication and information sharing, seeing information provider media specialists as inseparable partners with the doers of ministry.
"Whether by convention action or not, it would increase the effectiveness of the church's use of ALL electronic media -- radio, television, satellite transmissions, multi-media productions, corporate video, teleconferencing, Intranets, and the full range of current and emerging Internet communication tools -- if those already engaged in this ministry could form or increase cooperative planning," said Lee. "We need to be poised for flexible adoption of goals and methods, readily modifying plans as new enhancements or techniques become viable."