Lack of international communication part of Anglicanism's current challenges, presenters say
Communicators packed 400 years into their April 25-28 annual meeting, from commemorating the beginnings of the first European settlement and Anglican Church in the New World, to contemplating future mission amid the rapidly evolving ‘wiki’ world of technology and celebrating with a Hip Hop Mass.
The collaboration inherent in wiki (a Hawaiian word for quickly) online applications ‘offers a model for shared ministry,’ the Episcopal Church's communication director, Canon Robert Williams, told the gathering April 28.
He cited the popular book ‘Wikinomics’ that emphasizes four collaborative work principles: openness, peer-ing (in the sense of working as peers), sharing, and acting globally. The combination ‘sounds like the Anglican Communion at its best,’ Williams said.
‘Communication and collaboration are essential to the Christian life, and to addressing current tensions in our church and the wider Anglican Communion,’ he said, also underscoring the importance of ‘transparency and mission’ in the churchwide communication program.
Collaboration, he said, is also a priority for the shared work of Episcopal Communicators - many of whom are editors and communication directors in dioceses, seminaries, agencies and congregations - and in building a stronger network of communication professionals around the Anglican Communion.
The four-day ‘Journeys of Discovery’ gathering of 120 church communications professionals from across the church included demonstrations of Episcopal Life Online and EpiScope and awards ceremonies and board elections. Plans were also announced for: a newly-created scholarship for a national multicultural communications ministry; a task force to explore incorporating Millennium Development Goals into the group's mission, and a 'restore New Orleans' trip.
Communicating, Collaborating, Celebrating, and Tension
During an early morning meditation April 28, the Revd Harry Crandall, the meeting's chaplain, characterized Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's election as the ‘clearest indication the church intends to march forward into the future…with inclusiveness in our hearts and as our guideline.’ Crandall, rector emeritus of Hungars Cure Parish on Virginia's eastern shore, challenged communicators ‘to move into that future, confident in who we are and what we believe.’
Tensions within the Anglican Communion regarding human sexuality are complicated by a conflict-driven media, dwindling financial resources and lack of communications infrastructure, said Canon Jim Rosenthal, Anglican Communion communications director, in an April 28 keynote address.
‘The news that the State of New Hampshire will now allow civil partnerships and that Bishop Gene Robinson will avail himself of this development, and that Archbishop of All Nigeria Peter Akinola will come to the USA to enthrone his first CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) Bishop is likely not much of a surprise to anyone,’ Rosenthal said at a morning plenary session. ‘Yet both or one or the other of these decisions will add yet more delight for some and more stress for others in various places in the Communion.’
‘Even the church papers, which are completely independent, have their unique stance on the matters and people of the day,’ he said. ‘Media and press relations are a must, but in an age when communication has never been more important, why is it the first to go in a budget?’
Even with the internet, the postal service is still the primary means of communication in the U.K. and elsewhere. ‘We're in a church where very little conforms and it never did, as far as I know,’ he said. ‘Liturgy is no longer the unity it was or should be today. As communicators they will come to you and say ‘fix it’' It's why people like you are so important, and there are very few people like you around the world. Perhaps in England, Canada but in many of the provinces there is no one.’
Williams agreed. ‘The lack of communications infrastructure (across the Anglican Communion) is at the heart of many tensions’ that could be eased by improved dialogue, he said.
He said the Episcopal Church's own dialogue on issues will be aided by recent improvements in churchwide communication infrastructure, including a new online interactive edition of the Episcopal Life newspaper, and the launch of a news blog, ‘epiScope.’ Also, ‘there is no substitute for person-to-person communication,’ he said.
Of current church conflicts reported in the media, he emphasized that ‘the Episcopal Church is a resilient church with more than 400 years of history and heritage in North America.’ He cited the Presiding Bishop's frequent observation ‘that tension is healthy for growth. If there's no tension, there's no growth.’
He also quoted a recent Boston Globe interview with the Presiding Bishop in which she affirmed that the current debate over human sexuality is ‘an issue for some clergy and a handful of primates ... but the vast majority of people and clergy in this church and across the Communion think our common mission is of far greater importance.’
EpiScope, and ‘a family of blogs’
The Revd Jan Nunley, deputy for communication at the Episcopal Church Center, demonstrated EpiScope (pronounced epi-scope), planned as a daily log of mainstream media stories along with some video and audio about the church and matters relating to it. ‘The function is to show the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion what is being said about us, to see ourselves as others see us,’ she explained. ‘It's also an opportunity for correction and reflection so reporters can receive feedback on those stories.
‘How many times have you talked to a reporter in your function as a public relations person for your diocese and given them a beautiful quote and they get about this much in? Well, this is your opportunity to go back and say 'here's the rest of what I told them.’
EpiScope is part of a family of blogs which Nunley envisions for future communications. Another is EpiStory which ‘is our recent history. It will provide a way for us to include things like timelines of particular issues and how they've evolved in the church and the links we have on the web.’
Episcopal Life Online, Episcope and other ministries of the national communication office exist to ‘support the local context in every way we can,’ Williams told the gathering. ‘Our work as communicators in those local contexts is what is going to make the difference on a daily basis’ in telling the story of the church and its vitality, he added.
Earlier in the week, Matt Davies, editor and international correspondent, demonstrated Episcopal Life Online. Launched on March 22, it offers reporting from Episcopal Life and the latest coverage from the Episcopal News Service. It also includes links to other information and special interactive features for dioceses, readers and communicators and may be accessed via the national church webpage.
Antiracism training, multicultural scholarships, ‘God is in the House’ Word
Moving forward into the future also includes considering cultural diversity. Emphasizing the importance of anti-racism work within the church, Williams called upon the group to assure that church communication at all levels avoids ‘unintentionally reinforcing unfortunate stereotypes of groups and people’ and guards against reflections of classism, homophobia, heterosexism. ‘What are we as communicators,’ he asked, ‘doing around these very important aspects of life?’
Williams announced establishment of the Jerry Hames Scholarship for Multicultural Communication in the Episcopal Church. Created in honor of Episcopal Life Editor Hames, who retires June 30 after 17 years, it is intended ‘to empower a communicator with bicultural or multicultural experience for work at the Church Center or in an Episcopal diocese to increase our multicultural competence as communicators,’ Williams said. Contributions may be made payable to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, or DFMS, and forwarded to the Church Center Office of Communication.
Communicators awarded Hames with numerous Polly Bond prizes and the organization's highest honor, the Janette Pierce Award for outstanding commitment to excellence in church communications. In an unprecedented development, Ann Ball of the Diocese of Louisiana also received the Pierce Award, which is not given yearly.
A complete listing of Polly Bond Award winners may be found here: http://www.episcopalcommunicators.org/Awards.htm
The group also elected Jim DeLa (Diocese of Southwest Florida) as board president; and Nancy Davidge (Episcopal Divinity School) and Joe Bjordal (Diocese of Minnesota) as new board members. Communicators honored retiring board members Neva Rae Fox and Frank Ballard for their service.
Before adjourning to celebrate a Hip Hop Mass, retiring President Laurie Wozniak announced the next meeting, to be held April 9-12, 2008 in Seattle, Washington, and called for volunteers for a task force to consider how the organization might incorporate the United Nations Millennium Development Goals into its mission. Plans were also announced for a September 20-25, 2007 communicators' trip to help restore New Orleans, planned to coincide with the House of Bishops meeting. For more information about that trip, contact: Herb Gunn in Michigan at: herbgunn@earthlink.net or Melodie Woerman in Kansas at: mwoerman@episcopal-ks.org
The meeting concluded with a Hip Hop Mass, led by the Rev. Tim Holder, who said his Atlantic City, New Jersey-based ministry (http://www.hiphopemass.org/) has just welcomed seven new mission sites. Holder incorporated the Hip Hop Prayer Book (Church Publishing, 2006), along with extemporaneous preaching to the backbeat musical talents of David Mitchell (aka Quiet Storm), Gary Long (aka GLO), and Paradox. They ‘set off’ a call: ‘God is in the House. When I say Amen, y’all say Word. God is in the House. Amen.’ To which communicators responded enthusiastically: ‘Word.’
‘We got a spirit for Jesus. It's not telekinesis. Straight from the sky. It's kind of fly. If you love it, put your hands to the most high.’
‘Before I knew life he died for me. I was blind and he opened up my eyes to see. On the third day he rose and hit the sky for me.’
And, finally, as the service ended: ‘Let us go forth and tell the world like it is.’
Article from: Episcopal News Service – by Pat McCaughan