The Ohio Independent Baptist, June 1964

o urc urc enou • • ICI ? • Some churches fail to let p ub li c know about activi t ies in community By James R. Johnso n •• "111e cl1t1r l1c.;; get ~lll tl1e nC\-\", ... l1t1t \\t.' li1...1n't c,er1 gt 111t:ntioncd." .... . . 1~111, ~)l,11nt1\ e ,tnte111ent. r a 11111- lar )t1e 1: 111~1de rcpeatedl) either in the ne\, paper r 0111 r fron1 pa tor ..1bL tit the pt1hli it) the) r cei,,e abot1t th ir .. ht1r h a tiv itie . Evidcn tly editor .. nd pt1bl1 .her~ con ider chL1rch n \\ ~ in1portant or th )' \.\ uldn't give and all \\ o n1uch pace f r it. Btit 001 ht1r he get in the new n1ore ften becau e ither the pa tor, or n1eone in the church know what i ne\\ and know about the opera– ation of a new paper. Much news available Our churche have much new that could be in the local new paper and churche and pa tor would be hort– igl1ted if they overlook thi mean of communication. According to Jame W. Carty Jr. , profe or of journali m at Bethany (W. a.) College, the rel igiou pub– lici t hould build a new public im- age of him elf a haring ervant' or ··creative communicator. Ir. Carty recently poke on 'Mo– tivation for Religiou Writing' at the fir t annual banquet at the St. Lou i Chapter of the ational Religiou Publicity Council. He wa formerly religiou new editor of the a hville Tenne sean. ~'The church publici t often is so ab orbed with i heavy routine work th at he fail to reflect privately on hi public image." "The church is the greatest institu– tion. There hould be more publicity to build a public image of the church as the creative servant of mankind." Space will not permit u to write lengthy on thi subject therefore a fev.,, hints on getting church news in print will uffice at pre ent with more article later to broaden our tudy. It would be well for every pa tor to \ 1 1t hi<; local newspaper editorial room. Each week. instead of mailing in his notices of the weekly service , he could take time to deliver it in per on. In thi ~ay he could study JUNE, 1964 PAGE 6 Ll1c ,vorking<; of the prc"i~ roo111, talk \.vi th the per, n who cd it the cht1rch I age n1atcrial. a ' k qt1c ti n ahot1l the editorial policy of the new paper and del rn1ine what i or i not new . he editoria l taff likewL e be- come acquainted with the pa tor whi ch will help in later dealing with the per on. The pa tor a] o hould know who i the new editor and que tion him ( alway after deadline) a to what church new i accepted. Our new paper ha rejected good new torie becau e omeone call. and want a picture or a reporter on the ame day a church event i tak– ing place. Time therefore i e en– tial . Although the new paper may be a daily, a one week notice in ad– vance i appreciated wherever ,po - ible. If the church group above had notifi ed the new paper office in ad– vance a photographer would have been scheduled and a reporter as– signed . The re ult would be good publicity, but there wa none. What make church new ? Possibilities unlimited The po ·ibilities are unlimited. Church building plans, groundbreak– ing , special meeting ordination , calling of ,a pa tor, re ignations an– niver arie and church dedication are a few. Special event uch a DVBS or local young ,people at camp could a] o be made into new - worthy items. Do not give the impre ion that you always want to get omething for nothing. A new paper must de– pend on advertising to pay its ex– pen es. One good turn deserves an– other. If you know of a story that is not related to your church tele– phone the new editor. He will ap– preciate it and in turn will be will– ing to give you all the pace he po - sibly can for your church and at no co t if it i worthy new . Then, too, where certain meeting are turned down as new itorie u ually becau e there are many other churche in a city, a church hould adverti e occasionally. James R. Johnson A pa tors and church memberc. we de ire to ee people of our com– munity intere ted in our church activitie enough to vi it the ervice~. These new paper torie reach man} ,people each week and sometime are the only contact with people in the community. I n'•t it wi e then to u e this media a much as we pos ibly can? Try ome of the e idea oon and ee for your elf that your church can be 'more in the news." Hebrew Christian Society (An Independent Baptist Mission) 4486 Mayfield Road Cleveland 21, Ohio * * * PRESENTING CHRIST Through means of: • Literature Distribution • House-to-House Visitation • Bible Classes • Camp • Correspondence School • Radio WCRF Cleveland Speakers available to minister in your Church Rev. Alan C. Metcalf, Director THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST