At last the Blog becomes a Conference

Well, we have all heard it before, " all things must come to an end." The graduate class of MC 550, Media in Society has had a wonderful time this semester discussing a wide variety of topics on our blogs and in the classroom. One of the best things about the class was that it was held over the Internet. Our class would meet every Tuesday & Thursday through a web conference host called WebEx where we would discuss real world issues that were timely & relevant to themes we had chosen to blog about. On April 26 at the Mississippi E-Center in Jackson from 12:00-1:20 our class will meet in the physical to host a conference. This conference will feature all of the groups along with guest panelist to discuss how the constantly evolving forms of media effects their theme. For Religious Media, our two guest speakers will be Pastor Stan Buckley, First Baptist church of Jackson and Breyon Brandford of Oromna Media. Come join us 26 April, 12:00-1:20 at the E-Center to discuss the importance of understanding and being active in the new media that surrounds you everyday.

Themes: Youth and Media in Society, Social Media and Relationships 101, Media Portryals, Decline of Print Media, Media in Society, & Religious Media.

Church through the Media: Use or Lose



More and more, churches are using the media to market, promote, and bring awareness to different aspects of the ministry for outreach.   Just yesterday, I received an inbox message for free streaming of church services.  The method of outreach is no longer limited to the door to door  ministry where neighbors are called to salvation and invited to come to Sunday Service.  The use of media saves time and effort on a church which is small and may not have the members to reach a wide span of the community on foot.  On the other hand, the original plan laid out in the New Testament of two by two going from home to home is lost.  Would Jesus have wanted Christians to expand our methods with the times? He did say that latter day Christians would perform greater works than He.  The complaint of many potential congregants is that many churches are too large and have lost the personal feel of the churches of old.  This problem is only likely to increase as more churches use media to attract more members.

Research shows that more people are exposed to different forms of religious media than the percentage of those who attend church with many depending on media such as television, radio, magazines, or books as their primary source of spiritual nourishment.

Do you prefer to go to attend a religious service or seek out your own spiritual advisement through media sources?

What Billy Graham Said

Posted on Sunday, October 10, 2010 10:35:12 AM by WebFocus

Below is a question anwered by Billy Graham regarding whether a person can just stay at home and watch television.

Q: I've always been a fairly independent person, and for that reason I've never bothered getting connected to a church. It always seemed like too much hassle. And anyway, I can watch a church service on TV if I want to. I know you probably wouldn't agree, but why? - N. McK.
 
Ans: Let me ask you a question: If you never ate a balanced diet, what would happen to your body? You know the answer: Eventually you'd grow weak; you might even open yourself to serious illness or disease. We all need a balanced diet if we are to stay healthy.

But it also includes fellowship with other believers. We need their encouragement; we also need to learn from their experience of walking with God. Don't shut yourself off from God's people, but ask Him to lead you to a church where His Word is taught and lived, and where you'll grow stronger in your faith. You need other believers - and they need you.

To read the full response to this question go to: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2604881/posts


We Aint Never Done it Like that Before

T: The church is one of the oldest  institutions that is in any community.  Seeing that it has survived for so long you would think that it has the ability to accept change fairly easily. Truth is, a lot of times churches get stuck in tradition and people make statements like, “we aint never done it like that before?” When Jesus talked to his disciples this is one of the mindsets that He wanted to ensure they did not get stuck in. Jesus came back to be a redeemer for all but religious leaders were stuck doing things their way because it allowed them to feel important and to be needed.  This need to feel important and be needed caused them to not be able to reach everyone and not want to reach everyone. So what does that have to do with internet and social media? Well, in some churches there are people who are a level right below the pastor who don’t want to lose their little role of importance because it gives them a title therefore the church suffers in outreach. With Pastor Roderick Richardson we are able to see the type of impact a church can have if it keeps the teachings of Christ but also embraces the change the rest of the world is going through.  We know there are people who are going to continue to meet God within the confides of the church but for those who aren't going to initially come to the church we should meet them on their territory.

                                    Internet                                                                    Twitter

Blogger       Facebook

  

Now I am not suggesting that we throw out everything that the church has been doing for years but I am saying it is worth evaluating how the church is operating.  If the Internet will help in accomplishing outreach it shouldn’t be met with strong resistance. A Preacher broke it down like this the other day, if his mom would have had a microwave in 1962 she would have used it, if she would have had a dryer instead of a clothes line she would have used it. I commend Pastor Richardson on his use of the Internet to spread the gospel. He is not a mega church but as a local church he is using everything at his disposal.

The Word in the City

Can The Word Center Reach the Souls of Jackson



Would you be suprised to know that this video is a skit from a church service? 

W:  In Christianity, there is a doctrine called the Great Commission which is the call of Christian followers to preach the gospel to every nation.  Preaching the gospel is not excluded to just relaying scriptures to people or condemning them to eternal damnation, it is also a message of loving your neighbor and serving the community.  When we think of the church as a socializing agent, that includes how it is able to first minister and impact the local community.  One church in particular, The Word Center, pastored by Roderick Richardson and Minister Tyronda Richardson, has set out to bring change to the city with the soul, Jackson, MS.  The Word is a fairly new church that hold services in Callaway High School, and they are not going about the business of ministry with church as usual.

 

  Home Improvement: My Life is Under Construction (message at the Word Center) 

The Word gives back

With a pastor who addresses the congregation on Sunday in jeans and message series such as Love Sex & Relationships which includes sermon titles: Good Loving Aint' Easy to Come By, Fatal Attractions, and I Think I 'm in Lust With You, some may see this church as taboo, while others are excited about services that meet them right where they are.  Richardson's biography labels him as a cutting edge prophetic minister with a church vision to bring change to its members with real and relevant  messages.  Is Jackson ready for this contemporary approach to church? What are your thoughts?



THE WAR ON RELIGION........

 

Holy Rollers. Super-Saints.  The Way.  All nicknames from biblical times to the present that poke fun at Christians.  In the bible, Jesus promised Christians persecution and in biblical times the method was burning at the stake all who claimed Christ.  Today Christians are being roasted by images and messages.  In recent years there has been a publicized war on religion with hollywood and celebrities stepping out as  major opponents.  Through satirical portrayal in movies such as Saved and Religulous and literature like, Holy Willie's Prayer and Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, media has projected some not so favourable illustrations of Christian spirituality.   Last year, Comedy Central developed an animated series that depicted Jesus leaving his father, God, and going on adventures to discover himself away from the shadow of God.  After complaints and a campaign from religious groups that discouraged advertiser sponsorship, the station could not find advertisers to fund air time.  Below is a clip from the show.

The War Ain't Over But They are Fighting Fair

Although the media has not stopped in poking fun at religion, there has been recent messages of a redeeming factor for Christianity called: The New Face of Christianity.  Images are displayed of a generation that wants to eliminate the oxymorons of Spirituality with more focus on providing assistance to the poor, working with families to educate the youth, and being good stewards over the earth where God has given them dominion  by becoming more green.  These images show the focus Christians place on compassion for others with ministers such as Joel Osteen, who begins most messages with a joke and speaks to his congregation about the great things God has in store for them because of His love. 







Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The African American Church

In the media the African American church has two personalities. We are seen as the pillar of our communities and we are seen as jokes. To make my point I have two videos to share with you. The first video is a little boy who is reciting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s  “I have a dream” speech. I don’t know if you remember who Dr. King is but he had the same type of religious clout in the nation as the white Evangelist Billy Graham.  Dr. King one of America's greatest preachers was so influential in this country he now has his own national holiday.  It is the African American church that helped our culture stay together during our bad and good times in the United States of America. On the other side of the coin we have what the Blues Brothers depicted in their movie as the African American church. I can’t blame Hollywood or the media for having this ugly protyal of us because we did have churches that only had shout parties and had no teaching going on. To be fair though, we as a people who have gone through many trails and tribulations have a reason to shout! To outsiders, especially Non-Christians they will never truly understand or be able to accurately retell our story.

Media Ecology: The New Religion of Media

 W: In years past, the church was the socializing agent in the community where the church family was in some regards just as important as your immediate family.  The issues of the community were addressed by the preacher which sparked civil engagement in the community.  Children were born into the church family, reared and cheered on by the congregants with the expectation that they would grow up to make them proud and continue the cycle.  The minister and the church were looked at as change agents to help fight the social injustices of society while strengthening the spirit to face those tribulations.  Over time, with the advances of technology, the church's role as a social agent has declined and has been replaced by the media, particularly in the case of youth.  The images and messages displayed by the media are held as "bible"  for some and a template on the way to live.  One possible reason for the shift could be the portrayal of organized religion in media as suffocating and hypocritical, while the media environment provides a plethora of liberties. 

Do you think the media's perception of religion has affected its stance as a socializing agent?





Religion is it a Major Force?

T: Religion along with education at one time were the major forces in any society, which dictated how people should live according to George Gerbner the founder of the cultivation theory.  The values and morals in religions were passed down from one generation to the next with the intent to preserve the culture.  In this effort to preserve the culture, it was imperative that people within a community or village socialized ideas and issues.  Then came along the TV, and to the dismay of many within religious communities “it,” became the major factor which dictated how people should live.  Now along with TV, virtual communities’ i.e. social networks, gaming, and online dating communities have begun to reshape how people all over the world interact with one another.  Religions have begun to invest a tremendous amount of effort in these communities realizing the importance of having a presence and an understanding of how ideas and issues are socialized and resolved.  Below are a few examples of the Christian religion trying to establish new community’s (colonies):

Godtube vs Youtube

Lifespace vs Myspace

Christian Dating Website vs Popular Dating Websites

Visions vs World of Warcraft

Do you believe the above efforts help religious ideas and issues get socialized so they have the opportunity to impact society?

Islamic Televangelism: Shining the Light with
 Lite Religion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12437440

W: Islamic Televangelist, Moez Masoud told a BBC news reporter in an interview, that the first words that came to his mind when Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt were, "Pharaoh has let his people go.  Thank you Moses."    Masoud's words weigh heavily in the Islamic community in Cairo, especially among the youth of Cairo.  He is a former advertising executive and media student who has hosted his own television show in both Arabic and English with an Western feel where he openly discusses issues involving sex, homosexuality, and even the oppression of women.

Even as a Christian, I feel a certain kinship to Masoud in that he exhibits a humility in his message of Islam with the ideal of spirituality from the heart rather than a rigid  religion.  He and his counterparts have set-out to change the face of Islam from an angry religion to what is described as Islam "lite," a watered-down less extreme version.  I was surprise after hearing Moez to find that the issues that he addresses are also relevant in the Christian community.  In an interview with, Dick Gordon, he speaks about his belief that homosexuality is a sin but as a believer of Islam, he should still show that person love, or as he described it, "hate the sin, love the person".  I heard an American Christian  televangelist express the same sentiment, in fact there are many similarities of Western televangelist broadcasting style in both Masoud's message delivery and even the appearance of his TV show.  It is easy for me to distance myself from the Islamic extremist who bomb buildings with women and children inside, all in the name of Allah, but when I hear this soft-spoken yet still charismatic Islamic preacher speak about a loving and compassionate faith, I think to myself that if the words "Islam" and "Allah" were eliminated it would become hard to determine whether he is talking about his faith or mine.

All I's on Egypt - What do You C?

T: All eyes have been on Egypt in the last few weeks and probably like never before have people been more eager to learn what they could about the country.  Due to the topic of our blog I have decided to show what social media has done for the country of Egypt and religion. Now, I feel that I must state upfront that I am firmly rooted in my faith in Jesus Christ and it is because of His love that I can have an open mind and listen to the man on the video talk about his faith in Islam.  I chose to display Islam because the majority of those in Egypt are Muslim. So many times in traditional media, religions end up having false stereotypes projected over and over. This can be aggravating for true believers in any faith. The beauty of social media is that it creates communities in which people can choose to become a part of and can take the time to have open dialogues. In traditional media it is mainly a one way conversation.  Moez Masoud, the young man in the video has been able to share a side of Islam that hasn’t been seen since before September 11^th 2001. This is the beauty of social media it gives us the opportunity to become closer as a global society.

What impressions are you left with? Please share your thoughts below.

Our Focus

This blog will examine the religious community’s usage of mass media as a tool for outreach. Since the mass media is so broad my partner (W) & I (T) will focus on but not limit ourselves to the fields of broadcast television & social media.

W: My portion of the blog will explore the Christian church’s use of media broadcasting to revolutionize worldwide evangelism and the depiction of how the media interprets this practice. Currently, there is a two-fold relationship among the media and Christianity with the media having the double role of depicting the respectable virtue of Christian exploits, but also shining light on the peculiarities of faith against the norms of society.  The light of observance is not always shined in a positive view, especially in the negative or sometimes cynical interpretation of Christian leaders in television, films, and news reporting.   There are often times mutual feelings of antagonism from the Christian church in regards to the stereotypes the media project of religious leaders as money hungry vipers in tailored suits and shiny shoes taking advantage of poor parishioners who are seeking sound counsel. 

T: For my portion of the blog I will examine how the church uses the social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to reach young adults (18-26) & youth in the church as well as those in the local community.  We know the message of the church is relevant but has the church stayed up-to-date with the language and communication methods of the people in the 21^st Century. In the last few years the field of social media has grown by leaps & bounds from the delayed gratification of emails to instant messenger to virtual communities that we experience in real time.