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Mobilizing Catholic Media Practitioners For The Mission Of The Church In The Digital Era

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March 14, 2020
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The great commission remains
the greatest call of man by
God, to go out and spread the
gospel, to win souls into God’s

kingdom and to nurture them to maturi-
ty in the things of the spirit so that they

too can bring in new converts and repeat
the cycle. Over the years humanity have

interpreted the call in various ways ap-
plying ingenuity in delivering the good

news to the world, using whatever means
was available to carry through.
It was mostly from door to door, then

later from town to town as the evange-
lism of souls increased via team work

and church growth. Over the years, it has
taken many forms according to societal

growth, human social expansion, edu-
cation and technological development,

each method yielded relative results in
accordance with the methods applied.
One major innovative way that the
gospel and godly teachings travelled,
expanding far and wide even without
human presence to deliver, was through
the art of writing. Through writing Paul

was able to reach out to many believ-
ers and churches, where he ministered,

taught, coordinated, corrected and fel-
lowshipped with them all the while he

was in prison, locked away and unable
to be with them physically. Before Paul
the apostle, there were many scribes and
scholars who wrote and helped gather
the teachings into scrolls. Moses was a
prominent Hebrew leader, hand picked
by God, who wrote the first 5 books of
the Bible alongside other books within
the great Canon.
One thing made Moses the right man

for the job, though he had speech de-
fects Moses was highly educated, haven

trained in the best schools the Egyptian
Palace could provide for a prince. In

other words, Moses was the most edu-
cated person in his time, able to articu-
late and write better than anyone else, it

is no wonder God commissioned him to
be the one to write down the mysteries
of creation, the history of man and the
instruction of God.
Writing has continued to serve the

church as a viable, effective way to pre-
serve and spread God’s teaching to the

world. The Holy Bible and all its ac-
companying books containing valu-
able spiritual resources have survived

for centuries due to it’s preservation
through writing.
ENTER THE DIGITAL ERA (The
Information Age).

We are now in the digital era where in-
formation can now be handled in more

ways than writing.

DEFINITIONS: The Oxford dic-
tionary describes the word ‘Digital’ as

1.) Having to do with digits (fingers or

toes); performed with a finger. (2) Prop-
erty of representing values as discrete,

usually binary, numbers rather than a
continuous spectrum.
digital computer; digital clock. (3) Of

or relating to computers or the Informa-
tion Age.

The last definition hits the nail quite
well, the age of computers brought

about the digital age, it is the age of in-
formation.

Though writing as a skill and valuable

human resource has survived for centu-
ries, other forms of storing, preserving

and transferring information now exist
thanks to one of the greatest invention of
man, ‘the microchip’ which powers the
computers as its brain.
ENTER MEDIA PRACTITIONERS
In the age of information, the digital
age, information storage, management
and transfer using modern methods is
man’s sustenance.

The invention of the modern comput-
er has influenced everything, coupled

with the creation of a world wide web
which now aids information sharing
across the globe through what we call
the Internet.
Close to 40 million Nigerians own
mobile phones, most of which are smart

phones (mini computers), this is accord-
ing to data from service providers within

the country and the figures are predicted
to triple by 2025.
Media practitioners are amongst those

at the fore-front of the information busi-
ness and the gospel is information. Those

who work in the media, radio TV, print
and through the Internet have a cross
to bear, they are at the fore-front of the
Great commission and like Moses, Paul
and many others who have taken it upon
themselves to answer the call, we cannot
be found wanting.
MOBILIZATION, RESOURCE
SHARING AND SUPPORT.
The great commission as interpreted
in church missions is still as viable and

urgent as it was when Christ first men-
tioned it. The time is now and not to-
morrow, this gospel that we have is for

everyone and must not be kept under
the bushel.
Many media practitioners have over
the years assisted in the work, they have
toiled and struggled to achieve much

needed traction, however more hands
are needed to help the process.

In this digital/information age, net-
working, resource sharing and consist-
ency are key principles, hence no one is

allowed to run solo, this is to avoid losing

steam. Some of the major ways the gos-
pel has been distributed today are;

1) Sponsored church programmes on
radio and television.

2) Articles, devotionals and publica-
tions via the print media.

3) The Internet via websites, blogs, pag-
es, groups, channels, accounts and spon-
sored ads.

4) One of the most powerful medium
that can access information from all of
the above mentioned remain the mobile
smart phone.
BREAKDOWN

SPONSORED CHURCH PRO-
GRAMMES ON RADIO AND

TELEVISION.
These are church programmes aired
via these platforms, think of it as taking
the church to people’s homes through
the media, they’re either done live from
the studio, or pre-recorded and played at

allotted time on the stations usually de-
cided by the church/client.

Such programmes via the radio or tel-
evision attract standard fees which vary

from station to station. A simple enquiry
done directly or indirectly is enough to
get the rate-card (cost of services) of any
station, after which one can decide on
time, package, format and duration.
The good news is that most stations do
preliminary consultations as part of what
you get when you make enquiry from
them, they put you through on some

technicalities, logistics and miscellane-
ous in other to help you decide quicker

in patronizing them.
Guide scripts will naturally be written

and a producer for the programme cho-
sen. The format of the programme deter-
mines the presentation style, usually for a

church programme; the priest/elder who

does the preaching in church handles it

or anyone else that is ordained and nom-
inated by the church council.

Church programmes can be aired,
daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half

yearly, periodically/seasonally and annu-
ally depending on the nature of the pro-
gramme, it’s aim objectives and what the

church wants.

FUND RAISING/SOURCING: Di-
rect sponsorship by the church is usually

the primary source while contributions
from individuals and groups who have
partnered with the church makes up
the secondary source, these contributors

may be church members or non mem-
bers as opportunities for sponsorships

are usually thrown open to the public via
announcements at the end of the show.
ARTICLES, DEVOTIONALS AND
PUBLICATIONS VIA THE PRINT
MEDIA.

Much like the same thing done on ra-
dio and television, the print media offers

its services at a cost and they’ll gladly give
their rate-card to any client that needs it.
Unlike TV and radio no recording or live
appearances are required, a write up is all
that is needed, this is sent to the print

media outfit via mail or delivered in per-
son alongside images to accompany it if

any. The write up or write ups are then
featured in the publication accordingly
depending on the nature and structure.

The outfit which could be a newspa-
per, magazine, brochure or other may

notifies the clients when publication is
out so that they can obtain a copy from
vendors.

ALTERNATIVES: Apart from patron-
izing commercial publications such as

previously mentioned, the church may

choose to create its own magazine, pam-
phlets, newsletter, devotionals etc…

It’s usually easier If the church has a
printing press of its own but if not, an

external printing press is usually con-
tacted to do the printing while church

representatives handle the designs and

other customized aspect of the publica-
tion before printing.

FUND RAISING AND SPONSOR-
SHIP for this project is similar to that

of TV and radio with only slight differ-
ences.

THE INTERNET VIA WEB-
SITES, BLOGS, PAGES,

GROUPS, CHANNELS, AC-
COUNTS AND SPONSORED

ADS.
This is where radio, TV, digital prints
and others meets as the internet can
house all of the above mentored.
Taking advantage of the various

platforms on the internet as highlight-
ed above is very similar to what has

already been discussed for radio, TV
and prints. These platforms have huge
following and that’s what gives these
services online their value.
Placing an advert on a website, page,
blog, channel, group etc for religious

purposes is popular but not as popu-
lar as the previously mentioned me-
dia although it still depends on what

the church wants. These platforms are
usually where private individuals help
to protect the gospel as they many of
them own impressive platforms online
that have large following.

Businesses all over the world have tak-
en advantage of these media platforms,

aggressive advertising, marketing cam-
paigns and sponsorship dominates

free field. The church on the other
hand cannot be seen to be left behind
as God’s business of soul winning
through the spread of the gospel is
prime business.

The clarion call goes out to every-
one but most importantly to the me-
dia practitioner who are at the fore

front of the information business.
They must mobilize, share resources
and support each other even as they

support the church through continu-
ous consistent knowledge

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