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
