Monday, June 8, 2009

Communications Recommendations

The Report of the Advisory Committees on the RCA Dialogue on Communication and the Church Herald presented tonight to delegates proposes an end to the ministry of the Church Herald. Among the six recommendations:

"R-68 To instruct the General Synod Council, in its capacity as the executive committee of the General Synod, in cooperation with the Church Herald Editorial Council, to facilitate an orderly cessation of publication of the Church Herald; and further, to ensure that the orderly cessation include appropriate severance for Church Herald personnel."

"R-69 To offer thanks to God for the ministry of the Church Herald."

Compared with the three "merger" options initially presented to the delegates, these recommendations appear to be much less amenable to the Church Herald's future than any of the three proposed options.

In the advisory group I participated in, there seemed to be little support for adding any assessment for communications. Accordingly, it seems difficult to imagine a workable alternative.

1 comment:

  1. I would agree. That was the experience I had in the group I was part of as well. The most telling line in our group was from a person who loves the Church Herald and is friends with some of the staff when she pointed out that even though she does not like it, the truth is that few people read the Church Herald even when it is provided free. Even though that made her sad, she recognized that is the truth.

    My thought it that:
    1) Me must keep communication between us in the RCA going. We cannot simply allow it to disappear.
    2) In spite of their physical existance, due to low readership, it is likely neither the Church Herald nor RCA Today are communicating in an effective way.
    3) In light of those points, we need to come up with an effective communication tool that works for communicating with people today.

    My other concern is that many of those who like to read our magazines today, would be among those for who electronic distribution would not be effective, so I would like something that was print friendly so at least a congregation could print it off for those who might want a printed version.

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