Embrace the New, Christian Media Conferees Learn
Spreading the Christian Gospel takes a lot more these days than a simple church service. To hear exhibitors at an Anaheim convention tell it Sunday, projection screens fit for a movie theater and flashy websites are essential.
At the annual gathering of National Religious Broadcasters, more than 320 displays are aimed at helping Christian churches, radio stations and television preachers maximize their impact. The atmosphere among the thousands there -- most clad in church-appropriate skirts and slacks, no jeans -- was anything but solemn.
Videos of evangelists booming from every other television competed with tapes of children’s choirs and Christian rock bands. Attendees snapped up yardsticks of gum from the Christian Law Center and raspberry shakes from the booth featuring Valerie Saxion’s book “The Gospel of Health.” Aspiring globetrotters flocked to travel booths offering tours of Israel, the Bahamas and Germany, or “Land of the Reformation.”
Standing in line for autographs from Victoria Lowe, writer of “10 Spiritual Principles of Successful Women,” an Irvine couple said churches needed to focus on technology to stay relevant. “In Jesus’ time, simple preaching did the trick,” said college counselor Josh Rubell with his wife, Rose. “But we’re living in a media world now. Same message, different way of presenting it.”
Like the Rubells, many wanted to bring home tote bags laden with books, pamphlets and other souvenirs from the Anaheim Convention Center, where registration ranged from $100 for attending only the exposition to $695 for the five days of seminars and banquets.
While some perused brochures for Christian insurance companies featuring “affordable, Biblical healthcare,” others entered to win what one production company said was a 4,000-year-old, museum-quality piece of brimstone from the original sin city: Gomorrah.
Displaying its services at the convention for the first time was Site Organic, a Virginia Web design company with the slogan “Church websites the way God intended.” Executive producer Brad Hill and his colleagues work with churches and ministries to create user-friendly sites and teach church leaders how to update them. Some churches’ sites feature streaming video of their weekly services and ask for online donations; some have zippy graphics to attract a younger audience.
The event runs through Wednesday, with dozens of educational seminars. “Finding God in Hollywood” is today; Tuesday will feature “Is God in Your Gizmo?,” a session devoted to increasing spirituality among church volunteers. Other topics include boosting website traffic, marketing strategies and preparing for an inspection by the Federal Communications Commission.
In addition to addressing how to get the message out, plenty of exhibitors were focused on content -- along with having their own audience-drawing gimmicks.
Standing among the men in suits touting SafeTV, an Arkansas channel that distributes children-friendly programming for a Christian audience, was a bearded man, costumed to resemble popular images of Jesus, who posed for photos with visitors to the booth.
Officials with Guardian Studios, an Ohio company that produces a Christian comedy show called “Bananas,” passed out yellow pens topped with cutouts of the fruit. The show is broadcast in Southern California on KDOC-TV Channel 56.
The company’s shows and other Christian programming are essential in a TV world in which swearing and nudity often dominate, said Vice President Steve Howard.
“With the presidential election, values went mainstream,” he said. “Christian programming helps fill a void. The better quality that’s used to produce and broadcast the shows, the more people will embrace them.”