Thursday, July 10, 2008

Bishops Receive Media Handling Tips

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/7/9/bishops-receive-media-handling-tips

[The Living Church] 10 Jul 2008--During media narrative training since the House of Bishops’ spring retreat in March, bishops from The Episcopal Church have been instructed to give the media “no more than they need or can use” regarding the Lambeth Conference and to “remember key ideas out of those long agendas.”

Americans will represent nearly 25 percent of about 650 Anglican bishops scheduled to attend the conference, which starts next week in Canterbury, England.

In responding to questions from the media, Episcopal bishops are being encouraged to respond in a way that emphasizes two main themes:

  • When Anglicans work together through the power of the Holy Spirit, we change the world; and
  • At the Lambeth Conference, the bishops of the Anglican Communion review our deep unity in Christ.
The method can be illustrated with a triangular diagram, according to a handout developed by Auburn Media, part of Auburn Theological Seminary. The handout was part of a packet sent to Episcopal bishops recently by Bishop Clay Matthews of the Presiding Bishop’s Office of Pastoral Development.

“The diagram requires that you provide three examples or facts that support each of the three ideas and that all information leads back to the same conclusion – the core message,” the handout stressed. “The method provides a map that is easy to remember, giving you focus and control for the broadest range of media appearances.”

Controls on what information is released to the public? Talk of Anglicans working together through the power of the Holy Spirit? Closed sessions? Sounds like the liberals running Lambeth are going to make some extraordinary claims at the conclusion of Lambeth 2008.

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