Announcements for December 24, 2011

Greetings Everyone,

Many of you are already traveling to Louisville for the 2011 Winter Family Weekend, and I know we are all eagerly anticipating sharing the time and activities together. Many others who cannot be there in person will be joining us for the Sabbath services via the webcast, and I can tell you in advance that the message Jim Franks will be bringing will be informative and inspiring. It’s a blessing that should never be taken for granted that today’s technology allows thousands of brethren to be unified this way!

You will also be able to read about all the WFW activities and much more in early January in the inaugural edition of the monthly church newspaper, One Accord. We’re excited to bring this to “birth,” but I would like to remind all pastors that it will help in delivery if you will designate a reporter for your congregations so we can receive information in an organized and timely manner. Please see the related announcement elsewhere in this Weekly Update.

It was extremely encouraging to be part of the two teleconferences this week for the employees and elders and to outline in detail the plans recently approved by the Ministerial Board of Directors for the activities of the Church in the coming year and beyond. I want to review in this letter some of the overall comments I made to the board and in those teleconferences regarding media. The details are too lengthy to cover in this letter, but included later in this Weekly Update is a “Summary Plan for Developing Web Content,” which rehearses the specifics we talked about concerning content development. This is one of the major elements of our media plan, and it is provided not only for your benefit but for sharing with the members in your congregations.

Having to start afresh a year ago required beginning with absolutely none of the “intellectual property” we were accustomed to having within easy reach at any time—no booklets, magazines, videos, classes, Bible courses, etc.—not even a communications system. This posed a huge challenge, but a wonderful group of volunteers immediately stepped into the gap to start filling both needs, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

Since September, though, when the permanent administration was put in place, the organizational work in Media has centered on the long-term—assessing our available resources and planning how we can best develop media for the future. We all know that the Internet provides, by far, the most functional tool for preaching the gospel to the world and for feeding the flock. However, to say that the Internet is our primary vehicle for communicating is not to say that it will be our only means. God willing, in time we can effectively use every mass media tool available—Internet, television, radio, print, advertising, personal appearances, etc. However, for the moment we are in “building mode” and our media foundation must be the Internet.

Building a website aimed solely at proclaiming the gospel to the world is our No. 1 priority this year. What is now the cogwa.org site will become our member site, internally-focused on “feeding the flock” in-house and providing spiritually deeper content.

Our greater challenge lies in taking the gospel to the world, and in this we face two hills to climb: 1) developing the content of the gospel message and 2) generating traffic—that is, making the content visible and easily accessible so people can find it. It is impossible to discuss in one letter all that is involved in these areas, so I want to focus on content development here, because content—the word of truth—is the “seed for the sower” (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23).

We are used to the seed being sown in a certain way. For the many of us who go back decades, we remember the Armstrongs being the voice of the gospel, supported by a huge, full-time media staff. After Mr. Herbert Armstrong died in 1986, the media department continued to assume the primary responsibility for proclaiming the gospel. The role of the ministry and membership was distant, with virtually no direct involvement.

Today, though, we have but a tiny fraction of what was at that time a huge media budget. And we don’t have anyone with a Herbert Armstrong–type voice or persona. But we still have the same commission and the same burning desire to preach the same message that was delivered to us, only now the world is larger than ever and our resources are smaller than ever! What we had then is impossible to replicate now, so we have to think differently about how we can go about this work God has given to us.

When we take stock of what we do have, however, we quickly see a key ingredient—manpower! It’s not in the form of a big media staff, but it is in the form or many veterans who have the knowledge and experience and years of teaching others as they have been taught. No, we don’t have a single voice “crying in the wilderness” today, but when it comes to the Internet, the effectiveness of this tool is not determined by strength of personality—it is based on a compelling message (which we have) and a certain type of skill in communicating it (which we can have). What is required, though, is a new way of seeing our involvement in media and seeing that if we all pull together in a structured, systematic manner, then all of us together can be that voice!

We can create the content we need to convey God’s truth, and it won’t take years to do it. We don’t have years to rebuild! That’s why we cannot work according to old models, assuming that someone else will produce the content we need. The solution lies in utilizing and organizing many of us—the ministry and members—in new ways for both producing content and generating traffic. We can do together what would take a few literally years to do.

We just have to use our resources effectively, and the “Summary Plan for Developing Web Content” that is included at the end of the Update explains in more detail the first step of how that is possible. I hope you will take time to read it and wrap your mind around the concepts and potential. In time we will be addressing other media-related strategies for preaching the gospel, but pooling our resources for developing content is where we must begin.

Recreating the intellectual property we lost will take time and hard work. It’s an ambitious project, but God can help us to work smarter and lay the groundwork for future growth. Yes, we may be limited by our finances at this point, but that doesn’t mean we are stuck with no options. It just means we have to work together as never before. I am excited about this and believe with all my heart that God will show us the way and open the doors for us!

More on media will be coming on a regular basis. In the meantime, be safe during the mad rush around us during this time of the year. Let’s keep one another in our prayers.

Sincerely,
Clyde Kilough

Announcements for December 24, 2011

One Accord announcement submissions. What’s a Church newsletter without members’ announcements? As we prepare to launch our new member newsletter One Accord, we plan to feature events in members’ lives, including births, engagements, weddings, significant anniversaries (25, 40, 50, 60, etc.) and obituaries. If you have experienced a major event during the past year, we encourage you to write up a short article (no more than 250 words), accompanied by a photo, and submit it to your congregation’s reporter.

We expect we may be flooded with members’ announcements, and we may not be able to publish all of them at once; however, we will keep them on file and print them in the order we receive them. 

Submitted by Elizabeth Cannon Glasgow

Summary of November PCD activity. We sent out 31 PCD letters in November. One couple asked how to become members of our Church. The stream of contacts from Kenya continues. This month, we wrote to three more groups who asked about associating with COGWA, plus we continued dialoguing with the leader of a group of congregations who is passing along questions from various members of his congregations.

One question from an Internet contact this month was on the parable of the tares in Matthew 13. The writer wanted to know if verse 42 is proof of an ever-burning hellfire. Another person asked about heaven—and a book on the market that touts the recollections of heaven by a 4-year-old under anesthesia.

A reader wanted to know about the symbolism of Daniel and Revelation, whether they relate to each other and whether they can be understood. Another question on the same general topic concerned the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 and the 42 months of Revelation 11 and 13. The writer wanted to know if the times were literal. (We explained that the 2,300 days are actually 1,150 evenings and mornings.)

A new person asked if the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, has an “open door policy,” welcoming any who want to visit. He assumed we did not and castigated us in the same message, comparing us with “closed door” organizations. We did not comment on the policy of any other organization; we simply politely answered his question.

There were several questions on law. First, a person asked about the “weeks of cleansing” after the birth of a female child in contrast to those required after the birth of a male child (Leviticus 12:4-5). The questioner asked about any modern application. Another person asked if our Church was attempting to keep part of “the Mosaic law with 613 laws,” obviously confusing the Bible with oral traditions. A third person, familiar with the Church of God writings but never having been a member, asked which, if any, Old Testament laws we observe.

A new person asked if the Church believes that there has been continual divine revelation through the ages and that divine revelation did not stop with the book of Revelation. Another new person asked whether sprinkling is as acceptable a means of “baptism” as immersion is.

Some counseling matters included a situation about whether to allow an adult child living at home to decorate the believer’s home for Christmas. Another person asked whether Christ’s instructions to the disciples about purchasing a sword (Luke 22:36) has any implications about how a Christian might defend himself today. We helped with a truly difficult matter involving parents of an adult child who is a drug addict and who is potentially endangering a grandchild.

Lastly, a person working with people who have suffered mental illnesses apart from or as a result of abuse wondered about the Church’s view of how God would heal such people in the Millennium. Instantly? Or might He heal partially, so that the person could then ask in personal faith? Of course, there are no revealed answers in the Bible, except the promise that Christ will heal physically, spiritually and matters of the heart.

Submitted by Cecil Maranville

Media Update

Public proclamation of the gospel—summary plan for developing web content.  Preaching the gospel effectively to the world will require a coordinated strategy in two primary areas: content development and generating traffic to the website. This summary focuses specifically on the foundational plan for developing the content we need in a timely manner.

Basic site design

The public proclamation website will be designed to be very easy to navigate, with five to eight main areas of information to explore, organized into general categories such as prophecy, the plan of God (featuring the feasts and holy days), the Sabbath, life’s tough questions (why suffering, what happens after death, etc.), Christian living, building a relationship with God, family and marriage.

Now, picture in your mind a tree. The gospel is the trunk, and these categories are the main branches. Within each of these branches then would be the limbs and branches of related topics and subtopics. For example, under the topic of the plan of God, each feast would have its separate section; then within each section would be many smaller branches—concise articles explaining various aspects of the topic. In effect, what we would have put into one big booklet in the past will now be broken down into many short, separate articles explaining the aspects of each subject. This is a purposeful design because web writing is most effective when it is concise and does not overwhelm the reader with great length. People read shorter rather than longer material when they are online. We will say the same things we have always said; it will just be structured differently. All topics will be organized so they are not only easily searchable but also linked to other related articles.

The first step in developing web content, then, is to create hundreds of related, but shorter, segments of content, all explaining details of the truth of God and tying into the trunk of the tree.

Our first priority must be on heavily populating our website with content, not on writing booklets, simply because it takes a long time to produce a booklet. Booklet-length material just does not work as well for readers on the web, and trying to build a website based on booklets would take far too long. For example, in the past year we have produced three booklets; and at best, we might be able to turn out five in the next year. We don’t have that kind of time. By contrast, however, we can generate many shorter, more focused articles by a number of authors in a much shorter period of time. In the end, developing content in this way will actually make booklet production faster—that is, a number of related articles compiled in one category would provide the material research that one author could later edit into a single booklet.  

How to produce content

So that is the structure. How, then, do we produce all this content? By the following simple steps:

Step 1: We will build a team of writers for each of these main areas of information on the website. Each pastor, as an employee, will be asked to participate on one of these teams, either by writing or researching or both; and all other elders will be encouraged to volunteer to join a team. So each team will be comprised of somewhere between five and eight full-time pastors and, then, as many elders as are interested.

Step 2: Each team will be assigned a chairman who has strong editorial skills. He will coordinate his group in brainstorming how to approach each topic—defining all of the potential aspects of each topic, breaking topics down into small segments and making the writing assignments. Each person in the group will work on specific tasks for researching and/or writing the material, and each team will work together throughout the process. 

Step 3: We will provide training for everyone regarding how to write for the web. A key feature in this approach, which is part of the focus of writing for the web, is breaking material down into short sections. This means that no one will be asked to write booklet-length material. Length will vary, of course, depending on the subject. While it might range from less than one page to quite a bit more, generally it will be quite concise. If you read the Frequently Asked Questions currently on our website, you will see excellent illustrations of the style of writing for the web. For example, we have six FAQs on unclean meats (http://cogwa.org/frequently-asked-questions), but each FAQ addresses and explains only one scripture or topic. The information is not compiled into one booklet or one long article, but in shorter, separate-but-interrelated articles all under the general category “Biblical Food Laws.” 

Step 4: Once each team has its work outlined, each member will go to work producing the material for which he is responsible. He will submit his draft to the entire team for review and editing, so everyone helps each other. When finished, each article will be submitted to the content manager for final editing and approval, and the writer will go on to his next task.

Step 5: We can also solicit member contributions in several ways to help us with content development. For example:

• Pastors who may not have strong writing skills could ask talented members in their congregations for assistance in both writing and research.
• We need a continual stream of blogs, especially those that relate to these topics.
• One proven device for making websites more effective is the “personal endorsement”—where real life people write about how this knowledge changed or affected their lives. Members are the perfect source for sharing their experiences regarding these topics—they have lived it!

In addition to the written content, the website will also provide video and audio content. For example, when someone opens to a page, they could watch a short video introduction to the topic or listen to or download the audio content as well. The video/audio content will be produced by the media staff or outsourced to other church members for projects, as we do already with audio production.

Benefits of this approach

This approach has never been used in the Church before, because we’ve never been faced with the need and challenge we have before us today. But in the process of developing this plan, we begin to see many immediate and residual benefits:

• First and foremost, we can quickly produce the content we need without overloading anyone. Consider this—if each full-time employee contributed only one short article per month, in six months we would have over 300 articles of information. In a year we would have over 600! When someone would click on prophecy, for example, they would see an index loaded with articles specific to their interest.
• By utilizing all of the employed elders, we immediately have a large stable of contributors who can quickly begin providing the content essential for having an effective website. Most of our employed elders also have previously editorial experience. Add to them the volunteer elders and members, and the results will accelerate even more.
• Every minister has a ready-made supply of material in his files of past sermons and Bible studies. But also, much of the research and writing one would do on each topic would likely become part of his regular speaking preparation.
• Even if one is not a great writer that’s okay; you are doing this as a team, so others can help. And then we have editors who can put finishing touches on it. We can do the polishing if you can provide the core content.
• This is preaching the gospel, but in a different way than we have done before. This approach results in tangible product—each one literally sees his or her contribution on the website. The focus is not on the individual—no one is getting bylines on articles—but collectively we are presenting the voice of the gospel.

Other media strategies

Content alone does not make a website viable or effective, so other issues are also very important, such as web design and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Marketing Optimization (SMO). Information will be coming in the future regarding how we will approach maximizing our efforts in these areas as well.

The same can be said for the potential for video. Some have been asking about print, and we will be addressing the possibilities in that area as well.

This summary focused only on content development, which is the heart and core of the gospel message. Carefully planned and managed, we are confident that together we can explain and proclaim the Word of God and the good news of His coming Kingdom!

Submitted by Clyde Kilough