March 2005 - Council on Church and Media

Issues

March 2005

Church of the Brethren creates Christmas Eve service for CBS

Top 10 things that would be different if Anabaptists ruled the world

CCM Pittsburgh 2005: Bridging Communication Cultures

How do Christian communicators engage people with different communication lifestyles? During the last 50 years, a sea change has taken place in how people interact with each other and how they receive information. Much of this change is due to the influence on generations born since World War II by electronic media, the coming of computers and the emergence of cyberspace. Plus, more intersections are developing between people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds within the North American church, while the global church is increasing its involvement in international mission and peace efforts. How can more indigenous storytelling be fostered? What are ethical issues surrounding intercultural communication?

At the CCM conference at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center May 12-14, 2005, Tex Sample, speaker and author of numerous books addressing cultural communication issues, headlined the theme, Bridging Communication Cultures. Many of Sample’s books address gaps in communication styles between academically-oriented church leaders and working class people in the pews, as well as the impact of electronic communication on the church. He addressed these issues, along with the prophetic use of media, and led a unique multi-media worship experience.

Pittsburgh 2005 Speakers

Tex Sample is Coordinator of the Network for the Study of U.S. Lifestyles and now lives in Goodyear , Arizona . He works as a freelance lecturer, workshop leader, and consultant with the church and with community, governmental, and business organizations. For many years he was the Robert B. and Kathleen Rogers Professor of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology. He now holds the Rogers Chair in Emeritus relationship.

Sample has authored seven books and co-edited another: Blue Collar Ministry (Judson Press, 1984), U.S. Lifestyles and Mainline Churches (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990), Hard Living People and Mainstream Christians (Abingdon, 1993), Ministry in an Oral Culture: Living with Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, and Minnie Pearl (Westminster/John Knox, 1994), White Soul: Country Music, the Church and Working People (Abingdon Press, 1996), The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World (Abingdon Press, 1998), and an edited book with Amy DeLong. The Loyal Opposition: Struggling with the Church on Homosexuality (Abingdon, 2000), Powerful Persuasion: Multisensory Witness in Christian Worship (Abingdon, June, 2005).

Sample is a member of the Society of Christian Ethics and a member and Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Sample is a frequent consultant and researcher for church and community organizations. He conducted more than one hundred studies for a variety of denominations including Disciples, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, United Methodists, and American Baptists.

His real name is Tex. It is not a nickname. His father named him after Texanna Gillham, an African-American woman who was born in slavery and helped raise his father near Center, Texas .

Stephen Kriss of Pittsburgh , Pa. , is executive director of Mennonite Urban Corps/PULSE, which he had previously served as program director. He is also enrolled in doctoral studies in rhetoric and communication at Duquesne University and has taught courses in the school’s Communication Department including an Intercultural Communication course held in Rome ,

Italy . International study has also taken him to

Cuba ,

Russia ,

Jordan and the

Philippines . Kriss holds an undergraduate degree from Eastern Mennonite University , and holds two master’s degrees, one in communication from Duquesne and a recently received master of divinity degree from Drew University Theological School .

Prior to his leadership roles with Mennonite Urban Corps, Kriss served as editor and publication coordinator for Drew University Theological School and, from 1994-98, worked at Mennonite Publishing House/Herald Press as editor of Christian Living magazine. His articles have appeared in DreamSeeker, Missionary Messenger, The Mennonite, Mennonite Weekly Review, and The Reconcilers, among others.

Ordained into ministry by Allegheny Mennonite Conference, Kriss was part of the pastoral team at Carpenter Park Mennonite Church from 1996-2002 and served as interim pastor at Redeeming Grace Fellowship in New York . He served on the Allegheny conference’s Mission and Service Commission for four years and has given leadership to service-learning projects across the

U.S. and in

Mexico and Puerto Rico through a number of Mennonite organizations and agencies.

Kriss has delivered numerous academic and conference presentations, such as “Mennonites and Globalization: Faith, Communication and Praxis,” delivered to the National Communication Association and Religious Communication Association last fall, and “Hospitality as Christian Interpersonal Communication Ethic,” “Understanding Exiles: Mennonite Identity in U.S. American Urban Contexts,” and “Spiritual Transformation, Social Justice and Short-Term Mission.”

Gifti Nadi has been working for the African Women’s Media Center , a project of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), since 1999. She is currently the Senior Program Officer for Africa at IWMF and manages journalism training programs and develops partnership opportunities with women journalists, media associations and other international organizations throughout Africa .

Nadi talked about the history of IWMF’s Africa projects including their flagship program, the annual Carole Simpson Leadership Institute and most recently, the Gates funded Maisha Yetu project on reporting on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. All of the African Women’s Media Center ’s training programs are run by local African trainers and their publications are also written by local African experts. IWMF provides the finances to pay the trainers and bring the participants. Nadi talked about these projects and focus and the basic skills emphasized in their training.

Prior to joining the IWMF, Nadi was a public relations associate at the National Summit on Africa , where she conducted outreach across the

United States and developed local and national partnerships for the organization. Nadi holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Maryland .

-Tony Krabill

Tex Sample

Stephen Kriss

Gifti Nadi