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Progressing Technology Strengthens an Innovative Agency

By Laura Buchanan*

Clattering manual typewriters and the metallic ringing of rotary telephones have given way to ever-evolving communication tools, empowering innovative ministry at United Methodist Communications for 75 years.

75 YEARS OF COMMUNICATING FAITH

View the interactive timeline of United Methodist Communications’ 75 years of telling the church’s story, both within the church and to the world.

In the beginning

Francis Asbury, one of the first two Methodist bishops, said, “The propagation of religion by means of the press is next in importance to the preaching of the gospel.” Methodist Information staff of the 1940s-era took this advice seriously: they would carefully type and mail press information and news story ideas, waiting days for responses from reporters.

Technology restricted the speed with which news traveled, but the Methodist Church had inspirational stories to tell, and hundreds of newspapers and magazines across the country helped spread the good news.

Equipping the local church

In the following years, the agency began to utilize new mediums for their work. Television, radio, public relations, and general communication training sessions were held for local churches and annual conference staff to equip leaders with the skills needed to keep up with the developing tools and the opportunities they afforded.

Agency staff developed ministry tools that utilized the current trends, expanding resources as technology progressed. Motion pictures and filmstrips were produced for church use in the 1950s, which evolved to at-home viewings of video resources with the wide adoption of the VCR in the 1980s, adding a new audience for agency productions.

Picking up the pace

The 1970s brought the beginnings of faster communication methods. News stories could now be composed on electric typewriters, photocopied, and faxed to media outlets, increasing the speed with which news could be shared.

The agency also explored the possibilities of computerization. As soon as computers were wieldy enough to be housed in-office, staff began to utilize them for records management and word processing.

Zona Watkins, who retired in 2014, worked with the first agency computer, used as a service center to support various departments. She reminisced, “I worked on different projects: letters for large mailings, newsletters, forms…it was really something to be able to easily make changes to documents. No more Wite-Out!”

Early desktop computers are utilized at the agency.

Eventually, computers were common throughout the office, beginning with one machine in each department before they became present on numerous desktops. Computer networks, electronic bulletin boards, an online news service and an email system equipped employees to communicate more efficiently so information could be shared quickly with constituents.

Tom McAnally, former executive director of content, said, “News Service had the first portable [computers] that allowed us to see a couple of lines of text at a time and transmit – with great difficulty, using acoustic couplers – stories from the field to the central office. We joked about Bob Lear on our staff driving from one pay phone to another somewhere in the Midwest trying to find a line that would let him file a story.”

The agency wanted local churches to be equipped with computer knowledge as well. United Methodist Communications and the General Council on Ministries sponsored a consultation event in 1983, demonstrating an electronic newsletter for general agency, annual conference, and local church representatives.

In 1987, Sue Couch, a member of the United Methodist Information pilot committee wrote, “Using electronic communication is giving us a heightened sense of communication as caring for people … we have to keep demonstrating practical applications for this medium on all levels.”

Embracing new opportunities

Images of the denomination’s first website, umc.org, appeared in a promotional print piece.

Online communication grew exponentially when the denomination’s first website, umc.org, launched in 1995. Sherri Thiel, chief operations officer, was a member of the team that created the site and she fondly recalls the collaborative, pioneering project. “We were an early non-profit site among a large corporate presence and it was a new tool for the church,” she said. “We saw it as a different avenue for people to dialog with the church as well as a means to deliver information.”

As society began to adopt new technology, reporters and churches could elect to receive information via the postal service, fax, or email and the agency ensured that its tools filled everyone’s needs according to their technological preference.

Connection with the growing online audience became key. The agency offered the Find-A-Church online directory, web-based program publications such as the Interpreter, and an ever-increasing range of tools and materials for local church use.

Going digital

As use of email and other digital tools soared, United Methodist News Service moved to purely digital information delivery.

Tim Tanton, executive director of content, remembers this exciting time in the agency. “The Internet allowed direct-to-audience communication…,” he said. “This was significant, as we now had a direct, instantaneous connection with thousands of people interested in the church who wanted news. They could also send feedback and news tips, allowing for meaningful interaction.”

Communication for a tech-savvy world

Today, United Methodist Communications’ ministry is multifaceted. Offerings include extensive online training courses, social media tools, webhosting, thoughtful technology-centered resources, multi-media marketing campaigns, daily email updates, and UMTV video features.

An historic text message regarding the Ebola outbreak is sent via mobile technology across Liberia. Sending the message from Nashville, Tenn., are Jill Costello (left) and the Rev. Neelley Hicks. Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications

New technology has also enabled global reach to grow. United Methodist Communications is using ICT4D (Information & Communications Technology for Development) to empower some of the most marginalized people in the world with communication tools such as FrontlineSMS text messaging and rugged, solar-powered computer centers, establishing connections that improve communities and save lives.

As technology continues to improve and shift, United Methodist Communications will rise to the opportunities it affords, relying on a pioneering staff whose work is successful, relevant, and progressive – carrying the church’s message of hope into the future.

Some information cited from Keeping up with a Revolution: The Story of United Methodist Communications 1940-1990 by Edwin H. Maynard.

*Laura Buchanan is a PR Specialist for United Methodist Communications.

via Progressing Technology Strengthens an Innovative Agency – United Methodist Communications.

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Posted by MaryO on August 7, 2015 in Posts of Interest

Tags: Francis Asbury, technology, United Methodist Communications

Election Officers Needed!

28 Jul

Fairfax County needs Election Officers for upcoming elections. Election officers must be registered voters in Virginia and complete required training and forms. You may choose to accept the $175 stipend for a full day, or volunteer your time.

View the “Become an Election Officer in Fairfax County” video:

For more information, visit the Office of Elections website by clicking on this link.

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Posted by MaryO on July 28, 2015 in Get Involved!, Local News, Posts of Interest

Tags: Election Officers, Fairfax Virginia, poll workers

Churches Host Traveling Wesleys

14 Jul

What if John and Charles Wesley could still visit churches? A unique project led by Discipleship Ministries is finding a way for these founding fathers of the denomination to do just that. More than 700 congregations will participate in a program during the summer of 2015 that brings paper dolls of the brothers to spend two weeks at each host church. We followed the pair to one stop in South Carolina.

View more at umc.org/videos

Read full transcript.

For more information about the Flat Wesley project, contact Discipleship Ministries.

This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN.
Media contact is Fran Walsh, 615-742-5458.
This video was first posted in June, 2015.

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Posted by MaryO on July 14, 2015 in Posts of Interest, Videos

Tags: Charles Wesley, John Wesley, paper dolls, video

Happy Fourth of July!

04 Jul

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain.

Independence Day fireworks are often accompanied by patriotic songs such as the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, “God Bless America”, “America the Beautiful”, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”, “This Land Is Your Land”, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, and, regionally, “Yankee Doodle” in northeastern states and “Dixie” in southern states. Some of the lyrics recall images of the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.

A bit of audio for your listening pleasure, as played by Vladimir Horowitz…

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Posted by MaryO on July 4, 2015 in Holidays, Posts of Interest, Webmaster posts

Tags: America the Beautiful, Dixie, Fourth of July, God Bless America, Independence Day, Kingdom of Great Britain, My Country 'Tis of Thee, Revolutionary War, Star-Spangled Banner, United States, Vladimir Horowitz, War of 1812, Yankee Doodle

Father’s Day has Methodist ties

21 Jun

By Joey Butler*

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in 2010, the year often referenced as the centennial of the first celebration of Father’s Day. Information regarding the centennial has been updated to reflect this.

To all you dads out there: While you’re relaxing in your recliner and watching sports on June 21, and your kids are on their best behavior to honor Father’s Day, don’t forget to thank a United Methodist.

That’s right. Not one, but two United Methodist churches with the same name, oddly enough can lay claim to originating the celebration of all things paternal.

In 1909 in Spokane, Wash., Sonora Smart Dodd listened to a Mother’s Day sermon at Central Methodist Episcopal Church. Dodd’s own mother had died 11 years earlier, and her father had raised their six children alone. Dodd felt moved to honor her father, and fathers everywhere, with a special day as well.

She proposed her idea to local religious leaders, and gained wide acceptance. June 19, 1910, was designated as the first Father’s Day, and sermons honoring fathers were presented throughout the city.

When newspapers across the country carried the story about Spokane’s observance, the popularity of Father’s Day spread. Several presidents declared it a holiday, and in 1972, Richard Nixon established it as the third Sunday in June.

Dodd’s pivotal role in the creation of a national Father’s Day celebration was recognized in 1943 with a luncheon in her honor in New York City. Central Methodist Episcopal is now known as Central United Methodist, and holds a Father’s Day service every year.

On July 5, 1908, a Father’s Day sermon was preached at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, now Central United Methodist Church, Fairmont, W.Va.
Photo courtesy of the Rev. D.D. Meighen.

There’s more to the story

If you thought you celebrated the centennial of Father’s Day in 2010, you were actually two years too late.

You see, the year Spokane was observing its first Father’s Day, almost 2,000 miles away in Fairmont, W.Va., another Methodist church was on its third.

On July 5, 1908, a Father’s Day sermon was preached at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, thanks to the efforts of Grace Golden Clayton.

In December 1907, a terrible mine explosion in nearby Monongah claimed the lives of more than 360 men. Most of them had families, and the tragedy left 1,000 children fatherless.

Clayton was distraught by the thought of all those children growing up without a father’s guidance, and wanted to do something to honor the importance of fatherhood. She asked her pastor to set aside a special day to commemorate fathers. She chose the Sunday closest to the birthday of her late father, also a Methodist preacher.

However, unlike the Spokane service, the Fairmont event drew little attention outside the area.

Fairmont historians concede that Sonora Dodd deserves credit for bringing the holiday to national prominence, but want it known that they did beat her to the idea.

“We don’t claim popularizing the day, but we have proof we were the first to have a church service,” said the Rev. D.D. Meighen, retired pastor of the Fairmont church, which is now also known as Central United Methodist. Seriously, what are the odds of that?

Meighen said two news-making events happened on July 4, 1908, that stole the thunder from their Father’s Day service.

Sonora Smart Dodd is known as the mother of Father’s Day. Photo courtesy of the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

On that Saturday, Fairmont held its largest 4th of July celebration to date. A large crowd watched a “dare-devil” roll atop a ball to the top of the bank building on a spiral stairway. It made all the news. People talked about it for days.

Then, tragically, a beloved young woman in the church died of typhoid fever. Church members were shocked when they arrived at the Sunday service to hear of her death. Her funeral, which included 17 carriages lined up in front of the church, also made the headlines.

Coincidentally, the first Mother’s Day was observed on May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, W.Va.

West Virginia Methodists clearly love their parents more than the rest of us.

So enjoy firing up that grill and napping in the hammock, dads everywhere. You’ve earned it, and the United Methodists have your back.

And when your kids give you yet another gruesomely ugly tie as a gift… well, we’re pretty sure the Lutherans are behind that.

*Butler is a media producer and editor for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. He’ll celebrate Father’s Day this year as he usually does: calling his dad and talking about the U.S Open golf tournament.

News media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5105 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Originally published June 18, 2010 at http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/fathers-day-has-methodist-ties