Lutheran Media invited to world stage

Opportunities to learn from people at the top of their field are rare. It can be even rarer to get the chance to share with them what you are doing.

Director of Lutheran Media Rev Richard Fox had the opportunity to both learn and share on the world stage when he attended the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, a four-day event in late February.

Held this year in Nashville, Tennessee, the convention brought together thousands of representatives from Christian media organisations from around the world.

Pastor Richard was invited to be a representative on the Australian Christian Media team, who ran a joint promotion at the convention called ‘Australia Presents’. The emphasis of the Australian promotion was on outreach-focused media, speaking into non-Christian audiences.

Pastor Richard said that particular personal highlights were attending the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Breakfast with thousands of other Christian communicators, and a presentation by television and film producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. Burnett and Downey are producers of Survivor and The Voice, as well as last year’s television series The Bible.

In 2015 the American free-to-air network NBC will run another Burnett and Downey series, AD, which depicts events following the resurrection of Christ and formation of the early church. It is not known whether the program will be shown on Australian television also.

Pastor Richard said that social media and digital media were a big focus of the convention, as presenters shared expertise and techniques for ministry using these tools. ‘The Lutheran Media board considered this not just an opportunity for me to help represent Australian Christian media organisations on the world stage, but also a chance to explore new ideas and future possibilities for media ministry, as media platforms change’, he said.

Face to Face, the Chronic Pain series and Lutheran Media’s Youtube clips were all on display throughout the convention.