COMMENT: PLATFORM; Divine PR intervention isn’t all we need

The Church may seem inept in PR terms, but there are no quick fixes for

its communication needs, says Rev Peter Owen-Jones

In the 1980s there was a television advertisement which featured a

horribly suave 30-something bloke. We saw him down a couple of beers,

then go to a nightclub where he was eyed up by a series of attractive

women. I think he even ended up with the regulation, end-of-the-night

chicken vindaloo. I’m not sure.

Anyway, it transpires in the closing seconds that he is, in fact, a bank

manager, and lo and behold he’s the sort of bloke we can all trust

because he’s just like us.

The trouble is, I don’t want a bank manager who goes out on the pull

after a couple of pints. I want someone who wears round glasses, has a

bath after the news, and wears ironed pyjamas in bed.

The latest advertisement from the Church of England sets out to

challenge the stereotypical image from which it clearly suffers.

The subsequent media coverage which has followed the ‘bad hair day’ ad

hasn’t been surprising. The response has gone along the lines of

‘misjudged’ and ‘inappropriate’.

On a broader platform, as far as the national media re concerned, the

Church far too often comes across as dithering and dowdy. That is not a

fair reflection of the Church of England, but it is the fault of the

Church for allowing that image to persist.

The Church has some very sound reasons for not really indulging in the

professional gloss of PR. They are surely right to uphold the principle

that substance is more important than style and that one’s appearance

shouldn’t really matter. They are however quite wrong if they believe

that it doesn’t matter.

There can also be little doubt that the apparently endless internal

squabbling and lack of cohesive communications approach is proving very

damaging to the Church.

Protestantism allows huge breadth for an individual relationship with

God - a relationship that has its boundaries only loosely defined by the

Church.

Disagreeing with each other is an accepted part of our tradition. We

don’t hide behind the company line. We can’t, we don’t have one. From a

PR perspective this clearly comes across as ineptitude. The Church

doesn’t have any smart-lipped people to roll out in front of the cameras

to play the game, simply because we are not playing it.

That may be very inconvenient for a world that increasingly defines its

consciousness via its reflection in the media mirror. The Church uses a

different yardstick. The real fear I think the Church perhaps has about

PR is that it doesn’t see itself as an institution like any other. But

viewed from a Christian perspective, it is the spin doctor that needs

the Church, not the Church that needs the spin doctor.

The root of the problem in terms of communication isn’t how the outside

world sees the Church, it is much more to do with how the Church sees

itself.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this constant chipping away of

the credibility on a national level is having a considerable effect on

every parish church in the country.

Some PR wouldn’t be difficult to organise. What are we talking about

here? A budget, an office, and a few people who know what they are

doing. That might be what the Church and the outside world expects, but

not necessarily what people need.

It might also be what the Church needs, but at the moment it doesn’t

seem to be what we want.

Rev. Peter Owen-Jones is the curate of Wisbech St Mary, and a former

advertising agency creative director