Preacher of the Year, Rev. Barry Overend, has attacked the Church of
England for being ‘too wary’ about seeking outside help on
communications issues.
‘We had this idea that we’d been preaching the Gospel for 2000 years and
had nothing to learn from outsiders,’ he told an IPR-organised
conference on church communications last week.
‘We assume far too much about people’s level of understanding...things
must be put on a level that everybody can understand.’ And he said he
personally ‘would welcome someone from outside taking a very critical
look at how we present ourselves.’
The need for the Church to improve its communications was a theme
running through many of the speeches at the conference. ‘There is an
enormous job to be done in terms of PR,’ said Rev. Dr. Leslie Griffiths,
a former president of the Methodist Conference.
He added: ‘The church must learn to use the media and not let its image
be subverted or contorted by the media.’
