It crosses Ordinangst’s mind that the dear old Church of England has missed a serious PR trick. Apparently the Royal Wedding was the most watched telly programme history. More than two billion people watched a Church of England marriage, in close up. How cool is that?
It was a beautiful and moving and majestic service and I have to say that the combination of ++Rowan and +Richard was electric. Coupled with the cartwheeling verger, I think that the actual event could not have been a better advertisement for our Church in all its finery. So a big tick in the box there.
But where were the press releases or the interviewees from the CofE on the BBC sofa, to explain the spiritual (and dare Ordinangst say it, the sacramental) aspects of the big event? Someone to explain to people why getting married in a Church is different to getting married at a local hotel. A cursory glance of the media section of the CofE Website this morning shows no mention of the Royal Wedding at all. The news channels – (and Ordinangst knows because he worked on the event) were crying out for content – it is very hard indeed to keep a live broadcast going for hours and hours around the actual service without descending into meaningless drivel –shame there didn’t seem to be anyone from the CofE to fill these gaps with something meaningful.
As a result, the wedding, beautiful as it was, was all about hats and dresses and celebrities and trees and landaus and princesses and duchesses. And cartwheels. No problem there, but I am not sure God got enough of a look-in really. It is about time the Church realised that PR is not a dirty word, it is a powerful tool that we should be using to the fullest extent without embarrassment to spread the good news. This means taking PR seriously. It means giving the in-house Communications function of the Church a proper budget to hire the right people who can reach out to the media and "sell in" interviews. And it means selecting the right spokespeople (not necessarily archbishops) who have the ability to conduct media interviews successfully and training them to talk about faith and the Church in a way that is relevant and approachable. In short we need a few more Bishops of Bradford.
PR is not rocket science, but it is important and it is essential we get this right. Royal Weddings don't come around every day, and the Church that conducted the wedding should never have been relegated to a sideshow.
About Me
- DIACONALLY
- Partner at Tulchan Group. Priest in Church of England. Bad dancer
Yes, PR is important. Just look at how the AofC's comments on OBL have been mismanaged to paint him into a corner. Unhelpful. The CofE could learn much from the work that has gone on at Clarence House over the past few years to develop a useful and meaningful relationship with media - and not just the old fashioned print world, but the brave new world of social, digital and interactive media. PR is not rocket science, nor is it a dirty word, it is something that, like it or not, is a necessity for institutions in the modern age; it is about fair representation in a world of commentariat, cynics and self-publicists. Time to take a good look at your PR CofE.
ReplyDeletePR may not be rocket science but it does need people who are clear what they want to convey and how to convey it through the various media - and who are aware as to how it is likely to be perceived by the audience.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem, I think is that, like other large organisations, the CofE breeds a kind of institutionalism which makes it difficult to look beyond its own culture. As a clergyperson of a little over 10 years I can feel the way in which I have adapted to the CofE culture during this time.
Another part of the problem is the dispersed nature of the CofE. We need good PR not only at Lambeth Palace and Church House, but also in the 43 dioceses and however many thousand parishes up and down the land - to say nothing of Royal Peculiars like Westminster Abbey and other "oddities".
It seems to me that the CofE has a thing about professionalism. It likes to be thought of as enthusiastic amateurs, rather then professional.
ReplyDeleteIn modern times, this approach is a major fail when communications are instant, 24 hour and global. Getting it wrong or being conventionally reticent is out of date and the Church will be left behind unless it gets its act together.
I would suggest that most churches in the UK have a bit of a problem with pr/advertising and so on.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, it was a great advert for the church, but it could have been capitalized on.
Maybe, as it is a church with central organisation and so on, there could be a set of tools/resources availible for smaller churches to get good pr out there, or something?
Methinks more should be made, I am an anarchic Grace Baptist who also loves his big Vineyard, and I was feeling rather fond of the C of E over the royal wedding period.