Churches and the Great Resignation

A Familiar Story

This is all too familiar. In my public broadcasting career, I was faced with choices between serving the audience or serving the interests of wealthy and powerful benefactors. It didn't happen all the time, but there were instances when large sums of money were offered with strings attached. My inclination was to stay true to the core values of the audience. My boss said this was the hard way to raise funds. His inclination was to grab for the shiny object, and sort out the consequences later. I guess you can see where this was headed.

When my immediate supervisor resigned he offered, "Giving up on principles wasn't worth it." I was appointed to his position. I found out he was right. 

Coming apart at the seams

Our social divide is leading people away from religion. It isn't just in the pews, although attendance is way down. Pastors are joining the great resignation. It has a lot to do with the decidedly conservative leanings of powerful congregants.

"But in the wreckage of Trumpian politics and a never-ending-pandemic, our jobs have been reduced to negotiating skirmishes over mask-wearing and vaccination status. Former and current pastors have shared with me that their denominations and powerful congregants have pushed for a false unity that tolerates homophobia, racism, and conspiracy theories. My friend Ryan, a seasoned pastor, finally gave up. He felt that he could no longer follow the work of the Holy Spirit when he was expected to make room for people who actively thwarted God's movement. When we name the need to repent of sexism and racism, powerful church members withhold their giving and muster factions to oust us. Our compassion fatigue is real." MELISSA FLORER-BIXLER

You can read more in Sojourners. 

WHY PASTORS ARE JOINING THE GREAT RESIGNATION

Florer-Bixler explains, "In the past decade, we’ve watched a trickle in the decline of church membership turn to a geyser as people woke up to the incompatibility between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the practices of many who claim to follow him. Up until recently, I was certain the death of the institutional church would come because of a mass exodus from the pews. But if the data is any indicator, the sun might set on U.S. churches as we know them because pastors refuse to aid and abet a compromise between factionalism and the good news of Jesus."

Millennials May Not Come Back

It is not a coincidence that Millennials are staying away. They cite the same reasons, homophobia, racism, and conspiracy theories. Add to that the sexual abuse scandals and the seeming hatred and intolerance coming from certain factions, churches are no longer seen as good role models. They are places where common decency seem to be in short supply. You can find out more by looking at research from the Pew Trust. 

In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace

WHEN WE NAME THE NEED TO REPENT OF SEXISM AND RACISM, POWERFUL CHURCH MEMBERS WITHHOLD THEIR GIVING AND MUSTER FACTIONS TO OUST US. OUR COMPASSION FATIGUE IS REAL.

In an interview with FiveThirtyEight Mandie, a 32-year-old woman living in southern California and who asked that her last name not be used, grew up going to church regularly but is no longer religious. She told us she’s not convinced a religious upbringing is what she’ll choose for her one-year-old child. “My own upbringing was religious, but I’ve come to believe you can get important moral teachings outside religion,” she said. “And in some ways I think many religious organizations are not good models for those teachings.”

Undue Influence

If you let the big shiny object be your guide, you can easily diminish the value of your service. 

 

Every decision has consequences. Ignoring the core values of those you serve results is a loss of trust. They will turn away and leave you for somebody or something else. In the end you will serve no one. Just be aware, even if you stand for what is right, it may cost you your position.

Are We Focused on the Listener?

Kyle Munson, a columnist with the Des Moines Register, admits I'm a public radio nerd and proud of it. 

Kyle values the sane approach and depth of understanding that Iowa Public Radio and NPR provides in the tumultuous and hateful atmosphere of this political season.  "I crave the sane, illuminating haven of IPR, where not everything must be staged as arch conflict."

 Kyle typifies the core listener as defined by PRPD's Core Values. The measurable cohort that defines the audience is education. No matter the political leanings there is a thirst for knowledge and understanding. A variety of experiences enhances their lives and those experiences are actively sought.

In a competitive marketplace it is seldom possible for public media outlets to be all things to all people. Focusing on a single format and doing a few things well often make more sense. But...there is room for more voices.

Think about this...In the bigger markets there is room for creativity and diversity if all involved share in the effort. The same model could then be applied in all markets. There needs to be a willingness play well with others. If we are focused on the listener and how they use media, we can better understand how to serve them. If we work together, we will succeed.

Valuing Civil Discourse

Core Values

Have you noticed how politics has devolved? There seems to be very little that is rationally discussed. Discussions on cable news have become filled with vitriol, shouting and hate. The anger and vitriol of cable news is parroted by millions. Any rational debate is lost in the name calling. As a result politics is all about personal attack. According to Pew Research, political polarization is affecting daily life, and the results are negative. Antipathy is causing gridlock in Washington and in many states. People from both parties view the other party as a threat to the nation's well-being. 27% of Democrats see the Republicans as a threat to the nation's well-being. 36% of Republicans see Democrats as a threat to the nation's well-being. The appetite for bipartisan solutions is diminished.

Most Americans are not uniformly conservative or liberal. They believe their representatives should meet halfway to resolve contentious issues. Yet, the majority in the middle remains on the edges of the political playing field. But, as Pew points out, those joining the political extremes are growing in numbers.

This antipathy does not apply to Public Radio's core audience.
Public Radio did some research to discover its Core Values of Public Radio. Those values were published by the Public Radio Program Directors Association. The goal was to find the values that made the top programs on public radio so appealing to its audience. The ultimate goal was to apply those values to local programming. They are: 

Qualities of the Mind and Intellect

Love of lifelong learning

Substance

Curiosity

Credibility

Accuracy

Honesty

Respect for the listener

Purpose

Qualities of the Heart and Spirit

Humor

Idealism

Inspired about public life and culture

Belief in civility and civil discourse

Generosity

Qualities of Craft

A uniquely human voice

Pacing that's appropriate to the substance of the content

Attention to the smallest details of music, sound, language

Since I share many of those values, I take them to heart. Civil Discourse is one of the most important values when it comes to making decisions during elections. Without it, people are focusing on all the wrong issues. You don't believe me? Just watch.

Hilary Stops at Chipotle

It is revealing when the journalist in the middle tries to insert some real analysis into the discussion, the other members of the panel seem stunned...just for a second...then go back to their snide comments. I come from a public broadcasting background. We focussed our efforts on the Core Values of Public Radio in our reporting and local programming. Something we learned is it may not be impossible to be completely objective as a reporter. It is not impossible to be fair. Public Radio is held to a higher standard by its audience. Local programming needs mirror national programming by reflecting those values.

Integrity - Core Value

When posting on the Connecticut Re-Employment Group (CREG) site, I was asked to provide and example of the importance of integrity. I did mention it is one of my core values. There are so many aspects to integrity. It would depend on which aspects I want to focus on. When accepting the separation agreement from the local public broadcasting company after 21 years, the CEO special mention of my integrity.

As General Manager and Program Director (and fundraiser), I was the arbiter between marketing, radio programming and the audience. I was responsible for revenue streams for the corporation. The financial goals and objectives of the company did not always make sense in terms of serving radio's highly educated and highly loyal audience. At times I needed to balance the financial needs of the company against the needs of the audience. What I did was to look for ways to make those demands work in terms that work for radio and its audience. I can't go into detail on specifics because there aspects of the working relationship that cannot be divulged. But the management team and I looked at ways of making sure the integrity of the firewall between funders and the content remained intact while meeting the needs of those funders.

Did it work? You bet. In my last three years we saw significant gains in audience, audience loyalty, listener donations, corporate support and foundation partnerships. That would not have been possible without keeping the integrity of our relationship with our listeners (listener expectations) and our funders.

For more on integrity go here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/integrity/

Looking for Direction

Core Values Still Matter

I listened to a very interesting discussion today at a round table at CREG, The Connecticut Re-Employment Group. I'm asking myself, again, what is at my core. What motivates and excites me? It started some thoughts on core values. Those values are why I got into Public Broadcasting.


Public Broadcasting is a very narrow field. To do that again would mean moving across the country. I cannot do that right now.  It leaves me in a place where I'm looking outward to other fields. Those core values include:

     Credibility
      Integrity
      Honesty
      Idealism
      Believe in Civil Discourse
      Inspired by Public Life and Culture


These values align well with the socially engaged audience we served. These values can be summed up by a desire to make a difference. These values can result in the ability to communicate core values to key constituencies. Is this applicable anywhere? I hope so.
The challenge for me is to translate these values into a new direction.

Community Service/Community Support

There is a direct correlation between programming and fundraising. The success of a public radio station is dependent on the relationship of its programming and editorial decisions with its audience. Programming creates an audience. If the audience finds that the programming resonates with their beliefs and lifestyle they will spend more time listening to that station. A relationship is developed that results in audience support.

To effectively produce local programming, the producers and reporters should be able to incorporate the Core Values of public radio programming and understand the implications of the Sense of Place research. According to Sense of Place research, “we found that public radio listeners who are drawn to news and information programming are the same from market to market. When they tune to public radio they are seeking depth, intelligence, authenticity, civility and a global perspective.”

For instance, public radio listeners want more from local news than the typical reading of headlines. They would rather have fewer stories, in relative depth, even within a cutaway newscast. At WNPR we always tried to put our stories in a wider perspective. Public radio listeners are working with their minds as they listen to local news and information. They are thinking about connections, other angles and a wider, even global perspective. An effective tool we often used was benchmarking. We looked at how the issues we covered were bring handled in other communities, especially if those communities were finding workable solutions.

Because our resources were limited, we used our editorial judgment to cover the stories that would have the biggest impact on our community. We wanted to make sure our resources were used to the greatest advantage for our audience and fur us. We often focused on educational issues, the environment, transportation, health and the issues brought about by the economy. We deliberately covered stories that would have the greatest impact on our community.

The Manager’s responsibilities do not end with the selection programming. The relationships developed between the station and its contributors need to be nurtured in order for the relationships to grow. From the members bigger relationships can grow. They can become major donors, contributors to the capital campaign or make donations to the endowment. These connections can be networked into underwriters and grants from foundations. The General Manager must become a fund-raiser to help forward these relationships. The General Manager is the face of the station and should be willing to meet with donors and underwriters with the station’s development director.