The Christ in Media Institute Promotes Missions

“Why wait for a study? I want to start a virtual church next Sunday!” said the Rev. Gonzalo Delgadillo. What is a “virtual church?” Many people who have come to faith through media messages are not near an ELS or WELS congregation. A virtual church would offer an interactive Spanish or English service in which people from around the world could worship in liturgy, Word, and song with Pastor Delgadillo in El Paso, Texas.
Ideas like these often emerged at the Media Outreach in World Missions Conference sponsored by the Christ in Media Institute and hosted at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota. About 140 people attended the two-day conference, including world missionaries of the ELS and WELS; media and technology professionals; students and faculty members from Bethany Lutheran College, Wisconsin Lutheran College, and Martin Luther College; and board members of the two synods who deal with missions.
To lead conference discussions, the Christ In Media Institute invited a panel of seven people involved in foreign missions and media work: Rev. Gonzalo Delgadillo, El Paso, Texas; Rev. Ugis Sildegs, co-pastor of Riga Lutheran Church, Latvia; Rev. Terry Schultz, missionary in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Peru; Rev. Paul Hartman, missionary in Puerto Rico and Coordinator of Multi-Language Publications; Michael Klebig, San Jose, California, engineer, and his wife Jas Lonnquist, screen writer and producer; and Rev. John Lawrenz, Director of Advanced Studies, Asian Lutheran Seminary, Hong Kong.
Prior to the conference, each presenter wrote brief essays addressing seven challenges to using modern technology in proclaiming the Gospel to people in remote areas of the world. The challenges were identified as: 1) Cultural, 2) Technological, 3) Creative, 4) Legal and Political, 5) Teaching Local Production, 6) Stewardship, and 7) Discipleship. A conference session was devoted to discussion of each.
The discussions demonstrated that new technology, the internet, and other media have given the Church unprecedented opportunities to share the Gospel message with vast audiences throughout the world. Still, to use technology well, mission workers need to understand and overcome the cultural, legal, and financial issues that could be barriers to the spread of the Gospel message.
Among the examples of technology useful in mission work presented at the conference was a “portable media distribution system” featuring a palm-sized projector powered by sunlight that could easily be loaded with media and taken to remote places in the world. There was also an inexpensive “mission field video production package” that could be used on site in world missions to produce videos. Through a generous donation of $2,500, one such media production package was offered to one of the world fields. A nomination process produced several strong candidates, and the production package was presented to the ELS mission in Chile.
In the closing session, Dr. Tom Kuster, executive director of the Christ in Media Institute, presented the 2012 “Lucas Cranach Screenwriting Award” for creative writing to Jeff Hendrix, a student at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.
During the two conference evenings, seventeen groups presented reports and video clips of media work already being done and spoke about future projects, such as the planned sequels to the widely distributed “Road to Emmaus.”
In the final conference session, participants discussed action items that could be undertaken to promote Gospel outreach via media and technology. Suggestions included studying use of virtual congregations, creating online resource directories, providing support for creative talent, supporting national leaders in learning to use technology, and many others.
The conference concluded with a festive international worship service in Bethany’s Trinity Chapel, featuring a message from God’s Word by Rev. Steve Petersen, Mission Coordinator for the ELS, a number of Scripture readings by world church leaders in their national tongues, and powerful music by the Bethany Concert Choir.
By the editor with Professor Thomas Kuster, executive director of the Christ in Media Institute.