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Playing With the Numbers, Getting the Message Out

Thursday I posted a video in which I mentioned that many of the people I’ve interviewed thus far for the Indie Voices Archive highlighted as one of our weakenesses that we are not very well known – and we don’t do a very good job of getting our message out. This is true afterall, but today I came across a YouGov poll conducted here in the UK in February of this year, among the many interesting results (some of which will be the subject of future posts) I read the following about Londoners’ attitudes towards religion:

30 % think that Christianity is good at conveying its “message”, but;
54% Don’t know if Christianity is good at conveying its “message”!

What to make of these figures?

Does the 30% represent people who are comitted Christians – engaged and involved in the vision and mission of their church or denomonation? Hmmm . . . well. . . according to the stats only 30% of respondants might fall into this category – assuming all 30% are Christians, which is unlikely given that the poll was not targetted at a particular denomonation. Moreover, less than 10% are participating members of a faith community, and only 25% pray with any regularity.

What really grabs me is that 54% who don’t know. Does this mean that they never hear, read, or view something that might present the Christian message? Believe it or not this is not entirely out of the realm of possibility here in London. Aside from the many empty churches scattered across the city, you don’t know that there is a “Christian” presence here.

If the larger churches are struggling to get their message across what can we OC/IC folk do that they cannot?

I think part of the problem is simple – people don’t know what the “message” is in the first place, so they don’t know if it is being effectively communicated. So, what is our OC/IC message, and how can we best communicate that?

Are we actively engaged enough right now to be able to confidently say that our whole membership of our respective communities knows what the message is, and is reachign out to others to cmmunicate it? I’ve been in ministry now for nearly 20 years and I can honestly say that it has always been one of the most challenging aspects of building community – to equip and encourage members (all members laity, and clergy) to take the message of our faith beyond the circle – and then to witness it happening on the ground.

It’s true – we are not good at getting our message out, people don’t know who we are, and the ones that do, only know the stories of the kooks, and the grand-high poobahs – and they use those stories to beat us over the head with over and over and over . . . but you know, the truth is, that because our whole body, our whole community at every level is not actively engaged in this task in one way or another – as much as each one of us can muster – we are, each of us, as much to blame, because we are not giving them the other stories, the successes, the personal stories of how our communities, and our quirky tradition, has brought Christianity to life for us, that through our committment to this tradition we have found a real connection with Christ, and through him, with one another.

07/09/2007 | Filed under Grace Catholic London, Indie Voices Archvie, OC/IC Issues, Poll Results And Reflections.

  • IM Cupnjava

    “Does this mean that they never hear, read, or view something that might present the Christian message?”

    Use caution when walking here. The questions asked if Christianity was good at conveying its message not if they had ever heard the message or not. I’d need to know the other possible replies before I try to interpret this.

    However, I’m inclined think that these are the people who don’t know if Christianity is good or bad at convey its message or perhaps don’t understand what “conveying its message” means in this question. It could also mean that the respondant felt mixed on how Christianity convey’s it’s message–meaning Christianity conveys its message in a good manner sometimes and in a poor manner in others.

    I’m inclined to think, but cannot be sure until I read the other possible responses that taking this answer to mean that the person hasn’t heard the message is expanding and appling the data beyond the scope of the variable.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    Absolutely! You’ll note I was asking a question rather than making a declarative (grin).

    The question asked the respondants feel for how successful the major religions in the UK are at communicating their “message” (its worth noting that the question is interestingly worded “message” is actually in quotes).

    I think your right in one sense respondant X says/thinks: “I don’t know if Christianity is good at conveying its “message” . . .the second part of that sentence though is ” . . . because I don’t know what that message IS”

    Yes, the question did not allow for a middle response – so if someone responding felt that Christianity was good at conveying its message say on bringing relief to the poor, or peace, but tanked on its message on the environment, or inclusion, they might have felt in a jam. Having done polling the questioner might have been briefed that in this case they are only allowed to either repeat the question, or ask the respondant which part of the mix had a higher value in their mind. I suspect that in this case it was a computer poll so no one was actually conducting the interview.

    Unfortunately the poll did not dig enough to clarify beyond speculation (at least not at my skill level – grin) for me the numbers were intersting, and that 54% seems to fit with . . .observation on the ground so to speak. You cant’ tell if Christianity is good at getting its message out here in the UK – you never see us.

    What is interesting is the numbers for Islam. 10% think that Islam is good at getting its message out. But here’s my question – what’s the “message”? I’m pretty comfortable with my understanding of Islam, the Koran, Hadith, and the “message” of Islam one recieves in London does not match up with the Islam I know and honour.

    If I were asked the question on Christianity I would have to answer with a resouding no. Aside from the empty relics of a bygone era (church buildings) you never see Christians, hear from Christian thinkers (except occasionally the nutty ones because they make for great sound bytes), or witness Christian events; and I’m pretty comfortable saying I know what the Christian message is (in its many diverse forms).

    The point is that we OC/IC folk KNOW that we are not good at getting our message out. We are not alone. So my question is – what can we do, together regardless of our synod affiliation, to change this situation?

  • IM Cupnjava

    Sorry for not seeing this earlier.

    What can we do to change the situation? That’s a very good question and one I’m facing as I’m helping Father Bryan build a church. I think it starts with things like this blog. Something that lets people know we’re here. Then it branches into networking and community involvement. Beyond that…I couldn’t tell ya or even guess.

  • Gabriel

    I’m going to suggest something which may be unintuitive considering the context. I’m not convinced that ISM/OC/IC presence on the internet matters as much as people would like to believe in terms of getting the message out. The internet is good for announcing location and time for Mass and giving a general feel for a particular community, but I don’t know about getting the message out.

    My experience has been that direct, personal contact with an OC/IC priest or OC/IC laity/parish member makes a far bigger impact on whether people enter and *stay* in the OC/IC community as well as whether they get the message we’re trying to convey. Christianity is lived and learned in community and through interactions with others.

    So I would reverse the suggested order to: get involved with the local (secular) community as visible OC/IC clergy or laity, set a regular time for a weekly service preferably in rented church space, advertise that weekly service *prominently* on the web and in print, have that service each week every week *no matter what* (you’d be surprised how many parishioners we get just from people noticing that we’re having a Mass as they attend another event in the same building and wonder who we are), keep going to local community events as visible OC/IC clergy or laity, keep having Mass and building the local community THEN worry about networking with other OC/IC jurisdictions and blogging.

    As for getting the message out in a way that jurisdictional affiliation doesn’t matter, I have to admit I’m somewhat cynical on that matter. There are enough OC/IC clergy who are in this for unhealthy reasons that I find I am incredibly reluctant to trust most who approach me any ideas of meeting up and forming associations of any kind. So I don’t have an answer for getting the message out via that method. I’m not sure it’s possible. I don’t think many jurisdictions can work together long enough to decide on the message much less figure out how to get it out there.

    However, I think we can get the message out through personal interaction and contact with our worshiping communities.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    An excellent point Gabriel!

    Indeed it is my own experience that a consistent visible presence in the local community is the most effective means of doing outreach – and getting the message out.

    I would say that the internet is a gret tool for augmenting the experience of people on the ground. For example – meeting a new and curious person, one might not only invite them to the next event or liturgy (I try to do both because some are intimidated by starting out with a worship service) but also say – and you can visit our web site to find out more.

    What I’ve found though is that many of our folks try very hard to keep a “low profile” the reasons are varied, but often it is fear of ridicule from other places. I would like to see more of our people moving from a point of defense towards a point of celebration.

    I’ve also noticed that there is room for an active internet presence. I need only look at the numbers of visitors per month on my own OC/IC sites to know that via the net my community is reaching people we will never know – but who keep coming back – I can only surmise that we must be making a positive contribution to their own journey.

    Regarding working with other OC/IC communities – I think that we all need friends (nodding to John Plummer) and whatever we can do to come to know, and interact with fellow OC/IC believers building bonds of friendship with one another, is a good thing.

    Like you I have become very cynical and this is sad – we have many great thinkers, engaged and faithful OC/IC believers in our midst – it does seem sometimes though that they are in hiding and difficult to meet.

    I think that when we stop being defensive, and get on with living the faith, we cultivate an environment where outrach happens naturally, and interconnection with other faithful OC/IC believers is possible. But that is not to say that we should not be consciously exploring how we might expand those opportunities. Sometimes, I think we are a bit too insular for our own good.

  • Lyngine

    Yes, an internet presence to augment the experience of people on the ground is very powerful. The internet can be a terrific medium for have some very in depth conversations on OC/IC issues (theological and otherwise) while including a variety of viewpoints. One of the common misunderstandings I find in the OC/IC world though is the belief that the internet can take the place of personal interaction in terms of getting the message out to new people. However, I agree that it can further enrich people’s experience in other ways.

    I’ve been playing an idea in response to your reply–namely that there are several messages and several levels of message. First is the Christian message whatever one perceives that to be. That one depends very much on the understanding and belief of the local worshiping community. The second message is specific to OC/IC churches. Who are we, what do we bring, what makes us unique, what are the gifts we bring to catholic Christianity and how it is lived out?

    My stab at the message: “We are small, tightly-knit Christian communities who are committed to making the Sacraments and faith available to all. Our tradition recognizes the value of freedom and individual choice in our liturgical practices, understanding of faith, and and how we live out our faith in our daily lives. Our history teaches us that all people have an important part in building the Body of Christ. Welcome to the OC/IC community. May you find what you seek at our Table.” Hmmmm…I may have to think about using some version of that in our outreach and/or websites—after some more thinking, running it by several folk, and revision that is.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    I think that you’re right Lyngine that some if not many of our communities see the net as “the” outreach solution; and as you’ve said it needs to be viewed as an augmentation of the personal contact and interaction on the ground. Christianity is a community faith – it is cultivated in community, it is lived and experienced in community sometimes it seems that our co-religionists forget this.

    I like your idea of crafting the message – its an interesting side point that I suspect many of our folks “assume” that the message is obvious (at least that has been my experience – trying to get my community to sit together and, based on our shared experience as community, consciously express that message in words). I suspect that because so many of us in one way or another “assume” that the message is obvious, we are missing opportunities to really share our unique OC/IC life with a wider audience – beyond the typical and temporary issues such as ordination of women and full inclusion of all baptised people.

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