EVANGELISM THROUGH RADIO

by Christy Wolfe-Mazeres

The Presbyterian Appalachian Broadcasting Council (PABC) is one of the older missions of the Presbyterian Church. Basically what PABC does is create, write, record, edit, produce, duplicate, and distribute radio public service announcements. Its goal is to spread the love, hope, and caring of Christ as they apply to daily situations.

PABC is confusing to many people because they do not understand what a public service announcement or PSA is. Think of PSAs as radio commercials. They take up the same space in radio scheduling, but they are not trying to sell you something like a commercial or ad would. In PABC’s case, a PSA spreads the hope and caring of the Christian faith as it applies to daily encounters. Our goal is evangelism.

Your next question may be why a PSA is used rather than the many other methods available for evangelism. This is a unique way to evangelize to people which is in most cases far more comfortable both to the sender or the receiver. For example, one day in an adult Sunday School class the teacher asked the class who would be willing to go that afternoon and visit his or her neighbors and share the love of Christ with them. No one in the class raised his or her hand. How many of us would be willing to go out and do that? If your answer is no, it is probably not because you do not love God and want others to know of his wonders, it is either because you have had a bad experience of our own with door to door evangelists or that going door to door is not one of your strengths or you have plans or . . .

The second reason for using PSAs, is that they can reach hundreds of people at one time. Ultimately for a typical PABC spot series (a CD of 4-5 PSAs played by stations over a period of time), the PSAs can account for 3 million impressions (the number of times a spot is played times the number of people listening at any one time). That’s a lot of outreach!

Finally, PSAs are able to reach those people that would not necessarily tune into a religious program or open the door for an unannounced visitor. And since a PSA is so short — usually 30 to 60 seconds long — people will listen to it rather than switching radio stations.

Is it effective? Think of it this way: Where does the saying “Where’s the Beef?” come from? How about “Just do it”? Each line is less than three seconds long. Did they work? Did you know where they came from? If you know where those sayings came from, then the commercial did its job. Could you imagine the Church creating slogans which would generate thoughts of Christ and his love for us? A few words which offer encouragement? That is the power of radio PSAs. And that is what PABC does. Through radio spots, PABC is initiating the conversation about God’s love for us and the Good News. We plant the seed for thoughts to grow and develop. We open the door. And many times, we are able to reach out and give the listener the words they really needed to hear.

It is through the sharing of God’s love for us that PABC hopes to encourage not only those in Appalachia, but people all across the nation. PABC is your mission of evangelism by spreading the caring, love and hope of God as it applies to our daily lives. Through a positive voice in the media, it is a ministry of mission to Appalachia by direct distribution of over 1300 CDs to radio stations across the area. It is a ministry of mission to the world by offering the same CD’s as CD quality MP3s over the internet on our web site.

Due out in August, the most recent spots which PABC has created and produced were made possible by the gracious financial support of the Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church (USA) through a Thank Offering Grant. The compact disc of nine spots ranging in lengths of either :30 seconds or :60 seconds focus on the poverty that still exists in Appalachia. The spots call upon people of every community to not only recognize poverty in Appalachia, but also in their own communities. The spots also offer encouragement to those in need, and ask others if they will help make a difference.

And here is where you as members of a local church, Presbytery or Synod come in. Individually or as groups, you can help further God’s love and caring by meeting with local radio stations and encouraging them to play the spots. If the station does not have MP3 download capabilities, and most do, then PABC can send them a copy of the spots or a congregation member could duplicate the spots and place them on CD. As PSA’s, the radio station should play the spots for free. So there should be no negotiating for payment. There is a link called Local Contact which details ways to approach a radio station. This link can be found on our web site (www.pabconline.org) through the sections entitled Information for Churches or Support.

Know that through you and your support of PABC, we can make a big difference in the lives of many people today and tomorrow with a simple thought from your Presbyterian friends. There are many ways you can be involved with PABC. For further information call or write the office or visit the website: Presbyterian Appalachian Broadcasting Council (PABC) P.O. Box 40472, Nashville, TN 37204 (615) 298- 4786, presappl at yahoo.com. www.pabconline.org