Conclusion of our interview with Phil Cooke

In the first part of our interview with Phil Cooke (Smart Ministry 2/2/09) we talked about the importance of establishing our message so others don't do it for us. But how do we do that effectively in today's world?

A significant percentage of media viewing is now done online through services like Netflix, Hulu, and TV network sites. What changes will that bring that the church should be aware of?

What's happening is what I call the open media revolution. It's a transition from a one-way conversation to a two-way conversation. We grew up in a world with three or maybe four TV channels, and whatever they sent we listened to. Now the audience is in charge, not the programmers. I don't care what a radio station thinks I need to hear, I can create my own playlist with my iPod, or my DVR for TV. It's not just the ability to watch something on your cell phone or computer, it's a fundamental change in the way we expect to get information.

It's really driven by a millennial generation. Two things make kids who were born from 1980 to 1995 so different from previous generations. One is they're the first generation to grow up with computers. We don't get print versions of owner's manuals for computers any more, because this generation has known how to use them practically from infancy. The second thing is they have grown up being what I call trophy kids. As a boomer, I had a distant relationship with my family. That generation wasn't about the kid thing. So we decided when we became parents we weren't going to do that. We became people who hovered over our kids. We're the first generation to make sure our kids got trophies whether they ever accomplished anything or not. Every kid on every team, including the worst player on the worst team, got a trophy. They grew up with Mister Rogers telling them they were special whether they ever did anything or not.

This generation thinks they're special. The Wall Street Journal said a year ago that when bosses reprimand millennial employees, the parents of those millenials call the boss to complain! So between expecting to be treated as special and their lifelong comfort with interactive technology, if you do church as the one-way thing and walk off the podium, you're going to lose them. In our communication, in our media, and in our programming, we need to give this generation an opportunity to respond and be part of the conversation.

So what communication methods work best?

It's not how we want to talk to them, it's how we let them talk to us. Do you have a Facebook page? Do you text with them?

Greg Lloyd at Riverside in California has experimented with people e-mailing questions during his message. He would address the questions as he spoke. At one church he mounted a monitor in the pulpit so he could see messages live! Media is not values-neutral. There is an impact from using a movie or a Facebook page. The technology changes the message, and we need to be sensitive to that. That doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue using new mediums to get the message out. It does mean that we need to be smart about it.

What have you seen work well?

If your ministry is experimenting with broadcast media you can't put your eggs in the traditional media basket. You need to be communicating in a lot of platforms and a lot of ways. You can use traditional TV or radio and build a Web site, but you should also be thinking about using Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and podcasting. Different people migrate to different platforms, so people have their niches. If you want to reach them all, you need to get to all their niches.

Is the global nature of these vehicles the answer to reaching the nations?

My pet peeve is a church of 25 people that meets at a strip mall and they call themselves a world outreach center. I appreciate the vision, but I don't think so. Find who God is calling you to reach and focus on that niche. I bought a ‘67 Mustang convertible and I discovered 18 magazines for classic Mustang owners. We've become very compartmentalized.

By trying to reach a smaller audience, I've seen churches grow exponentially because they're reaching that group really, really well.

Phil Cooke is a media consultant (philcooke.com), television director, and author of Branding Faith and The Last TV Evangelist.