Church of England Brings Lights, Camera and Action to CRE

Visitors to the National Christian Resources Exhibition in Esher this week will have the chance to brush-up on those all-important TV interview skills and hear advice on their performance from professional media trainers at the Church of England's mini TV studio stand.

The Church of England's walk-in mini TV studio is a must-see for Christians keen to raise the profile of their church programmes or ministries or who simply want to highlight the good works they are involved in.

Gillian Oliver, Head of Communications Development for the Archbishops' Council, says that the stand - the first that the Church of England has put together for the CRE - is designed to help the churches communicate with their communities.

"Local churches are sitting on some great news stories, with loads of events and activities taking place throughout the week, but the skills needed to tell those stories to the community are constantly changing.

"We're here to help churches to pass the message on about their energy and vitality."

Once in the 'vox pop' studio, the visitors will take part in a two minute interview, where they will be quizzed on a range of topics, such as how their church or organisation is engaged in promoting the Christian faith, how they see the future of the Church, or their views on topical social issues.

Professional media trainers will be on hand to run the interviewees through their performance as they watch tapings of the interviews, offering helpful hints and tips on how they could come across better in future.

A stand-up comic will also be present on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to help ministers spice up their sermons by incorporating 'some of the tricks of the trade' like body language, voice modulation and performance skills that will make their preaching hit home.

Andy Kind - a comedian from Stoke - aims to help clergy and other preachers visiting the exhibition boost their confidence to preach and show them new ways to communicate the Gospel message in an engaging, relevant way.

"Christianity can be seen as something terribly serious, but Jesus must have been a great laugh to have had such a following. He used humour and so can we," says Kind.

The Church of England's Communications Training programme has run a range of professional training events in recent years to bring out the potential in the Church's members as they strive to communicate the work and mission of the Church or church-related organisations, including 'Blogging for Beginners' and 'Communicating the Gospel in Plain English'.

The Church's 'vox pop' studio will be backed up by an information stand hosting material on a range of topics in the Church of England, including a look at the way the Church has marked the bicentenary of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and how it is helping to tackle climate change.

The info stand will be manned by staff from the Archbishops' Council's Communications Office who will be ready to answer any questions.

Church House Publishing, the Church of England's official publishers, will also host a stand stocked with their latest publications and a programme of events featuring current authors.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will officially open the National Christian Resources Exhbition on Tuesday morning.

The TV studio stand is open to all at the exhibition and does not require advanced booking.

The full range of courses on offer from the Communications Training programme can be found online at www.commstraining.cofe.anglican.org