General Secretary’s Report to Central Committee 2005

For purposes of this first portion of my report the journey begins last July in Cairo, Egypt. When you serve as General Secretary your itinerary for your annual journey is set, in part, by each meeting of Central Committee. So here is my photo album and travel diary of the last 16 months. As is true with many travel diaries these days the story has several hotlinks that allow me to jump forward and back in terms of strict chronological times.

In August I travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to visit one of our long-term members United Methodist Communications. Some of you will recall that their General Secretary, Larry Hollon attended our meeting in Cairo. We discussed ways in which UMCOM and WACC could work together as UMCOM moved from a domestic focus to assuming responsibility as a global agency of the United Methodist Church. Since then we have worked with UMCOM to recruit leadership for communication training programmes in Africa, and provided introductions to project and programme partners. This is not a funding relationship but exemplifies some of the ways that WACC is actively engaged, and I think increasingly engaged, in supporting the churches.

On that same trip I drove to Louisville, Kentucky to participate in the International Association for Media, Culture and Religion—a biannual event in which WACC has participated from its inception. This time WACC sponsored a panel for one of the sessions, with the panel members being from the Global South. One of the important gifts that WACC brings to the international community, which is so often dominated by the North, is a commitment to have a broader representation of voices and ideas, especially those of the South present at such events. At this event we also hosted a ‘WACC’ reception for members, of whom they were many, and friends. A logical part of our work is to facilitate networking amongst our members and it was quite amazing to see the impact of the reception on the overall tenor of the conference. While in Louisville some of the WACC members met with communication and mission colleagues from the Presbyterian Church USA, which has their national and global offices in that city.

WACC and the Ecumenical Community

August was also the month of the WCC’s Central Committee meeting. As an international, ecumenical organization recognized as a partner of the WCC, WACC is entitled to have a delegated representative present and I have participated in WCC meetings in that capacity. We have been determined to raise WACC’s profile in the ecumenical community and have worked hard in recent years to achieve this.

We recognized several years ago that networking would be an increasingly important style of operation for WACC and we meet many of our present and potential network partners at meetings such as the WCC Central Committee. Through getting to know the World Vision representative we have been offered access to their training materials when we are ready to launch our own major initiative in HIV/Aids in Africa.

As many of you know, the ecumenical movement is going through difficult times both in terms of funding and commitment. The World Council of Churches called a meeting in November to look at the future of the ecumenical movement. On the one hand it was a very successful meeting because it brought together many players in the ecumenical movement that often are not gathered at the same table. On the other hand the meeting illustrated just how big is the challenge faced by ecumenical agencies at this time. A small continuation committee was formed to try to keep the conversations moving forward. It is very clear that the debate will take some time and that ecumenical bodies such as ourselves will need to move ahead unilaterally on some things, hopefully with a built in flexibility in our own thinking and structures so as to remain an integral part of the ecumenical movement.

It was at the November WCC-hosted meeting that some of the major church development agencies announced their desire to radically change their approach to funding development projects. Using the very successful Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, through which the ecumenical community has addressed issues of HIV/Aids and world trade, as a model the funding partners have proposed an ecumenical alliance for development. The alliance, still in the formation stage, will have a small secretariat to steer its work. It seems that the purpose of the EAD will be to find cooperative ways to fund development. I think the goal is also to find ways to overcome the very slow decision making process that has become problematic within the ecumenical community. WACC is actively monitoring this development and engaged in the current phase which has a focus on groups such as ourselves outside the WCC and how this development affects us. We have indicated our desire to be fully involved as a member of the EAD, by whatever name it is finally called, and just this past week we were consulted about assisting an event in London later this year.

Just four weeks ago WACC hosted the annual meeting of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and their two programme committees for a five-day meeting held in our offices. We participate actively in the HIV/Aids committee and it was a pleasure for us to welcome the entire EAA family into our offices for their meeting.

We have also worked with the World Council of Churches on two seminars this year. The first, held in France, looked at issues of the church and copyright and the second, held at the Bossey Centre in Switzerland, addressed the convergence of science, faith and technology.

A final comment on our important ecumenical journey is to report that WACC is busy planning our participation at the WCC’s General Assembly to be held in Porto Alegre, Brasil, next February. We will have our publications available, thanks to the generous offer of our WACC Treasurer, whose publishing house will be running the bookshop for the Assembly. We will also host a WACC seminar, participate with WCC colleagues in a joint ecumenical conversation, have a display, second a staff person to the WCC’s news team at the Assembly, and I will be there as a delegated representative.

WACC as a good neighbour

WACC needs to be a good neighbour, engaged with neighbours around the world in address the social and political issues that influence their lives. So the mandate from Central Committee to support our Thai sister, Supinya, was one that we have pursued all year. Through press releases, e-list contacts, letter writing campaigns, etc. WACC has been on of the most active international supporters of this communication reform campaigner as she has struggled with the legal system of Thailand in response to the overwhelming forces of both corporate and political power. Goliath knew nothing about challenges to his might and authority compared to the world-wide support for Supinya and her work.

WACC also participated in the European and the World Social Forums. Each relied heavily on support from both staff and members in order to be present in ways that provided both leadership and basic support for the effectiveness of the two forums. In such events WACC has been able to represent the faith community and to present significant insights into the communication challenges being addressed.

For WACC, advocacy is one of the most effective ways of being a good neighbour. In addition to our key role in the development of the CRIS campaign, we have provided the administrative support for the Global Governance Project, which has sought to map ways in which good media policy and practice has been effective in establishing good governance within civil society. A very useful handbook is currently at the graphic designers and will be published by the end of October.

Being a good neighbour also means caring for the communication environment in which people live. The third Global Media Monitoring Project was held this year, building on the successes of GMMP 2000 and GMMP 1995. In the GMMP 2005 version, however, we planned for, and are in the process of realizing, a major progression over previous work. The analysis and insight gained from all three monitoring activities has been quite extraordinary. With 2005 however there has been a commitment from the planning stage to include a significant commitment to developing advocacy in response to the findings. This commitment has led to the development of a network/committee of partners with whom WACC has never worked before but with whom we have shared common interests for many years.

The move into the GMMP advocacy strategy will see a major launch of the programme on February 16th, 2006, and that day will be the beginning of a three-week campaign of global awareness building. If funding is available, the plans call for regional or national events and advocacy strategy workshops in at least 8 areas over the next few years to ensure that the results of this mammoth survey not only demonstrate our taking sides, but model our making a difference. GMMP also demonstrates what can happen when WACC makes a long-term commitment to a programme and is able/willing to adequately fund and staff that commitment.

WACC as a family of regions

Part of the General Secretary’s job is to attend meetings of the Association. Last November I attended the final meeting of the North American Broadcast Section of WACC, a group—originally focussed on broadcasting—that actually predated its new parent organization WACC. The closing was to recognize the significant contribution that NABSWACC had made to communicators in North America, and to recognize that much of its purpose had been superseded by other organizations. At the final banquet NABS recognized the Rev Ed Willingham as a NABS Pioneer for the three decades of work he had given to the annual NABS gathering.

During the 16 months I have also had the opportunity to participate in the Europe Region’s triennial assembly; the North America Region’s annual meeting; the Africa Region’s Executive Committee, and most recently the Pacific Region’s triennial assembly, in the Cook Islands. As you will see in the Regional Reports to this meeting, our regions have much in common while at the same time each is quite distinctive in terms of the needs of its participants, the style of regional administration, and the understanding of the role of communication in the life of each region.

Of course the relationship with the regions has also been carried by both the Regional Development staff, as well as the Global Studies staff, as we have sought to implement the comprehensive WACC mandate. As we look ahead, and based on my experience of visiting these regional gatherings, I think we need to find ways to support the regions in the growth and development of the communication movement. Our total ‘full’ membership numbers remain relatively static and in some cases active levels of participation have declined. At the same time our ‘virtual’ members that is those that have joined our movement with affiliate status, obtained on-line, is growing every week. How do we begin to translate this interest in what we stand for to a commitment to be part of what we do? My hope is that the revised project screening process will free up regional associations to address that question and to devise ways of growing their membership through creative and productive engagement with more communicators within each of their respective regions. I am impressed by the energy and commitment that Excom members in each region give to their region, my hope is that we can find new ways to support and energize their work.

WACC Initiatives

Just over a year ago we decided to develop an active volunteer and intern programme whereby specific parts of our work in the offices could receive additional support at little or no cost. Over the last 16 months we have had three people volunteer to assist in short-term assignments and we have had several graduate students work with us from 3 to six months as part of their academic requirements. These have been ‘real’ jobs, that is each person was given specific work that required commitment and dedication. This was work that WACC needed to do in order to achieve some of our programme goals but work that might not have happened without the volunteers and interns. The interesting thing is that these terrific people found us on the internet and approached us to see if we had a programme for volunteers and interns in which they might participate. Along the way we have also made a meaningful contribution to their lives—academically and professionally—and more importantly from my perspective we have influenced the lives of future communication scholars and practioners in a most powerful way.

Along similar lines, we will welcome to the WACC office this week a well known academic in the field of media, culture and religion. Dr. Stewart Hoover, once a member of Centcom and now a professor at the university of Boulder, Colorado, USA, will join us a scholar-in-residence, sharing space, conversation, stimulating our thinking and supporting our planning, particularly on our Christian Fundamentalism and the Media project, as he also pursues some of his own academic research.

We have also started to develop a series of ‘WACC position papers’. This is still in process and unfortunately not ready for release yet. Over the years WACC has been asked for comment, advice and insight on a myriad of communication activities. We thought it would be useful to develop a series of papers, each no longer that two pages, that stated the issue from a WACC perspective, commented on the issue from WACC’s experience, and concluded with a summary paragraph or two on WACC’s sense of what is the best response to the question.

In a sense the position papers are nothing more than putting into words many of the WACC experiences as realized through the reports of our project holders and through our many seminars and events. The possible topics are endless but we are beginning with such themes as WACC, Communication and…gender, cinema, HIV/Aids, development, advocacy, technology, community radio, and the list goes on and on. My own assignment within the staff group has been an interesting experience.

I agreed to write something about communication and theology. There has long been an interest in the faith-based communication network for some simple, clear statements about the theology that underlines much of what we do. Being of no fear, and even less wisdom, I volunteered to be the first to have my paper reviewed and critiqued by colleagues in the office. They, showing no regard for my advanced years nor my sensitive nature, tore the document apart. The discussion that followed was really a very important discussion about our sense of the ‘theology’ that motivates, challenges and critiques what we do. The one point that seemed to survive the blood letting was one that I have argued since 1983 when I was asked to speak to a conference in Canada, and that is, our work from a theological view is about three things: communication, community and communion.

So, licking my wounds, I have stepped back from that table to take another look at my two page statement on theology and communication. I’ve done a little more research and, as so often happens in such quests, I have discovered that three years ago a German academic and theologian has pursued those same three words and has demonstrated that our attempts to have a ‘theology of …’, or a ‘theology and…’, communication simply are not defensible. What is defensible, and he proves it from an academic skill that I could not, is that we should speak of our concern without the prepositions and should view our practice as ‘communication theology’. His view is that we should use the term just as colleagues have used the term liberation theology. That is to say, communication theology is in the essence of what it means to live theologically and that communication theology may be used to inform our view of the world, of God’s purpose for the world, and our ethical response as faithful stewards in this world.

I have not finished the paper so I cannot solve the riddles of the universe for you today, but the process of developing the document has convinced me that part of our future will be determined by our ability to demonstrate to the churches the theological significance of communication for the life of the church and as an essential element in all that they do. (In case yet another scholar develops this farther, remember that you heard it here first.) Communication theology may be a very important concept for the 21st century and may be the strategic insight that we have been seeking for many decades in our movement.

The task of putting a significant communication activity or viewpoint into a two page statement, faced by all of my colleagues writing one of these position papers, underscores the challenge which all communicators face—to put into symbols the meaning of life from one limited perspective. Hopefully as we pursue this task over the next few months we will be in a position to begin to release our best thinking, in a language which communicates to the proverbial person in the pew, as well as the occasional church bureaucrat in their offices of power.

Moving forward with confidence

Sometimes crisis brings opportunities. Our current financial struggle is one such example. The proposals before you for consideration this week could have come at any time, in fact it would have been easy if we could have faced one per year rather than all at once. We probably would have addressed issues of governance, programme and location over time. But a crisis has meant that we will address all three at once. So be it. That is the only way forward.

One of the good things for those of us in the office is that the funding crisis has forced us to think differently about what we do. Two years ago, while meeting in Vancouver, you asked us to address your concerns about fundamentalism and the media. Our traditional response would have been to arrange a few seminars, or to commission a paper, or some other activity on that scale. Goaded by the funding challenges we have in fact developed a much more adventurous concept and in fact are now circulating a proposal that will see WACC spend over €250,000 over a three-year period of time considering the ways that religious fundamentalist are using the media to re-shape the world through a growing influence and control of political, social and economic policies and attitudes. Often we would stop their in our study, but in this case and with the longer commitment of time, we are also able to state that one of goals is to enable the mainline churches to meet the challenges offered by Christian fundamentalists through an understanding of their use of the media and to build an inter-regional dialogue on potential solutions.

Communication theology calls us to ‘take sides’, responsible stewardship calls us to make a difference. Every crisis also embodies opportunity.

Acknowledging others
Just as I find myself sometimes saying, ‘I wish I had written that first’, so there are times when I see something and I say “I wish WACC had supported that project’. As you may know, WACC has a long tradition of being engaged in cinema through our participation in ecumenical juries at some of international film festivals. We will see a movie tonight from one of those festivals.

I attended the Locarno, Italy, film festival this year. In addition to the 16 movies that we had to view for the ecumenical jury I was also able to find time to look at another 5 movies. One of those was a documentary produced by a young Haitian-American woman which was shown in the human rights category. The director, Michèle Stephenson, conducted what could have been a WACC project. Four years before the UN Summit on Racism she realized that many of the very people who experienced racism likely would not be present. She convinced a foundation to support a project that saw untrained communicators in 5 countries given a simple video camera, one day’s technical training, and one day’s content orientation in order that they might tell their story through the use of communication technology and in order to bring about change in their community. They did and their documentary, ‘faces of change’, was one of the most powerful presentations at the festival. For WACC the film is important not only because it tells a powerful story, but for the way in which it models how communication technology can be used to take sides and to make a difference. It models: communication, community, communion.

I have received a letter from our Roman Catholic sister organization, SIGNIS, proposing that we establish a joint prize to recognize initially this film, and then on an ongoing basis to jointly honour a communication and human rights film at each of our respective global assemblies or congress events. I hope the Service Sector committee will support this recommendation.

And what of this week?

We have gathered as the Central Committee of the World Association for Christian Communication. There is nothing unusual about that, it happens once a year. You are given responsibility to set policy and to give direction to the life of this Association. There is nothing unusual about that, it happens once a year.

What is different this week is that you are asked to make decisions that are of a different magnitude and that could have far-reaching consequences for individuals, for programmes, for projects, for the whole Association itself. I simply want to say, ‘that’s OK’, it is a task that must be done, and WACC has done this many times before during its 50 years of existence. Thirty years ago the ‘new’ WACC was formed. Twenty years ago the ‘constitution’ that guides our work was adopted. Sixteen years ago WACC held its first world Congress, and now we are planning for the fourth. It is only eleven years ago that WACC made a major commitment to women in communication. Just three years ago WACC renewed its commitment to advocacy.
Two years ago we launched a new logo. Last year we created an affiliate member status to welcome on-line pilgrims. You have the responsibility and the wisdom to make such decisions. Decisions made this week are but the next step in the WACC journey.

You are the Central Committee. Although you were elected by your Region to be here, once here you are no longer a regional person, you are a global person, a director of a global Association. Our constitution requires you to represent the whole world and to make the kind of decisions that are best for all of WACC.

My staff colleagues await your decisions. Some are anxious-in anticipation and/or in fear; some are enthusiastic about the proposed changes, while others are neutral and still others oppose some of the suggestions. That is the reality of being human and of caring passionately about the work that has been entrusted to them. ‘Entrusted’ is the operative word. Directors set policy and staff implement policy. My job is to have a foot in both roles.

That dual role gives me a special affection for WACC staff that no other director can share. That is a privilege and a duty of being General Secretary, yes, but it is primarily a blessing. I am confident that whatever policy directions you give me to implement, that the WACC staff will respect and develop those decisions on your behalf—not just because I am the boss, but because, with you, they share a deep concern for the values and issues that are integral to our movement, and that along with many of you they see WACC’s mission as a faithful response in God’s world.

Talking about structures is not equally exciting for everyone. Some would rather talk about very practical, hands-on issues. Thank God there are such people or we would never get anything done! At the same time structure does provide the support for the rest of the body. If we have a structure that allows us to gain strength, build the movement, and to engage in building better, relevant hands-on programme, then it is probably good to take some time to do work on our structures.

Governance. Governance is your primary duty as directors. With that duty comes the responsibility to govern the governors. With the direction of your Finance Committee we have presented you with four good options for governance at a cost we can fund. There may be other options, but I think you have four reasonable options to consider.

Programme. WACC has long been acknowledged as being unique in the world by having two strong operational sectors, one to support regional development essentially through small projects, and the other to undertake global study and analysis and the development of resources. What we have not been able to do is to link the two activities in such a way as to have one activity be of benefit to, and equally benefit from, the other’s experience and learning. WACC has failed to be a learning organization.

Experience of the last four years has seen a growing integration of WACC activities between Regional Development and Global Studies both through WACC Global and through Regional activities. A formal integration of this work under one umbrella will bring about a synergy of experience, insight, planning and programme delivery that will, I believe, make WACC an even more effective communication ministry in the local, regional, and global spheres.

Location. You have the documents before you and I think we can supply any information that you might feel is missing, although we have tried to provide enough information, and in a manner that positions fairly without holding one reality higher (or lower) than others, that will enable you to make an informed decision.
On the matter of the cities under consideration, let me say this so that you do not have to avoid saying it. I am a Canadian and a Torontonian. No one wishes more than I at this time that this was not the case. At the same time I have done my utmost to accept my ‘accident of birth’ as something that I can do nothing about and to trust my own sense of global sensitivity and responsibility for the future for WACC in developing these proposals. I cannot change the former, and stand fully responsible for the latter.

Conclusion
This has not been an easy year! Managing our finances at times has felt like riding on a roller-coaster. Our funding efforts have not been as successful as predicted. There is much work still to be done, and even more if we adopt changes, however necessary, this week.

Our President has been a confident, a coach and a colleague, with whom perspective has been regained and without whom some of the lonely times would have been much lonelier. The Officers and Finance Committee have offered support and criticism with a seriousness than cannot be ignored and a love and respect that cannot be measured.

For half the year Lavinia Mohr and Pradip Thomas were of immense support in dealing with the budget shortfalls and then with Pradip’s departure Lavinia and Philip Lee have become my principle support and inspiration for discerning a way forward. You should not underestimate in any way the key role Philip and Lavinia have played in preparing the proposals you have before you this week.

I remain in awe and indebted to my staff colleagues. They have all seen changes to their work assignments, both in terms of what they do, but especially in how the work is to be done. They have experienced an internal re-location within the two buildings. The routine work has been accomplished in good order and they have taken on many extra assignments. At the end of the day, and this report, it is wonderful to pay tribute to work colleagues who find energy and passion and humour and commitment for what they do day in and day out, as WACC staff and fellow pilgrims.