MB COMMUNICATIONS
Report to the Canadian Conference
MB Communications is an agency of the Manitoba MB Conference, but it has been given a standing invitation to report to and raise funds within the Canadian Conference.
Through MB Communications, the Mennonite Brethren of Canada can use mass media to make an impact for the Kingdom of God. This year has been a year of reflection and introspection, as MBC has sought to assess its role in the life of the local church. As an agency whose task is to spread the Good News through the public media, MBC is interested in the tools local congregations need to reach people in their communities.
New programs
- A new one-minute version of Connecting Points airs on radio station KISS FM, targetting the unchurched in the Vancouver metropolitan area. Finances are the only thing standing in the way of taking this program to other areas of North America.
- A series of videotapes produced in cooperation with the General MB Conference Board of Resource Ministries will accompany the new Faith Family Focus Sunday school curriculum.
- Encuentro, a new Spanish-language radio program refined during 1995, went international early in 1996. In four months, it has grown from airing on one Winnipeg station to reaching thousands of people on more than 20 stations across the USA, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Honduras, Peru, Chile, Nicaragua and El Salvador. More stations are being added each month.
- Media literacy. By the time our children graduate from high school, they will likely have watched more than 15,000 hours of movies and television. A series of workshops has been created by MBC to help families control the influence of media in the lives of children and adults alike.
- A new gospel music group, the Gospel Light Singers, has been formed to assist MBC by providing special music in churches and by recording an album titled, Rock Of Ages.
Established programs
The Bible Today. By airing on both the national Russian network and on numerous local radio stations, this program reaches the entire former Soviet Union with a message of hope and reconciliation in Christ Jesus. Near 200 million people can receive this program on their radios. Letters requesting Bibles and other Christian literature continue to arrive each month. This program is now produced in both the Russian and Ukrainian languages.
The Bible and Music, a contemporary Christian music program requested by the Russian national radio network, airs as part of a popular Sunday morning variety program produced by the network itself.
Licht vom Evangelium and Licht des Evangeliums (German and Low German radio programs) continue reaching many in Canada, the US, Mexico, Paraguay and Bolivia. MBC is finding that it has underestimated the number of those reached by the Low German program, for producer Jacob Funk is finding many more listeners in Mexico and Paraguay than we had earlier realized. Letters continue to arrive from writers experiencing God's blessings while listening to the broadcast.
Connecting Points. In spite of severe budget cuts at the beginning of 1996, MBC continues to produce a 15-minute Connecting Points radio program in a talk show format. Formerly, this program sought to reach the unchurched populations in Canada. Now it has been revamped to speak more directly to those who support the work of MBC. By making this change, MBC hopes to connect more closely with members of Mennonite Brethren churches in Canada, and, possibly in the future, the US also.
Other developments
- Spin 180. One established program ended early in 1996. MBC's Christian rock program, Spin 180, enjoyed periods of immense success during the years it aired. At times, it found its way into more than 130 different countries. When a major network dropped the program from its lineup, its reach was considerably reduced. Budget pressures forced MBC to make deep cuts, and Spin 180 fell victim to financial pressures.
- 50th anniversary. Already MBC is formulating plans for its 50th anniversary celebration, which gets underway in 1997. A committee has been appointed to give guidance to this activity. Anyone who has been associated with MBC over the past years as a member of a musical group, as a staff person or as a volunteer working with program production is encouraged to call or write MBC.
- Canadian connection. During the past year, the MBC board has been in dialogue with the Canadian Conference Board of Communications. There is an ongoing effort to search out those areas where the two boards and their respective agencies have common ground, and to seek ways of cultivating that ground together. In an attempt to keep each other informed, there now is cross-representation on each other's boards.
MBC staff:
Burton Buller, executive director
Delbert Enns, associate director
Nora Plett, office management
Steve Harder, audio & production services coordinator
Neil Klassen, new initiatives coordinator
Jacob Funk, German program producer
Ernesto Pinto, Spanish program producer
Leonid Sergienko, Russian program producer
George Ewert, maintenance
Return to the M.B. Herald Vol. 35, No. 10
Home Page