Churchin’ Up: Connecting with Communities of Faith (Series Intro)

Church (or temple, or the mosque, etc.) is where many communities get their news and information. It’s more than that, though. For many communities, the church is the social and political heart of the community—and homilies cover more than just spiritual teaching.

Over the next few posts to this blog, I’ll examine how news orgs can build bridges with some key communities of faith. Tap into this rich conduit of information. If you’re having a hard time reaching certain communities of difference (race, ethnicity, immigrants, lower-income, etc.) directly, then—as Cab Calloway told Blues Brothers—you could use some churchin’ up!

“I can’t,” you may think. “I’m a journalist—I’m supposed to cover communities, not get involved with them. Plus, I’m cynical, and church is scary. And I might burst into flames.”

Don’t worry. Communities of faith tend to be very welcoming. They probably won’t try to convert you, nor will they attack you. Besides—the ones that likely would try such shenanigans are already contacting you, so you know how to avoid them. This not about them. This is about connecting with interesting communities doing interesting and newsworthy things. This is about understanding these communities better so that you can serve them better with news and information.

Covered so far:

1. The Catholic Church
2. Islam
3. Hinduism
4. Buddhism
5. Judaism

More coming soon, stay tuned!