The short intensive course was indeed one of the high lights in my experience, and has opened up an entirely new concept of soul winning for me."
Typical of many is this excerpt from a letter by one of the ministers attending the recent Public Relations Seminar held at Potomac University from August 20 to 29.
Attended by fourteen ordained ministers and other personnel interested in the growing program of denominational public relations, the course covered, among other things, a study of the forces shaping public opinion, current developments in motivational research, high lights in journalism and newswriting, television, radio, community relationships, types of advertising, approaches to community officials and thought leaders, PR as related to administration, PR as related to various church activities, how to determine the effectiveness of the PR. program, and how best to put all these media to work for the church.
The Seminar course, operated under the direction of the General Conference Bureau of Public Relations, and sponsored by Potomac University, is the continuation of the successful pilot program offered at Atlantic Union College last year. Being especially geared to the needs of pastors, evangelists, administrators, departmental and institutional personnel, and students, it offers a unique opportunity to get a maximum of public-relations know-how in a minimum of time, and at the same time obtain college or university credit.
Perhaps the most frequently discussed subject was that of the comparatively new emphasis being placed by the church on community relations. "For too long," remarked one lecturer, "the church has stood aloof from participation in community projects and affairs. Perhaps because we tend to regard the world as our community, we often lose touch with the local community."
During the course of the Seminar it became increasingly. clear to all that whereas getting news stories into the press is an essential and important part of the work of public relations, it is, after all, only a part. Public relations applied to denominational endeavor encompasses the total effort of the church to gain, through every legitimate agency, the good will and acceptance of the message to which it is committed.
The success of this new venture, approved by the Autumn Council in 1957, will doubtless lead to the Seminar as a permanent feature of our public-relations program, to be offered alternately in various geographic areas in the United States and ultimately in other parts of the world Held.
