FAITH FOR TODAY'S station coverage stands at an all-time high—280 stations in North America and nine overseas countries (Bermuda, Guam, Korea, Liberia, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Trinidad, and the Virgin Islands). They feature Faith for Today with its weekly gospel message. Types of programming include interview feature, song program, illustrated sermon, travelogue, and true-to-life situations.
Frequently pastors write to our office asking what they can do to help in getting Faith for Today on the air.
In the early days of the program's history the pastor frequently was used as a contact man. Indeed, for a time the telecast had no station-relations director. Today the picture is changed. Instead of the pastor's going from station to station in his city or district, the plan is for the station-relations director from the national headquarters to make the contact.
Often program directors react to a visit from the local pastor as a "pressure type" approach. Accordingly their resistance is up and they oftentimes will balk at televising Faith for Today when, if approached other wise, they might be willing to air the telecast.
What the Pastor Can Do
However, there is still a great deal that the local pastor can do in enabling Faith for Today to maintain its outreach. Obviously it would be impossible for the telecast to function effectively without the cooperation of the local pastor. The more than 13,000 baptisms that have taken place through the ministry of Faith for Today are traceable in large measure to the loyal cooperation of pastors across North America and around the world.
Let's take a look, then, at some of the things that you as a pastor can do in strengthening the outreach of Faith for Today. First of all you can maintain an attractive church building. An unpainted church on the wrong side of the tracks will give its own testimonial—in the wrong way. And when the program director learns that Faith for Today is a Seventh-day Adventist-sponsored program (this information is carried with every telecast), he will immediately associate it with the unkempt church and the run-down building he has noticed.
The pastor can perform an invaluable service in enlisting his members to write periodically to the station. Definitely to be discouraged is a mass writing of letters or post cards. This is regarded as a pressure effort. Rather, invite your members to write on the occasion of a birthday or anniversary. This will remind them to write regarding Faith for Today annually. When they correspond they can mention their appreciation for the telecast and the gratitude that they feel to the station for carrying it as a public service.
The pastor can be invaluable in utilizing Faith for Today's booster kit program, which was initiated two years ago. This is a packet of materials that can be used in securing Bible-school enrollments and enlisting friends and neighbors to view the program. Booster kits can be obtained from Faith for Today at no charge. Then with an organized church membership it will be possible to make excellent contacts for the telecast and enroll many in the Bible course. All of which constitutes a good seed-sowing program that will result in soul winning.
The pastor has an unusual opportunity in inviting the program director or other station officials to visit the church and discuss religious television. Actually, even if Faith for Today is not mentioned, a great deal of good will be done. The speaker can point to what religious television is accomplishing. And in his thinking he will evaluate the Seventh-day Adventist Church as being perceptive; aware of the importance of television in religious communication today.
Nothing is to be taken for granted when it comes to public-service time. A program director in Minnesota mentioned that when Faith for Today was taken off the air no one wrote in to object. The dropping of another religious telecast, however, brought many responses. Accordingly, merely because a program is on the air is no reason to relax. The pastor can fulfill a unique role in organizing his church members to respond to the telecast and encourage station directors to keep it on the air. Competition for TV station time is intense. It is being sought constantly by many different secular and religious organizations.
Indirectly the pastor can make a contribution to Faith for Today's popularity by taking an active part in the local ministerial association. If he builds a good image there for the church, this frequently will help. Often program directors say, "If the local ministerial association will endorse or at least accede to the showing of your program we will be glad to put it on the air."
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, recently, the program director went so far as to say, "I like your program. I believe it makes a valuable contribution. If it clears the local ministerial association we will plan to run it weekly." Fortunately there was an excel lent relationship between the Seventh-day Adventist church and the community. The pastor was an active member of the local ministerial association. When the previewing was done a favorable report was given.
The fact that people know you and recognize you as a force for good in the community is helpful. For a "national telecast such as Faith for Today, this can be invaluable.
In Zanesville, Ohio, a few years ago station officials sat around a conference table discussing plans for dropping Faith for To day. As they did so they recalled that many letters and telephone calls had routinely come throughout the year from those who enjoyed the telecast. As a result of this alone, they determined to continue the program.
In Canada valuable air time was given one of our pastors simply because of a good relationship built up through Faith for To day.
In the far West a program director who was also in charge of radio broadcasting gave radio public-service time in addition to television just because of the popularity of the Faith for Today telecast.
Some pastors have told us that they have been featured on a local religious television program because the name Seventh-day Adventist has become familiar to the program director through Faith for Today. Oftentimes we are not too well known. Consequently, anything that is done to place Adventism in a favorable light is all to the good.
A pastor should always remember the anniversary date of the television station that features Faith for Today. Here is an opportunity for helping to put the church in a favorable light. A lovely gift of flowers can be taken to the station with a Faith for Today card. Or perhaps a birthday cake can be presented. Such gifts have been featured on the TV station's newscasts. This has helped to build the viewing audience.
You may know of a station interested in Faith for Today. Possibly a program director with whom you have developed a friendship has mentioned his interest in televising a good religious program. If this is the case please contact the station-relations department of Faith for Today immediately. Your communication should be addressed to Franklin W. Hudgins, Faith for Today, 200 Stonehinge Lane, Carle Place, New York 11514. From national headquarters an audition print will be sent immediately and follow-up work will be done. In this way the groundwork can be laid for another station's featuring Faith for Today.
Certainly God has blessed in the Faith for Today ministry. The program began with one station in New York—WABC— eighteen years ago. It has grown mightily since that time. The initial mail response was sixty-six letters. More than ten thou sand letters are received weekly now, and the number is constantly going up. With UHF becoming increasingly popular and more and more stations turning to color, it behooves all of us to keep the word on the air.
Centuries ago David, the psalmist, assured us, "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." No doubt about it, God's Word is going rapidly to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Television is helping to give it. It is possible to reach 10 million or 12 million people with a religious television program. This represents an audience far larger than would be possible to address in one session. Indeed, 10 million people are the equivalent of ten thousand audiences with one thousand attending each. Our evangelistic meetings today are a challenge. Anytime we have an audience of a thousand or more we feel that God is mightily blessing, and so He is. We can rejoice over the large number it is possible to contact through television.
As God's people bind hand and heart together for the finishing of the work and as they use every tool available to them, Heaven will bless. God's promise is good: "My word . . . shall not return unto me void."
