History of PCM
The
Presbyterian Council for Media, formerly the Presbyterian
Appalachian Broadcasting Council, was formed in the early
1960's due to the responsibility that the Presbyterian
Church felt toward the people of Appalachia. Though
the mountains formed a beautiful landscape to behold,
they also presented a number of challenges to the people
living in the area--usually in the form of isolation and
poverty. Among the many problems which needed to be
addressed were lack of self-esteem, specifically as value
placed upon individualism and self-reliance, fatalism as a
result of poverty, high drop-out rates among school-aged
individuals, undeterminable crime among juvenile and
adults, the lack of resources and ability to get to
resources, and the lack of available church
leadership.
After a few studies regarding the best manner to reach
these individuals, a small group of men and women, in a
collective effort of what is now know to be the
Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, formed a group know as PABC. They began to
write and produce short Gospel-based messages related to
the concerns and struggles of the people of Appalachia.
Unfortunately, the situation of the Appalachian people has
changed very little over the years.
Yes, some improvements have been made, but for the most
part the primary problems addressed in the 1962 survey of
needs of Appalachian people are still prevalent. The
Appalachian region still needs tremendous outside
assistance. Furthermore, changes in legislation are
threatening the support and financial assistance that is so
crucial for the entire area.
The good news is that PCM is still offering support through
the caring words of Christ and will continue to do so as
long as possible.
Why
Radio PSA’s ?
Through
radio, the Presbyterian Church is able to reach both
believers and non-believers/church goers and non-church
goers. Since the PSAs are short, attention-grabbing
spots, PCM is able to catch all audiences--not just the
people who would tune into religious programming.
Like regular radio advertising, the radio stations play the
PSAs throughout the day for a number of weeks.
Therefore the message is more effective and more memorable.
Does it work? Absolutely! In 2005, PCM was able to
make literally millions
of impressions (the number of times a spot can be heard by
potential listeners) in Appalachia alone! And, since these
spots are PSAs, then air-time is donated to run the
spots. (PCM and the Presbyterian Church pay only for
the production of the spots, not the time on the
air). Therefore, PCM’s overhead is fairly low.
This makes for an excellent ratio of results to donated
revenue for the local church’s mission and outreach
efforts. A HUGE bang for the buck!
PCM believes that its ministry produces specific results
among its listeners, such as enabling new discoveries of
self-worth as children of God; providing a fresh
understanding of God's reliable love and care in the midst
of hardship and even crisis; spurring a deeper trust in
other people to the point of sharing and mutual support;
and encouraging people to seek ways to overcome the
problems they may face.
What
Lies Ahead for PCM?
We
feel that God is calling us to do more - to continue our
important work in Appalachia as well as becoming a resource
for the local church. We believe we can support the efforts
of local churches and their Presbyteries in regards to
outreach, evangelism, and church growth. Our approach will
be in a variety of areas all connected by their reliance on
media as a tool for "telling a story."
* We hope to become a clearing house for mission agencies
and other ministries as another outlet for getting their
stories heard and in doing so becoming a connection for the
local church that may have in interest in a particular
area, or part of the world to gather raw video footage as
well as a connection with a ministry that is involved in
that area.
*We are exploring the possibility of carrying our many
years of successful work in radio into video and
television.
*We are in the process of gathering, creating materials to
support the local church in its use of multimedia in
worship. We have a number of council members and associates
that are highly skilled in everything from graphic design,
desktop publishing, and print media, to lighting,
audio(live and recording) and video/computer generated
presentation media.