BROADCASTING

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 112, 7 November 1935, Page 10

BROADCASTING

RELIGIOUS SERVICES

"ANOMALOUS ALLOCATION"

CHURCH BOARD MOOTED

Matters relating to the broadcasting 0 * of church services were dealt with by w the General Assembly of the Presby- a] terian Church today. It was decided, a] inter alia, to take steps to form an s inter-church broadcasting board with w church representation on the board | b according to the strength in the population. o The subject of the broadcasting of church services was dealt with in a „ comprehensive report • which was , placed before the assembly and from which extracts were published in "The »; Post" on Friday last. THREE POINTS. 3 | The Rev. W. Allen Stevely, convener sl of the committee on broadcasting, said that three big matters emerged from the deliberations of the committee. One was that the present , allocation of ft broadcasting services • was. quite c anomalous. He did not think he need beat that point any finer. The second 1 point was that the committee^ came 1 increasingly to realise the desirability I of being granted time on the national a stations. The Broadcasting Board re- ± plied that if that request were granted similar requests would come from the f, other denominations and the ultimate j result of that would be an overloaded and unbalanced programme. In view c of the situation with regard to the B class stations, the committee was i strongly of the opinion that the church a must have time on the national stations j. for the educational, inspirational, and ( 'evangelical work of the Church. It r ■was felt that the Church, having the c biggest message of all, had -the right c '■to the use of "this great modern means 'of propaganda for its work." The third j .point, closely associated with the first, 1 was the desirability of creating an ( inter-churcn broadcasting board. The Broadcasting Board had been asked { , what time would be accorded speakers if such an inter-church board were in . existence, and the reply was that the , •whole matter of broadcasting was be- * ing overhauled and reviewed and that { no definite answer could be given. SERVICES APPRECIATED. , The Rev. G. Budd (Auckland) j seconded the motion that the committee's report be received, and con- \ gratulated Mr. Stevely and the com- , mittee for the work done by them. He said he believed that far more ; people listened in to the church ser- \ vices than was realised. People who did; not go to church at all and , people of other denominations listened , to the messages from the Church and appreciated them very much. There ( •were also people who could not go to . church through physical disability and 1 their geographical situation. All over the country as he travelled around he j heard appreciation of the services. He . did. not agree, however, with the finding of the committee that only by a . limited number of radio pastors could , an effective continuity of messages ' and contact be maintained with radio congregations. He thought there was room for diversity in regard to the men ; who were given the privilege of : speaking over the air. He believed that a radio congregation liked a change of speaker as much as the average congregation. (Laughter.) Speaking on the suggestion to set up an inter-church broadcasting board, Mr. Stevely said he thought such a • board was highly desirable. If that were done united and not separate negotiations could be entered into with the Broadcasting Board, which he thought would result- in the best results accruing to all concerned. The Rev. J. R. Blanchard supported the proposal but suggested that church representation on the board should be according to the strength in the population. The suggestion was adopted by Assembly. Mr. Stevely then moved that Assembly approve of the principle of the allocation of broadcasts proportional to the strength of the various churches. He said he thought it was the only way to deal fairly with correct and adequate representation. "I think that everybody must be agreed that the present position is anomalous." said the Rev. J. R. Blanchard, speaking to the motion. He said he was just afraid, however, that, if the principle were adopted at the present time in the form that was before them, a position somewhat more anomalous might be created. The Rev. John Paterson (Wanganui) asked what was meant by the "strength" of the Church. If it meant census members, to his mind that was a great weakness. He thought the definition should be much more clear, j especially as it was proposed to place the matter before the Broadcasting Board. In; his opinion it would be wise to leave the matter over. It was a very complicated question and should ■ not be settled offhand. Mr. Stevely withdrew jhe proposal The Assembly then passed on to deal with another recommendation dealing with the desirability of there being a reasonable measure of freedom for the purposes of religious publicity by responsible organisations. It was agreed to authorise the broadcasting committee to take steps in conjunction with the representatives of other churches to obtain time from the national stations. On the motion of Mr. Stevely it was decided to thank the Broadcasting Board for the facilities already in existence. LOCAL BROADCASTS. Mr. C. S. Falconer said he thought the question in regard to the broadcasting of services from the Presbyterian churches in the different centres should also be settled. He contended that certain Churches should not have the privilege of services held in them being broadcast for an indefinite period. The privilege should go round. He moved as a recommendation that the Presbyterian city churches be wired and a rota arranged for each year by ( the local Presbyterian broadcasting committee. The Rev. D. M. Hercus said that the position so far as the Wellington Presbytery was concerned was that the decision to wire certain churches only was based on answers to a questionnaire. Mr. Stevely drew attention to the finding of the Assembly committee thai it was undesirable that more than three Presbyterian churches be wired in each chief centre. The Rev. L. M. Rogers (Christ church) said his opinion was that il was not a good thing to have too manj churches wired. He was convincec that the efficient work of broadcasting through the Churches was best giver by the men who had the special abilitj for that work. The facilities existing in each church was another importan1 consideration. Mr. Falconer contended that a rec herring was being drawn across th< scent. He said he did not sugges that six churches should be selected a any one time. What he contended wa that it was wrong that certain churche should be selected and the selectioi be of a permanent nature to the ex elusion of other churches. The motion was carried by 87 "vote; to 56.