Here’s an extra paragraph which rubbed me the wrong way, from that Los Angeles Times story I just referenced:
“If they want to market to the Christian community, they have to understand the value of prescreening to leaders,” said Michael Catt, senior pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. “The church leaders control what is promoted from the pulpit.”
I’m quite happy to go to a church where the gospel, and not some movie, is promoted during the homilies, thank you very much. But this notion that Christians will meekly go to whatever film their “leaders” tell them to support is pretty insulting.
And that was my reaction before I turned to this story on public relations expert Larry Ross, from the Financial Post:
Calling it “bell cow” leadership, Mr. Ross’s strategy to getting an inspirational film into the Christian community is to screen it first privately to the local pastor. (A bell cow is usually the lead cow in a herd.) If the minister felt it accurately represented the biblical version, he would pass that information along to his congregation. Then Mr. Ross would arrange for the film to be shown to the congregation at the local church. “Word of mouth will take care of the rest,” he says.
Got that? We’re all cattle, following our “bell cows”! Good grief. And don’t get me started on the “accuracy” fetish.
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