During the Council of Elders meetings of December 2003, discussions took place about future plans for a video production studio at the home office near Cincinnati, Ohio. You may have read about it in the Council reports, or in subsequent letters and updates from the president and home office staff. With this in mind, here are answers to questions some have asked:

• We already have two congregations producing programs for cable-access television. Why do we need one at the home office?
• Isn't television programming very expensive?
• Shouldn't we be more concerned about "preparing a people" than "preaching the gospel"?
• Isn't the time of preaching the gospel almost over?
• What are some of the main reasons for considering a home office video studio?

Important Factors

There are several factors to consider with regards to a video recording studio for the Church. Here at the home office we do not have a dedicated area for video recording and production. We do have a video editing room, but it is small and full of editing equipment for producing our sermon tapes and other educational videos.

One of the main reasons we could use a video studio is to take advantage of the increasing capabilities of the Internet. As you have probably read, the Internet and television are converging in many ways—with many users accessing television programs on the Internet, and vice-a-versa. The Internet is a very cost-effective medium that we want to capitalize upon as much as possible. With broadband technology now available to the average consumer, and with a second version of the Internet on the horizon (with speeds hundreds of times faster than we currently have available), it is important that we work diligently to use these tools to the maximum. Our lowest costs per response from our listeners and readers come via our Web sites on the Internet.

Costs

Having a video recording environment will enable us to provide content for a 24/7/365 video/TV Web site with commentaries and programs on all kinds of subjects, as they relate to the gospel of the Kingdom of God. In addition, timely commentaries, even at a moment's notice of breaking news, can be uploaded to the Web immediately. Once programming is completed, it can be made available to the public around the entire world at virtually no cost to the Church.

Yes, there are some initial start-up costs to construct the studio environment, but this is essentially a one-time cost and really not all that expensive in the long run. However, we're still not sure that we will be able to fit construction costs into the 2004-2005 budget. Our budget will be very tight.

As well as using the Internet, we could also continue to take advantage of free community television, similar to the way two of our congregations presently do. The current cost per response from the two locally produced TV programs in Beloit, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon, is very good—simply because the airtime is free or only costs a few dollars. Some of the staff and volunteers working with these existing programs will marshal their efforts to help with the new programming. The Church can do much more to take advantage of free cable-access channels and, in addition to the Internet, can preach the gospel very cost effectively.

Please note that we are not looking to secure expensive broadcast television time slots. We are planning to build upon the foundation, experience and skill of those men who have already been involved in video production at various levels over the past 8 to 10 years. There is so much more that we could be doing without a huge budget. Building a fine studio today costs 20 percent of what it did just 10 years ago!

Tools in Our Belt

We must continue to preach the gospel until Christ returns. This will be one more item in our "tool belt" of gospel-preaching methods. We must be about our Father's business—both in preparing the brethren and preaching the gospel.

The time of reaping large amounts of people may not have yet passed. We would agree that the job today is as difficult as it has ever been, if not more so. The ground upon which we are sowing seed certainly seems dry and stony at present. However, at the right moment, perhaps in a time of national or personal crisis, people will know where to turn for help because of the Church's efforts.

We are seeing growth, although not in fantastic figures, but growth of around 4 to 6 percent a year in both income and membership. Time will tell, but we believe that the seeds we are sowing will germinate and bear fruit at the appropriate time. We must continue to do our part to follow Christ's commands that He gave us in His final words on this earth. Video production for the World Wide Web is just one more way to do this.

Some are concerned about throwing a lot of money at preaching the gospel to the world. We believe that we should allocate as many resources as possible in this regard. We have been called to do more than save our own skins and receive personal salvation. We have been given a job to do!

Through careful allocation of budget and resources, adding a video recording studio to our capabilities is a good and necessary step if we are to keep up with technology and the job at hand. We are not talking about spending a large portion of our budget on this project—perhaps 3 to 5 percent of the media department budget. This is very reasonable.

May God continue to bless the various efforts of His people to take care of Christ's flock and preach the gospel of the Kingdom. The United Church of God, an International Association, takes this mandate very seriously! Please continue to pray for the resources to become available to accomplish God's will. UN