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Recollection

by
08 July 2016

The Revd Peter Crumpler writes:

FURTHER to the Ven. Jonathan Smith’s obituary of the Rt Revd John Taylor (Gazette, 1 July), referring to Bishop John’s chairing of the Church of England’s Communications Committee: Bishop John’s approach to media communications was far-sighted and in many ways ahead of his time.

In 1993, he kindly wrote the foreword to my guide to church communications (Keep in Touch, Scripture Union). In it, he said: “It is patently true that God cares about both the medium and the message. The Incarnation tells us that the Word became flesh. Not only does God want us to hear his Word, but decides to make it known in the most accessible way possible — in human form.

“The Church’s communication should also be accessible, not obscure, and human, not lost in technicality. In these media-minded days, the Church needs to follow the example of its Lord in taking infinite pains to get the message heard.”

 

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