Brandon Booth
MollieRadio show hosts
After dealing with the not-so-communicative Communications Department of the LCMS , I’m downright shocked to see something so tech-savvy as the Ohio District’s blog.
Back at the end of March, District President Cripe offered a proposal to return Issues, Etc. to the air for six months and charge its listeners 50 cents a pop for downloads.
So how about it? Instead of writing a protest or signing a petition, why not offer a proposal: return Issues for six months for a download subscription and see what happens. Just how much is Issues, Etc, worth to you?
You might recall that charging listeners for downloads was an idea that Todd and Jeff had suggested to David Strand but that he had rejected it.
Anyway, DP Cripe responded to one of his interested blog readers this week with the following update:
John,
As of now, there are no plans for such a thing. Too bad, because I believe a lot of needed revenue was lost. We have been assured that a new apologetic program is coming, hosted by various seminary professors.
- President Cripe
I wonder who assured DP Cripe of this programmatic update and when that happened. It’s interesting. I would note that radio show host is not a vocation shared by all seminary professors. They would probably make very good radio show guests. Anyway, let me know if you have heard anything about this . . .
Filed under: Updates
I would rather see a set-fee for a year. Most of your major programs (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, etc) charge $40/year for downloads and significant other content as well. If you downloaded their annual content at $.50, it would be in the neigborhood of $400.
As a Ref Club member, I was fortunately able to support higher than that, but not everyone can pay that for such great content.
One thing I’ve noticed about all the LCMS websites that belong to the congregations that have joined Pres. K’s dog and pony show - they all have very expensive high-tech websites.
Another thins I noticed was how many traditional confessional congregations had either NO website or a very low-tech website.
Seems the old saying of, “Follow the money” applies to the good old boys at the LCMS.
Stupid question, but how does something that is pay-per-download work? Do you have an account over the computer and pay via the computer? If so, I don’t like the idea. It would cut some people from being able to listen, our family included. We were happy, however, to be Reformation Club members.
50 cents a pop for downloads = BAD IDEA. Normally, it is a good idea, but when it all goes towards Ablaze’s agenda of lobbing off more heads of the saints, it is about as useful as Penthouse magazine selling Bibles.
I want to see the full money trail. Many Christian organizations in the US publicly post their overhead rates, etc. The Purple Palace should do this too, otherwise, it should get not another penny. PLI and JF should do it too. http://www.charitynavigator.org
“One thing I’ve noticed about all the LCMS websites that belong to the congregations that have joined Pres. K’s dog and pony show - they all have very expensive high-tech websites.”
And yet the synod’s website is horrible, even apart from the mauve.
Woo! Another Mauve hater!
Seriously, at this point….I’m not even sure we should be sending money to the synod at all.
Maybe this is all a blessing in disguise. With all the missionary firings, and downright dishonesty, we are in need for big change.
We personally DON’T send money to the synod at all. We cannot in good conscience support the way the majority of the money is spent. We instead directly support confessional Lutheran causes. We designate our Sunday offerings and outside of those give to organizations such as Lutheran Heritage Foundation, Augustana Ministerium, our seminaries, Issues (and now the Wilken and Schwarz families), to name a few.
Back to the issue of paying per download, not only would it knock off the ability of some to listen, as I stated earlier, but to my way of thinking it would no longer be a true evangelism tool. While this isn’t perhaps a perfect comparison, just as we see it is wrong to have to pay to be baptized, so I think it would be wrong for all to have to pay to hear God’s Word proclaimed via Issues or whatever a new show might be called. We were happy to be Reformation Club members and will continue to support any such worthy, confessing Lutheran show that might be coming, but to force all to pay would be, in my humble opinion, not a good idea.
No, a pay per download system wouldn’t quite be the way to go. But the downloads themselves are purely unedited. Maybe an offer of where you can get the free downloads but if you want edited programs or programs along the same theme, eg. Lord’s Supper, or what not, they could sell audio cds or data cds or dvds. There’s already a lot of this stuff done for the Issues Etc programs, see Wittenberg Media. It shouldn’t be too hard to do for the new one.
What about a “hybrid” environment. For example, the standard hour-by-hour with commercial interruption (and fund-raising pleas) being freely available - then having a “pay-per-download” of edited shows by topic or guest. For example, I’d pay a couple of bucks to get all the interviews with J.W.Montgomery or L. Rast, or a couple of bucks to get all the interviews about Islam for example.
Another idea would be show downloads for free but have a subscription price for access to a website with transcripts - or even sell show transcripts in printed format.
Just some thoughts…
I would hope the “seminary professors” proposed for the new apologetics program would refuse to do such out of solidarity with Wilken and Schwartz, even if that means getting on a seminary president’s “list” or worse. It is time to quit hitting the snooze button on these problems and letting such sin and Machiavellian tactics continue.
With so much waste of glossy, full-color brochures, newsletters, and other stuff coming from 1333 S. Kirkwood and all of these duplicate services from district and synod, why is it that we cannot “subsidize” a faithful program like Issues Etc regardless of ratings (by the world!)?
Because there’s no desire to.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I do not own an ipod. With a simple hand-held tape player, I recorded many Issues,Etc. programs as I listened to them. I am thankful to have them now since the program has been so cruelly discontinued. I think the Reformation Club of which I was a member, was an excellent idea that allowed everyone who wanted to, to support the program as they could afford it.
Here is what scares me- Our Synod’s official publications, the Lutheran Witness and the Reporter, are no longer ours. It seems they are controlled by those who believe in the Synod but not the Bible and the confessions. So few of us in the pews have any idea of what is going on. Worse yet, so few care.
My mother told me that her grandmother read only two things: her Bible and Der Lutheraner. She must now be either really bored or turning over in her grave. Or both.
“One thing I’ve noticed about …congregations that have joined Pres. K’s dog and pony show - they all have very expensive high-tech websites.”
Never mind the websites, how about their $50,000+ multi-projection screens that obscure the crosses and other things in their sanctuaries. For example, there’s CNH VP Rev Paul Hoffmann’s former congregation Holy Cross Los Gatos that, over the years, drove about seven fresh-out-of-seminary pastors right out of the ministry. They boast 1000+ members. Actual real attendance is less than 300, and they can’t even afford a single real pastor. That guy has to serve LWML and some non-denominational church camp to make ends meet.