A church newspaper and a task team walk into a retreat centre …
This annual collaboration between Kerkbode and the DRC’s task team for research is built on three pillars: Learn (day 1). Communicate (day 2). Reflect (day 3). It’s held at the Andrew Murray Centre for Spirituality in Wellington in the Western Cape, next to the office of Kerkbode, a 176 year old church newspaper.
The learning component was the launch of the results of Church Mirror 2026, a comprehensive “state of the DRC” styled survey polling more than 600 congregations across South Africa around various aspects of life as a faith community.
The communication component stood on two legs: preparing to write by turning the gaze inward and raising awareness. Can I locate and articulate how I feel about the data? Where is defensiveness kicking in regarding polling results that trigger some kind of shame (am I part of a church that feels THIS way about THAT thing?), or anger for being at odds with some deeply held conviction that I might not even be fully aware of (congregations HAVE TO reflect a diverse country or hurtle towards the newcomer, or not do well financially etc). Where does my attention go in the data set? What am I avoiding writing or even talking about? Big one: Is there boredom that I’m disowning out of strong conditioning to be super engaged about anything shown to me by authority figures? Where is the deflection that I employ? Do I change the topic and start writing about material I feel more competent with or resort to random story-telling? Can I observe these feelings? Then, can I name the ‘stance’ I observe myself taking. My posture on the page. My ego-state, in the words of Eric Berne, Thomas Harris and the like. Do I instinctively move toward cherry-picking “stories of hope”? (I’m OK, you’re OK). The posture of the Optimist. Do I automatically start explaining things back at the data from a place of presumed or actual authority? (I’m OK, you’re not OK). The posture of the Boss. Do I move towards victim-y terrain (you’re OK, I’m not OK). The posture of the Malcontent.
Feel the feeling. Name the instinctual stance. Bring attention to choosing the unexamined posture you assume on the page. Then re-commit to what you actually want to write and what format serves it best: news-style article, opinion piece, listicle (six things new data reveals about the church), analysis. Now the work becomes: what are the conventions of the chosen format / article type to which I’d most like to adhere? The answer to that gives you a concrete way of evaluating what you’ve written and turns the generalised “what do you think?” feedback round on Day 3 (Reflection) into something more focused: does this piece work as an opinion piece and what are the (for lack of a better word) success criteria I need to improve on if not. – Le Roux Schoeman, journalist and editor: kerkbode.co.za