“The world needs to hear from Christian academics that God is interested in all of His creation”

Engaging with media can be challenging for any academic, but Christian scholars seeking to be salt and light to media audiences face an additional layer of complexity.

Kay Carter, Director of communications at Tyndale House, believes that “the world really needs to hear from Christian academics that God is interested in the whole of His creation”.

That is important because “across Europe few and few people are attending churches […] we need to go out and communicate to people where they are, in a way that feels normal to them”, she says in an interview in the European Leadership Forum in Wisla, Poland..

“Europe is a media culture, so that it is really important that scholar step up into the public square”, she added.

According to Carter, “Christian scholars do not need to specifically tailor their message for a secular audience. The way we can get people attention, is by remembering that we are all people and we all have the same basic wants and needs”.

“Scholars just need to have an understanding about what it is that people desire, what they long for, and think about how their message can be shaped around those needs”, she concluded.

You can see the interview below.

Kay Carter, Director of communications at Tyndale House. / FOCL.

Question. Why is it important that Christian scholars don't ignore the public square?

Answer. I think it is important because across Europe few and few people are attending churches, a huge percentage of people do not attend church so if we want to talk to people and cannot wait for them to come to church, we need to go out and communicate to people where they are, in a way that feels normal to them.

Europe is a media culture, so that it is really important that scholar step up into the public square, particularly through media.

Q. What does the world need to hear from Christian academics?

A. The world really needs to hear from Christian academics that God is interested in the whole of His creation.

That means that whatever it is Christian academics are studying, it is part of His Creation and God is interested in it and has a purpose for it. Whether you are studying practical physics or medieval Russian literature, God is interesting in that.

I think it would be amazing if Christian scholars were able to think really deeply about what God purpose is for their subject, and then talk about it in the public square.

Q. How can a Christian scholar tailor their message for a secular audience?

A. I do not think that Christian scholars need to specifically tailor their message for a secular audience.

The way we can get people attention, is by remembering that we are all people and we all have the same basic wants and needs. We may choose to fulfil those needs through God or through means, but we all are very similar in what we want and what we are looking for.

Christian scholars just need to have an understanding about what it is that people desire, what they long for, and think about how their message can be shaped around those needs.

Q. What should you do to build media opportunities?

A. If scholars want to build media opportunities, there are many ways of doing that. First, you can market yourself as an expert in your subject, so that journalists knew where to find you.

That can be as straightforward as writing yourself a media profile and send it to journals you want to work with.

Another way that can be interesting is to think of a story that you think journalists should be interested in, and then make sure that you would be a great person to comment on that story, so that journalits will run the story, that they will also want to interview you in order to run the story.

 

ABOUT KAY CARTER

Kay Carter is Director of Communications at Tyndale House, an academic institute for biblical understanding, where she supports researchers to speak about their work in a way that cuts through the academic/popular divide and captures the public imagination.

Kay has a background in journalism, including as a staff member of The Sunday Times in London and as founding editor of The Difference magazine, which examined political issues through the lens of Christian ethics.

She has a long-term interest in religious freedom and has worked as a lobbyist for organisations that represent persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Before joining Tyndale House, she ran the secretariat for the British All Party Parliamentary Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief.