Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Steven P. Vitrano

Second Advisor

Kermit L. Netteburg

Third Advisor

J. Bjornar Storfjell

Abstract

Problem. In December of 1981 the Norwegian government suddenly opened the possibility of Community Radio in Norway. This was a rather drastic decision since the country had had a government-sponsored radio monopoly for almost fifty years. All at once, Christian denominations and other organizations in selected areas all over the country were able to present their message on radio broadcasts.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norway was taken by surprise when the government radio monopoly was suddenly dissolved. It had not applied for permission to start broadcasting and had done little preparation for such a media development. Several other Christian denominations had been preparing for this eventuality for a number of years and were able to start broadcasting shortly after government permissions were granted. Later, a number of Seventh-day Adventist congregations were able to buy air-time from organizations which had already received permission. In September of 1984, a number of Seventh-day Adventist congregations received official permissions to start broadcasting on Community Radio in Norway.

The purpose of this study, therefore, was to develop a strategy for a local Seventh-day Adventist ministry on Community Radio in Norway, and to suggest formats of radio broadcasts that might be used in such a ministry. Furthermore, the writer investigated the enormous problem of secularism, which is challenging the Christian community in Western Europe. Guidelines were suggested which might help the Christian broadcaster reach the increasingly larger secular part of the European population.

The study suggests the following conclusions: 1. It is important for the Christian broadcaster to start with his target audience, to do research and develop a strategy to reach his target audience.

2. The Christian broadcaster should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of radio. The medium of radio is particularly useful in the early stages of evangelism. It is an effective medium for building awareness and influencing change.

3. The wide-spread secularism in Norway poses a real challenge to the Christian community, but study shows that secular people can be more easily reached on the basis of felt needs.

4. One cannot conclude that one format of religious radio broadcasting is better than another. It is all a matter of what target audience one is trying to reach. The format should be regarded as a vehicle that can help the Christian broadcaster reach his target audience.

Subject Area

Radio in religion--Seventh-day Adventists, Mass media in religion

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/180/

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