The Body of Christ News, a reader-supported monthly newspaper supporting African American churches throughout the state of Colorado, announced last week they would suspend circulation in the southern regions of the state because of lack of support from black Southern Colorado churches.
“Southern Colorado would send information in for free coverage,” ,” their press release stated, “but only a few churches over the years would actually advertise. There has been very little support in the last six years from Southern Colorado. So when a decision had to be made regarding cutbacks – it made sense to stop service in Southern Colorado.”
This is disappointing news, but is less indicative, I believe, of the economic downturn than it is a prevalent indicator of the overall malaise gripping African American churches and ministries in Colorado Springs, where the PraiseNet is based. We don’t usually focus on local Southern Colorado events because, like the Body of Christ News, this ministryh is not supported by local Southern Colorado churches.
Trying to get black churches here to support one another and to join together for a common purpose is a lot like teaching cats to dance. And offering something for free, as BOC has, often enables that malaise.
I never say the PraiseNet is "free" because "free" is a misnomer and a distortion of truth: it costs money to do what we do, what the BOCN does. The Body of Christ has been an important voice in black ministry, one that has likely gone underappreciated most especially here because our churches are so under resourced. This is problem I believe to have systemic causes stemming from lack of vision and leadership and a certain myopia or tunnel-vision that prevents our ministries here from seeing the grander horizon.
The BOC is an important community tool. But it is a tool we have likely taken for granted. And, as the PraiseNet ultimately moved well beyond Colorado to support churches in Texas and California, Ohio and Minnesota and other places, it is truly sad that Southern Colorado did not make better use of resources God placed at their disposal.
“I really tried hard to get Southern Colorado to support the Body of Christ News, but somehow people just didn’t see the need to advertise with the paper,’ states co-publisher Eva. PM Wynn Grove, host of The Word Network’s weekly Heavenly Sent broadcast..
Readers and churches can still subscribe to The Body Of Christ News by logging onto their website, www.bocnews.com.
