Christine Stride is Executive Assistant to the Baptist National Leader and works at the Baptist National Support Centre in Auckland. She is part of Titirangi Baptist Church.
Hundreds of churches across Aotearoa, New Zealand, will pause for a few minutes in their Sunday, 27 October service to pray for those working in our country’s media industry.
Media Prayer Day is a biennial event organised by the Christian Broadcasting Association that calls for people to pray for Christians and people of influence working in the media.
Media Prayer Day is also part of the first-ever Global Day of Prayer for the Media (27 October).
All over the world, Christians who work in and with media in all its forms will be joining in an international live-streamed event to be shown on prayformedia.com and YouTube.
The live stream begins in Aotearoa, New Zealand, at 12 pm. The two-hour window will be hosted by Petra Bagust, Sela Alo, Julia Bloore, Andrew Curtis, Elesha Gordon and Luke Weston.
Having worked in the media for many years, I have seen the power and influence words and images can have. Prayer is needed not only for those who get the information and stories out, but also for those who decide what information is presented and how it is presented.
People in the media are responsible for telling us what’s happening out there. They also create the images we see and the stories we hear. They style our TV presenters; they choose the words spoken by actors, decide what an animated character sounds like, and decide what angle to film someone from. They decide what gets funded and what doesn’t.
They’re also people – mums and dads, sisters and brothers, neighbours, friends and aunties and uncles – who want to do their job well.
Mediaprayerday.nz suggests people to pray for and includes a prayer seeking God’s guidance, wisdom and blessing for the media industry.
Image: MediaPrayerDay.nz [YouTube and Canva]
