Celebrating 40 years of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on television! Please contact your area PBS-TV station and encourage them to continue airing Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to help with young children in their development.

Inspired by the sweater made famous by the late Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister, in the TV show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," churches and community organizations in the greater Pittsburgh, PA, area helped those in need of warm clothing. 6,000 sweaters have been distributed to those in need through mission agencies and churches.

(Note: Film strip on the right allows you to click into special interest areas of media ministry!)

Creative Approach to Media Ministry

Media Ministry Tip:

Summer Community Project

A church in Maine made a decision to have an active summer program for members and others in the community. T.N.T. - Thursday Nights Together - was an exciting time. Creative worship, fellowship, and exciting food were included in these popular gatherings. Some evenings the intergenerational group made ice cream or home made root beer. Each of the families brought an ingredient for the homemade refreshments. Another week they focused on fresh strawberries. Each week had a different theme ("western" or "yesterday"). Both children and adults enjoyed this mix of traditions and periods of time. Intensive promotion was used to attract the attention of folks in the community. Newspapers, promotional posters, and personal invitations helped to make this a community wide event on a routine basis all summer long.

Summer Employment for Youth

A group of young people in Sydney, Australia, found themselves without jobs during the summer. They discovered that one of their number was an excellent designer and seamstress. She and the group formed an enterpise in which they made designer jeans which was fitted to the customer. She was able to give each of the eight people a role in the operation. The group of boys and girls had more business than they could handle. They made money and they were also able to give a portion of their profits to mission projects. The local media loved this unusual story. They loved the pictures of the boys sewing.

Stories of Faith and Hope

These stories are being heard on our network of stations across the North America and into 16 foreign countries. Passages/Survivors are heard daily and weekly on 500 radio stations! Interviews and music clips are used as a "public service" for listeners by the stations who broadcast the shows.

We are hearing from folks who are downloading stories to their Ipods and mp3 players for inspiration and sharing them with others! Some clergy and church leaders are re-telling these stories as inspirational moments.

The Passages programs featured here are a handful of over 3,000 stories that PMM has produced in 25 years of providing PASSAGES & Survivors to radio stations as a gift from your Presbyterian, Mennonite, and United Methodist friends. For more information on PASSAGES e-mail us at pmm@passages.org

If this is your first time to the Presbyterian Media Mission site click on the bottom two videos to review our radio programs in the media center below . You will gain insights to our Survivors and Passages Radio Ministry Projects.

Book to read ....

*A winner of the Presbyterian Writer's Guild Angell Award is good friend Bud Frimoth for his book, "Bring in the Clowns: A Metaphor for Ministry." This award is for the best first book by a Presbyterian writer in 2006, and was recently awarded at the Presbyterian Communicators Conference in Louisville, KY.

Bud is a retired minister living in Portland, OR. Bud spent over fifty years in ministry and created The Open Door Radio Program that won over 40 awards. He has helped out with Media Mission's Award winning Passages Radio Show in doing a number of interviews as well as being on the program to tell about his faith journey.

While he offered the ministry of clowning in many venues, one focus was children in hospitals. Recently the Providence Children's Center department for Medically Fragile Children presented him their highest award for his work with young patients.

Proceeds from his book (and the award) contribute to a memorial at Whitworth College for the Frimoths' daughter.

MEDIA LITERACY Note: An important site for parents and anyone who is interested in safeguards for children and teens using myspace.com or bebo.com Go to www.wiredsafety.org for tips on dealing with the Internet in relation to your kids or grandkids being on-line.

Surveyed parents by the U.S. Census shows that more parents are taking control of the remote with children! In the TV viewing realm, about 67 percent of children 3 to 5 had limits on what shows they could watch, when they could watch and how long they could watch in 2003, up from only 54 percent in 1994. About 68 percent of children 6 to 11 years old had TV limits in 2003, compared with 60 percent in 1994. The change wasn't as great for children 12 to 17. Only about 44 percent of them had TV limits in 2003, compared with 40 percent in 1994. More interesting facts at http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07011/752880-237.stm

The Dept. of the U.S. Census reported recently that the daily use of media by Americans is projected to top 9 1/2 hours per day this year. Americans spend more time watching TV, listening to the radio, surfing the Internet and reading newspapers than anything else except breathing. This is why it is most important for people of faith to be critical thinkers in a media culture. Media literacy is for everyone to use in evaluating media intake or consumption. For more info contact PMM at pmm@passages.org or (412) 323-1400 ext. 310/311.

How does TV viewing of violent cartoons impact young children? A recent study shows that there is a good possibility of attention deficit problems to the very young watching violent cartoons.

PMM's Mission Statement: In a world of confusing and competing messages, the Presbyterian Media Mission communicates a creative and compelling witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through media.

To contribute to PMM's media ministry with a financial gift please call or e-mail our office at (412) 323-1400 ext 310 or pmm@passages.org For more information on making a charitable gift to media ministry!

Click on the link below for story on Mike Farrell speaking at the General Assembly Media Luncheon.

www.pcusa.org/ga218/news/ga08028.htm