Church ministries have experienced huge growth in diversification over the past decade, as the church tries to match itself to today's contemporary culture. Especially, evangelism 'in the air' using the internet, TV programmes and radio has become very popular nowadays. After the first web pastor was appointed by the Diocese of Oxford, the Church of England, for its i-church dedicated in July, the Methodist Church now pioneers Media Chaplaincy in the UK.

Yesterday, the Methodist Church announced that Revd Tony Miles, a Methodist minister and broadcaster, will become a radio chaplain serving 100-plus commercial radio stations across Essex and London starting from 1st September. He will be based at the Methodist Central Hall in London.

The Methodist church stated that Revd Mile’s work is ecumenical based and is independent from any church. His primary aim is to show that the Christian faith is relevant in a pop culture and represent a Christian presence in the media. Building working relationships with newsrooms through informal networking and visiting commercial stations by appointment will be his main work. Currently, he presents the Saturday morning breakfast show for Premier Christian radio.

Despite expected difficulties in communicating Christian messages through commercial radio, Revd Miles has a strong vision for his new ministry - to “keep the rumour of God alive”.

“I hope to show in imaginative ways that the Christian faith is relevant in a pop culture. My wish is not to ‘Bible bash’ or preach, it’s much more about showing people that we care, are interested in them, and that we have a relevant message.”

Especially Revd Miles wishes to find the “missing pews” of the young generation back to the Church through the radio programmes. He explained, “Younger people are avid listeners to commercial radio...I believe that the Christian message is best communicated to young people by other young people, and commercial radio offers a great potential platform for that.”

The response of the commercial radio industry so far is satisfactory. Influential figures within the industry are amazed by Revd Miles’s vision and have backed his idea.

Mark Browning, Programme Controller at London’s Heart 106.2 said, “I was interested to learn that Tony Miles is pioneering the role of Media Chaplain to commercial radio. I am encouraged that he is taking an interest in our industry and the people within it. His concern and vision deserves the support of the Church.”

Peter Kerridge, Managing Director of Premier Christian Radio, said, “There is a great need in the industry for a chaplain of this kind. Media people work under great pressure all the time and the deadlines don’t go away just because you have a crisis in your personal life. There will be many people who will be very relieved to find someone who cares enough to share these burdens and Tony in this role will be greatly used by God.”

The Methodist Church has also showed its full support to the new ministry. The Revd Dr Lord Leslie Griffiths, who champions the churches’ engagement with the media, complimented Revd Miles’s act of faith in engaging into the world of commercial radio which is generally frightening for most church-going people for the sake of making God known.

He said, “I ask God to bless him in this demanding way forward. It is on the airwaves that we meet people, where we cross boundaries, and where we have a chance of entering into the prevailing culture around us.”

John Ellis, Secretary for Business & Economic Affairs for the Methodist Church, referred the ministry to one of the most important directions the church has to adopt as concluded in the recent Methodist Conference. It is to put much more effort into finding ways of communicating effectively with people who are not drawn to traditional patterns of church life.

“This pioneering piece of chaplaincy is exactly the sort of work that the Methodist Church is encouraging. Tony has the rare advantage of being both an experienced media person and an experienced Christian minister, so he is ideally equipped for this chaplaincy. He understands those that he will be chaplain to, and that is just as important as having a theological background. I hope he will help the Church to learn from the media as well.”