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Barna Accepts Head of High-Profile Group to Produce “Spiritainment”

Orginally published on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 10:00 AM
by Todd Rhoades

George Barna is headed in a different direction these days... he has just accepted the Chairmanship of Good News Holdings, a new high-powered team consisting of ex-Disney, Paramount, E! Entertainment Network, Microsoft, and NBC executives who hope to advance the Kingdom through excellence in media and ministry through the development of what Barna calls "Spiritainment".

In 2004, a major shift occurred in my life and in the efforts of what was then known as the Barna Research Group. Hoping to move beyond traditional research on the state of the Church, substantial changes were introduced that moved our group beyond the collection and reporting of information to substantively responding to the cultural challenges and opportunities identified in the research. Consequently, we initiated four new divisions to labor alongside of the research division. BarnaFilms, BarnaBooks, The Josiah Corps, and the Transformational Church Network sprang to life in late 2004.
God has done some remarkable things through those steps of faith. And it is clear that He is not done reshaping the efforts of our group.

Toward that end, I am honored to announce that I have accepted the role of Chairman of Good News Holdings, a dynamic multi-media group that combines the talent and experience of a unique team. That core group includes David Kirkpatrick, who has served as President of Paramount Pictures and at Disney Studios; Christopher Chisholm, a founder of E! Entertainment Network and a senior consultant to Microsoft; Martha Cotton, who has served long stints as a producer of both the Today Show and the network evening newscasts; Rich Christopher, a respected, veteran executive from Silicon Valley with extensive technological expertise; and Thom Black, a former pastor, entrepreneur, and most recently the chief architect of the expansion of The Barna Group. All are devoted followers of Christ, savvy media veterans, and Baby Boomers committed to “finishing well” by advancing the kingdom of God through excellence in media and ministry.

Our objective is to be the forerunner in a new genre of multimedia we are calling spiritainment. My research has shown that people - especially young people - absorb an amazing degree of their values, beliefs and lifestyle practices from the media content to which they are exposed. Most of that media is based on worldviews that do not honor God. Good News will produce media of many types - movies, television, Internet offerings, mobile phone content, books, magazines, digital worship clips and music - to raise spiritual questions and draw people closer to God and His truths. We are fully committed to marrying biblical theology, superb creative talent, strong stories and high-quality production in the most appropriate media as a way of blessing God and His people.

Stated differently, our vision is to provide accessible and high-quality content that challenges the mind, captures the heart, refreshes the spirit, and pleases the Lord. Ultimately, we want to be leaders in a movement to reclaim all forms of art as a gift to God and to be a vehicle God uses to foster dramatic transformation in the lives of many people.

It’s a big vision. We cannot do it without the presence, guidance and empowerment of the Lord. In our nascent stage, we have already seen Him open doors we didn’t even know existed! We trust that He will continue to use us for His purposes in ways we cannot presently imagine. Our daily challenge is to simply be obedient. We will leave the results up to Him.

Toward that end, we have been praying and seeking His direction. Here is where the team is headed.

You can read Barna’s entire press release here...

What do you think?

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TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 8 Comments:

Posted by Anthony D. Coppedge

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 4:17 PM

I’m wondering how they’ll compete with the likes of WorshipHouseMedia.com, SermonSpice.com and the dozens of companies that specifically create multi-media content for churches. Will they absorb the best of these content producers and/or create network-quality movies that can stand side-by-side with the likes of Touched by an Angel and other high-end programming? I’m curious to find out how they plan to do move forward, especially because this is my area of passion for helping churches impact their communities.
Posted by chris

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 6:33 PM

Not a big fan of “Spiritainment,” but the concept is what I’ve been hoping for for a long time. It’s about time people with power stopped complaining about the evils of Hollywood and started doing something about it.

I hope these guys are forward thinkers who will stop modern Christian media’s obsession with being “like” the culture, and will think ahead of the culture and produce something truly worth seeing.

For the past many years, Christian media has been about 3 years behind secular media… Britney comes on the scene, and 2 or 3 years later Christian media unveils a young, beautiful, teenage girl who sings the same style.

Slowly, Christian music has begun to turn. The modern praise and worship phenomenon has been a good step in the right direction. The secular artists don’t have anything like Shane and Shane, or with a sound like the Parachute Band. They’re original and refreshing.

Hopefully that trend can begin to melt into the movie and television markets and the Church can go back (at least in one way) to setting the bar for excellence and creativity.
Posted by

Monday, July 17, 2006 at 12:36 PM

One preacher said “the problem is that the world has gotten so churchy, and the church has gotten so worldly, no on can tell the difference”. While there some truth in that statement, it still remains a fact that the church is too far behind the secular world right now, and they are still losing ground. The question is: Can the church play catch-up. There is a lot of ground to cover, and while some churches have seized the moment and made great strides forward, there is still a lot of backward thinking to be conquered in the church. For example, while some mainline churches are making a mark, they are outnumbered by other leaders 10 to 1 who are backpeddling against the church. It would be great to have more organizations to come along side the church and help them get a healthy look at themselves objectively. I wish Barna well in his endeavors, it’s a tall order with much opposition. Godspeed.
Posted by Tye Male

Monday, July 17, 2006 at 2:26 PM

I am glad to hear that George Barna is using his influence to make a difference in a much needed arena. To Anthony’s comment, I have to ask what is wrong with “competetion”? Even McDonald’s and Burger King know that they experience increased traffic when there are choices. Anyway, it’s not competion, but more of a good thing. To Simon’s comment about the church being worldly and vice versa I think that for so long the church has been WAY behind the times that I find it refreshing that some heavy hitters in the industry are going to help facilitate ministry in the local church and beyond. I especially love the comment that they are Baby Boomers in their halftime wanting to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

The church has come a long way from “A Thief in the Night” movie and I for one am thrilled about it.
Posted by

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at 4:25 PM

Anything that promotes the true gospel of Jesus Christ is worthwhile!! Why should the devil use all of the tools of tv, music, movies etc? All I ask, in humily here, just make sure it is quality because the church has done too much “cheesy” stuff in the past in this area… it is hard to be taken serious sometimes. (I am a pastor of teenagers, so I know about cheese) If it is quality “as unto the Lord” it will bring lost people to Christ. Go for it and godspeed!!
Posted by Bodie

Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 9:05 AM

Sounds like a money making scheme to me. Ahhh, the love of money is the root of all evil. This whole endeavor has money and greed written all over it. It’s no secret that the “Christian” Consumer market is one of the most lucrative money makers in the business and Barna and crew want to get their share of that pie. I wonder what Jesus would really think?

Bodie Ingelvie
Posted by prasala

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 11:25 PM

I congratulate the Barnas Research team for their grand success . George has proved how the role of a captain should be. It is really a good news for the “Good News Holding”.
http://www.sonicboomers.com

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