The television programme, entitled "Let's Talk - Europe" was the third such live, unscripted and unedited conversation that Pastor Paulsen has had on television with young people, emphasising his commitment to this segment of the Church. "Two-thirds of our global family are under 32 years of age," he said at the beginning of the broadcast. "We haven't done very well in linking with them. I cannot do it all, but ... I do want to hear what the young people have to say to us."

Following his return to England after the programme, participant Graham Pilmoor was interviewed at the BUC office and asked how he got selected to take part, and what his impressions were. "The first I heard about it was when Japhet [de Oliveira] contacted me and asked if I would like to go to Germany," he replied. "I guess he knew that I speak German and have been here many times before so he thought I'd feel at home. We flew to Frankfurt the day before the show and were taken to the student dorm where we stayed overnight. On Tuesday afternoon we went to the church where they had built the set and did some preparation for the programme. We didn't have to say what questions we were going to ask - it really was 'off the cuff'."

"After just a couple of warm up questions the live transmission began and Gabi [Ziegler] got us to ask the questions. The questions were generally good - things like the ordination of women, which is very relevant over here - but there were a couple of questions on Church organisation which were a bit dull. I would have liked to have heard a bit more about environmental issues and on why the Church is growing so slowly in most of Western Europe."

"About half way through I got my chance and asked how the Church could publicly deal with the issue of homosexuality without coming across as homophobic. I thought it was a good question as Europe is generally quite liberal on the subject and the Church of England has faced a lot of criticism about it. While Pastor Paulsen confirmed the Church's view on homosexuality I would have liked to have heard more about practical strategies to deal with the problems of homophobia and the secular view of Christians as homophobic, and how the Church might reach out to those who have been alienated by our attitudes. Given that there wasn't much time I suppose the answer I got was as much as I could expect."

"After the broadcast we were able to ask him a few more questions and he opened up a bit. Obviously with more than 13 million members in the Church he can't speak with everyone individually or give them all the time they would want, but I think the programme sent out the message that he is willing to listen and he does care about young people."

About forty young people took part in the programme which was broadcast around the world on the various different versions of the Hope Channel. In Europe it was broadcast on Hope Channel Europe which has only been operational for a few weeks. Due to the major developments which are currently taking place within the Hope Channel organisation, and the need to cover recent live "Net" events, the programme schedule on the Hope Channel website was not updated in time for the "Let's Talk - Europe" broadcast. We apologise if you missed the programme for this reason. The schedule should be back on track within the next couple of weeks and we would encourage you to keep checking the website for latest developments.
Source:...BUC News -- Entered May 5, 2005

arKive menu