Case Study: Streaming with Grace

Grace Cathedral is no stranger to technological innovation. In fact, the inventor of celluloid film, Hannibal Goodwin, was pastor for a short term at what was then called Grace Church. Goodwin used one of the earliest forms of the slide projector, known as the Magic Lantern, throughout his Sunday school classes. In an effort to improve upon the lantern’s projection capabilities, Goodwin began work on a new medium, filing the patent for celluloid film in 1887 under the name "photographic pellicle."

More than 100 years and a handful of major and minor earthquakes later, a new medium, taking shape in the form of streaming technology, is making a positive impact on Grace Cathedral, enabling a powerful new means to project the voice of the cathedral’s civic efforts.

Genesis of a Media Ministry

During the era of deregulation in the 1980s, the Federal Communications Commission license requirements for public affairs programming ended. Dwindling budgets pushed "civic conversation" to the wayside; public forums rarely ventured beyond what Rick Johnson calls "couch shows."

"The whole notion of town hall, where you discuss the issues ... it doesn’t exist anymore," says Johnson, founder and executive director of GraceCom, dubbed "the media ministry of Grace Cathedral."

By 1994, access to the Web had barely evolved beyond the Mosaic 1.0 browser, but it wasn’t too early for GraceCom’s founder to recognize the power and reach of the Internet and to see it as a tool to introduce civic discussion in a new capacity.

"I was thinking about where broadcast was going. It was all going toward tabloid and exploitation," says Johnson. "I really felt like using media to help people with their lives."

At the end of 1994, Grace Cathedral was in the midst of an aggressive capital campaign, raising funds for the costly renovation and expansion requirements of the church and growing congregation. During this time, an unusual offer was extended by a general partner in one of the oldest venture capital firms on Silicon Valley’s infamous Sand Hill Road.

By this time, Johnson had been a member of the congregation for a decade, and his experience as an Emmy award-winning television producer was well known by the church’s dean. "The dean gave me a call, and he said, we’ve got a donor who’s done very well by his investments," says Johnson. "He’s not particularly religious, but he wants to do some good, and he wants to use the information superhighway as a vehicle."

After some extensive research and the drafting of a formal business plan, the concept for GraceCom was born with the following mission at its core: To use emerging communications technologies to encourage spiritual growth, foster understanding of spiritual diversity, encourage reconciliation between religious traditions, and support the civic conversation on social justice and spiritual issues.

"It was really about getting the word out using the information superhighway," says Johnson. "It was as primitive as that. The television producer in me was more focused on what content would be put out. What would make a difference in people’s lives? And why would anybody be interested in any of this?"