By Tapiwa Padenga, Harare
The United Methodist Church communicators where empowered in a well organised and educative workshop held specifically for communicators at the United Methodist Chisipiti church on the 26th of January 2013. Over 100 participants attended the workshop. The workshop attracted some of Zimbabwe’s best communicators such as Tapiwa Machemedze a reporter at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation(ZBC),
Abigail Mvududu a former journalist with ZBC, our own Pastor Taurai Emmanuel Maforo who is a conference communicator of repute and delegates from various circuits in Chitungwiza Marondera, Harare east and Makoni Buhera districts.
The workshop was a success before a word was spoken.
With an aim of motivating communicators in attendance to go back and make an impact at circuit level, a handful of topics which were evidently well researched were presented to an attentive audience and were met by a frequent round of applause and a dose of laughter.
From a presentation on the use of social media within The United Methodist Church by Mrs F Madake, to the importance of communication in The United Methodist Church by Rev A P Mupfawa, it all came down to what proved to be the climax of the workshop in an energetic and charismatic bout of back to back presentations by Pastor Maforo on practical news writing and digital photography.
Communicators were left in high spirits. Their morale, confidence and need to communicate have never been greater. So powerful was the workshop that this writer was catapulted to put pen to paper for the very first time as a communicator of The United Methodist Church.
It all comes down to a theory well explained at the workshop that if we do not record events as they happen during our time then history will never remember the good things of our time. After all is said and done, it all comes down to a simple philosophy by Pastor T E Maforo that “anything not written did not happen.”
Tapiwa Padenga is the vice chairperson of The History and communication committee at St Mathew, Dombotombo, Marondera. He is also a committee member of the history and communication committee at district level.