Over that six-month period, media exposure for Eastern Star Church increased at a phenomenal rate with more than two dozen stories of its campaigns on tv, radio, and in newspapers.
Eastern Star Church
Eastern Star Church Senior Pastor Jeffrey A. Johnson kicks off construction of a $9 million center for children and youth. (Photo courtesy of Eastern Star)
I was hired for a six month contract as a PR consultant and brand storyteller for Eastern Star Church, charged with bringing local media attention to a slate of unique community projects created by one of the state’s largest Black churches. I also helped produce content for some of the church’s community campaigns.
The Goal
- Present Eastern Star Church as a leader in community initiatives, providing a model that could inspire other churches around the state or nationwide to follow in its footsteps
- Help establish Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, Eastern Star Church’s Senior Pastor, as an important voice on critical issues impacting our community, in particular communities of color.
The Plan
During those six-months, I built a new, strategic media relations plan targeting specific beat reporters and media entities around Central Indiana that would increase the client’s chances of media coverage.
Their initiatives included:
The 100th Church Anniversary Virtual. The ROCK Initiative, a community development and revitalization initiative building homes, commercial properties. A new partnership with a charter school. The groundbreaking for a community Youth Center. A Vaccination Town Hall to educate marginalized communities and the church’s leadership as the first church offering COVID-19 tests and vaccinations. And a first-ever Pastor Sabbatical that included a ‘day of rest’ campaign for the whole church.
Critical Conversations
I helped produce and write stories for a one-hour Eastern Star Church Vaccination Town Hall online. It was the only church in Central Indiana taking on this specific type of project to educate Black and brown communities about the new vaccines. I helped solidify appearances from Dr. Virginia Caine, from the Marion County Public Health Department and former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
- At 12:20 minutes in, my stories include the heartbreaking loss of a church family’s son to COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic and advice from health experts in Indiana and regionally about the vaccination.
- At 43:00 minutes in, I wrote community stories of people’s reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Results
Over that six-month period, media exposure for Eastern Star Church increased at a phenomenal rate with more than two dozen stories of its campaigns on tv, radio, and in newspapers. Pastor Johnson appeared in stories on every television station, and he had several long conversations on Radio One’s Community Connection show with Tina Cosby. The media reach for the PR campaign was hundreds of thousands of viewers around Central Indiana. A 24-hour paid radio spot on Radio One reached more than 13,000 listeners.
By focusing on the church’s leadership and unique campaigns, with a visionary Pastor, I was able to help establish Pastor Johnson as an authority and important voice on issues impacting Black and brown communities. He had such impact that media called me to interview him for his insight on other stories that were unrelated to the church’s initiatives.
