KEVIN C. NEECE
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On Quora: Was Mr. Rogers a Televangelist to Toddlers?

12/7/2019

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For the past couple of years, I've been writing answers on Quora, a website for, well, asking questions. I thought I'd begin sharing my answers here, starting with my latest, to the question, "Was Mr. Rogers a Televangelist to Toddlers?" (Incidentally, the question is in reference to the title of a CNN article by Daniel Burke.)

My Answer From Quora:​

I’m rather rankled by Daniel Burke’s use of the term “televangelist” in the CNN piece to which this question refers. It makes for nice alliteration, grabs eyeballs, and alludes to the ministerial nature of Rogers’ work, but it does the latter of these in perhaps too crass a fashion for the subject matter. The term “televangelist” is, of course, fraught with almost nothing but questionable and even criminal figures, from Robert Tilton and Jimmy Swaggert, to Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen. While few televangelists have been convicted of such criminality as Jim Bakker (who, having served his prison time, is back on TV again), most have garnered criticism for lavish lifestyles, unmet promises, false testimonies, hucksterism, and fraud. This is hardly a group to which one could mildly compare Fred Rogers.
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Rogers was, however, perhaps instructive of what the term “televangelist,” despite its somewhat clumsy etymology, should actually mean. Because if “evangelism” is to be understood as sharing God’s good news, Rogers certainly very intentionally engaged in just that. His television program was the ministry to which he was specifically charged when he was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA) and the sacredness of that duty and calling was never far from—and in fact was constantly present in—Rogers’ mind.

Contrary to what others have noted in their answers, the program was not devoid of mentions of God or of church. They were rare, but they existed. These included, amongst others, a visit to a pretzel factory where it is explained that the shape of the pretzel represents arms folded in prayer and that the three spaces therein represent the three persons of the Trinity,[1] as well as the song, “Creation Duet,” which asserts at length that God is the maker of all things.[2] However, it is true that Rogers had no intention of pushing religion on children, of proselytizing, or of instructing children in religious matters. Still, his moral and spiritual grounding was a Christian one and he drew on many images from that tradition and from the Bible (rainbows, fish, communion, etc.) to share the essential message of Love.

There is a Christian foundation to Rogers’ work that CNN is right to point out. However, I would contend that there is perhaps more that is truly sacred in the Neighborhood program than there is in most of the programs to which the term “televangelism” would be more commonly applied.

On a secondary note, the Neighborhood program’s audience certainly includes toddlers, but it is hardly limited to them. Rogers was always aware that parents were watching too and he intended the program to be viewed and discussed by both children and their parents. While many of the basic ideas in the series are most suited to younger children, there is certainly no ceiling to the age of those who may find solace, wisdom, and hope in the Neighborhood. I, personally, have perhaps gained more from Rogers’ work as an adult than I did as a child—both before and since becoming a parent.

So, in both terms, “Televangelist,” and “Toddlers,” Burke fails to get it quite right here. But the article is good and worth a read, nonetheless.


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It's a Beautiful Day . . . to Announce My Next Book!

9/21/2018

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Today marks the 51st anniversary of the taping of the first episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which was first broadcast 50 years ago, in 1968. It's an anniversary brought to my attention by today's Google Doodle and seemed a fitting occasion upon which to announce my next book: 
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The Gospel According to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

All things Rogers are hot this year, with the release of two documentaries, an official biography, and the announcement of a forthcoming film starring Tom Hanks, all in the 50th anniversary year of the series' premier. For me, though, the writing and publication of this book is the culmination of work I've been doing for more than a decade.

In that time, many excellent books have been written on Fred Rogers, including I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers, by Tim Madigan, and The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers, by Amy Hollingsworth. Both books recount these journalists' relationships with Fred Rogers and the latter serves as something of a spiritual biography for the icon of children's television. Similarly, Michael G. Long explored the social and philosophical framework of the series in his book, Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers.

Why, then, write another book on America's favorite neighbor? 

Shortly after Fred Rogers' death in 2003, I read a brief article that recounted several then little known facts about him: He was red/green colorblind; he was teased as a child for being overweight; and most surprisingly to me, he was an ordained Presbyterian minister. I immediately marveled at what an amazing privilege it would have been to have attended at least one service at his church--or, better yet, to have been a regular member of his congregation. 

Some time later, I learned that Fred Roger's ordination was completely unique. He had been ordained by the Presbyterian church specifically to minister to children and families through the medium of television. That led me to a simple, but profound revelation: I had been a member of his congregation all along.

It was this revelation, along with the birth of my son and my journey through the series with him some years later, that set me on a quest to find reflections of the gospel in sweaters, a trolley, and a tiger living in a grandfather clock.

Much like my Gospel According to Star Trek books (the second of which, The Gospel According to Star Trek: The Next Generation is also in the works), this volume will be an exploration of the Neighborhood program--specific episodes and themes, the neighbors and their roles in the series--asking, as I always do, what Christians can learn from a thoughtful engagement with the series. But it will also be examining the series, for the first time at such length, for what it always was: a Christian ministry.

The positive effect on my life as a child, an adult, and a father of this ministry and the man whose mission it was can hardly be overestimated, nor can my capacity to fall short of the ideals upon which it was based. My hope, then, is to share with you something of what I've learned and of what I'm still trying to learn from the show that first warmed my heart and comforted my soul in my earliest years.

Fred Rogers believed the space between the television set and the viewer had the capacity to truly become holy ground. I believe the same about the space between the book and the reader. Won't you be my reader? Look for The Gospel According to Mister Rogers Neighborhood from Cascade Books as early as next year.

For updates on this and all my forthcoming projects, as well as free chapters from The Gospel According to Star Trek: The Original Crew, you can sign up for my newsletter. I'll be sharing more of my thoughts on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Star Trek, and more in future blog posts.
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    Kevin C. Neece

    Kevin is a writer and speaker, the author of The Gospel According to Star Trek Series and the editor of Spockology.

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